Is political interest not relevant for aggressive action? Comparison with peaceful political activities.

DELFINO, G.

San Antonio

Congreso; 41th Annual Scientific Meeting of the International Society of Political Psychology (ISPP); 2018

International Society of Political Psychology

Different studies have shown a positive relationship between political interest, opinions on political issues, active participation in campaigns, and exposure to political information. However, less has been studied on the relation between political interest and peaceful direct participation (demonstrations, strikes and occupation of buildings) and aggressive direct participation (damaging things and using personal violence). Based on a convenience college students sample from Buenos Aires, Argentina (n = 407) we explain the use of each type of direct action. For both, peaceful and aggressive participation, action approval is the variable with more weight. However, the differences become clear when considering political interest, central to peaceful action but with very low weight in the aggressive action. For its part, gender is relevant to the aggressive action but not to the peaceful one.