Rebellious yet apathetic: System justification and learned helplessness in collective action
Open accessAbstract
Introduction: The decay of democracy has led to a growth in political protests worldwide, but even when people perceive their situation as unfair, some do not act. We propose that system justification and learned helplessness are relevant factors in explaining this. Objective: To test a model of collective action that considers factors of inaction. Method: Through structural equation modelling, we estimated models with data from 961 Brazilians, variables were measured through self-report instruments, such as Collective Action scales, the General System Justification Scale, the Social Justice Perception Scale, the Positive and Negative Affect Scale, and the Learned Helplessness Scale. Results: The models had a good fit and supported the derogation effect of system justification on collective action, but only partially corroborated the predicted association between learned helplessness and collective action. In the Multigroup Model, we found that people who hold weaker political motivations are more prone to inaction through learned helplessness. Discussion: Our findings point to the risk of relative deprivation in generating learned helplessness, which may contribute to inaction and social isolation.
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Learned helplessness in humans: A contemporary theoretical reappraisal
Andrieu, C. F. A., & Milhabet, I. (2026) · New Ideas in Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.newideapsych.2026.101286
- Authors
- Couto, C., & Pilati, R.
- Affiliations
- Universidade de Brasília (BR)
- Venue
- Revista Latinoamericana de Psicología
- Published
- 2024
- Volume
- 56
- Pages
- 16-23
- ISSN
- 0120-0534 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4394942849
- Semantic Scholar
- 3e91dc358fec7ebd1ef73d5454ad5f16e8a206ad
- Cited by
- 1
- References
- 31
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1
- FWCI
- 0.73
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- diamond
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Revista Latinoamericana de Psicología (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Funders
- Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (001)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Political Conflict and Governance
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social Power and Status Dynamics
- Keywords
- system justification, learned helplessness, collective action, political protest, political inaction, relative deprivation, social justice perceptions, political motivation, social isolation, Brazil
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