| dc.description | 8 March (8M), now known as International Women’s Day, is a day for feminist claims
where demonstrations are organized in over 150 countries, with the participation of
millions of women all around the world. These demonstrations can be viewed as
collective rituals and thus focus attention on the processes that facilitate different
psychosocial effects. This work aims to explore the mechanisms (i.e., behavioral and
attentional synchrony, perceived emotional synchrony, and positive and transcendent
emotions) involved in participation in the demonstrations of 8 March 2020, collective
and ritualized feminist actions, and their correlates associated with personal well-being
(i.e., affective well-being and beliefs of personal growth) and collective well-being (i.e.,
social integration variables: situated identity, solidarity and fusion), collective efficacy
and collective growth, and behavioral intention to support the fight for women’s
rights. To this end, a cross-cultural study was conducted with the participation of
2,854 people (age 18–79; M = 30.55; SD = 11.66) from countries in Latin America (Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Colombia, and Ecuador) and Europe (Spain and
Portugal), with a retrospective correlational cross-sectional design and a convenience
sample. Participants were divided between demonstration participants (n = 1,271;
94.0% female) and non-demonstrators or followers who monitored participants through
the media and social networks (n = 1,583; 75.87% female). Compared with nondemonstrators
and with males, female and non-binary gender respondents had greater
scores in mechanisms and criterion variables. Further random-effects model metaanalyses
revealed that the perceived emotional synchrony was consistently associated
with more proximal mechanisms, as well as with criterion variables. Finally, sequential
moderation analyses showed that proposed mechanisms successfully mediated the
effects of participation on every criterion variable. These results indicate that participation
in 8M marches and demonstrations can be analyzed through the literature on collective
rituals. As such, collective participation implies positive outcomes both individually and
collectively, which are further reinforced through key psychological mechanisms, in line
with a Durkheimian approach to collective rituals. | |
