Expansion of the self of activists and nonactivists involved in mass gatherings for collective action

Three studies were carried out in natural settings of mass gatherings to examine the interplay between activist identity and self-expansion and their relationship with willingness to engage in future collective actions. Study 1 was conducted among activists and supporters of equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals; Study 2 involved participants in a nationwide charity event; and Study 3 included members of a religious group. The results showed a statistically significant positive relationship between self-perceived activist identity and collective action (CA) tendency (Studies 1, 2, and 3). Moreover, the interaction between activist identity and self-expansion plays a role in predicting CA, with self-expansion related to willingness to engage in progroup behaviors when activist identity is low but not when activist identity is high (Studies 2 and 3). This interaction statistically significantly predicted collective action tendency when nonmaterialistic relational self-expansion and nonrelational self-expansion were considered but not when materialistic self-expansion was tested (Study 3)