Kelly Bergstrand, Ph.D.
http://hdl.handle.net/10106/26881
2024-03-29T10:06:35Z
2024-03-29T10:06:35Z
Threat and Emotions: Mobilizing and Attitudinal Outcomes of a Ballistic Missile Scare
Bergstrand, Kelly
Robertson, Christopher
http://hdl.handle.net/10106/30249
2023-10-24T17:31:05Z
2020-01-01T00:00:00Z
Threat and Emotions: Mobilizing and Attitudinal Outcomes of a Ballistic Missile Scare
Bergstrand, Kelly; Robertson, Christopher
**Please note that the full text is embargoed** ABSTRACT: This study examines the false ballistic missile alert that occurred in Hawaii in 2018, which presented a unique opportunity for assessing the civic and mobilizing outcomes of a threat. In the days that followed the scare, we conducted an online experiment to investigate its effects on willingness to engage in activism and concerns about broader issues. Our results show that emotions serve as an important mechanism for channeling threat experiences into concern about specific causes. Those most emotionally affected by the missile scare in Hawaii thought it more important to engage in activities to control the spread of nuclear weapons, protect the environment, and address climate change, relative to a control group on the mainland. Both the intensity and type of emotion play a role. These results shed light on the role of threats and grievances in shaping concern about social and environmental issues. They also suggest that emotions may serve as a bridge that can connect personal, concrete, lived-experiences to more abstract, complex, or future-oriented issues and grievances. [This is a post print version of an article published by Oxford University Press in Society for the Study of Social Problems in 2020, available online: https://doi.org/10.1093/socpro/spaa048 ]
2020-01-01T00:00:00Z
Villains, Victims, and Heroes in Character Theory and Affect Control Theory
Bergstrand, Kelly
Jasper, James M.
http://hdl.handle.net/10106/29586
2023-10-24T17:29:43Z
2018-01-01T00:00:00Z
Villains, Victims, and Heroes in Character Theory and Affect Control Theory
Bergstrand, Kelly; Jasper, James M.
**Please note that the full text is embargoed** ABSTRACT: We examine three basic tropes—villain, victim, and hero—that emerge in images, claims, and narratives. We compare recent research on characters with the predictions of an established tradition, affect control theory (ACT). Combined, the theories describe core traits of the villain-victim-hero triad and predict audiences’ reactions. Character theory (CT) can help us understand the cultural roots of evaluation, potency, and activity profiles and the robustness of profile ratings. It also provides nuanced information regarding multiplicity in, and subtypes of, characters and how characters work together to define roles. Character types can be strategically deployed in political realms, potentially guiding strategies, goals, and group dynamics. ACT predictions hold up well, but CT suggests several paths for extension and
elaboration. In many cases, cultural research and social psychology work on parallel tracks, with little cross-talk. They have much to learn from each other. [This is a postprint of an article published by SAGE Publications/American Sociological Association in Social Psychology Quarterly (SPQ) on 2018. DOI: 10.1177/0190272518781050]
2018-01-01T00:00:00Z
“The Community Helped Me:” Community Cohesion and Environmental Concerns in Personal Assessments of Post-Disaster Recovery
Bergstrand, Kelly
Mayer, Brian
http://hdl.handle.net/10106/29585
2023-10-24T17:27:52Z
2020-01-01T00:00:00Z
“The Community Helped Me:” Community Cohesion and Environmental Concerns in Personal Assessments of Post-Disaster Recovery
Bergstrand, Kelly; Mayer, Brian
**Please note that the full text is embargoed** ABSTRACT: This study investigates long-term appraisals of community recovery after a major environmental disaster. Specifically, we conducted a survey of 351 individuals living in coastal counties in Alabama and Florida on the five-year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Using mixed methods that combined content analysis and ordinary least squares regression, we find that residents who believe they live in a community where neighbors help each other are more likely to see their communities as recovering. Conversely, reporting major effects from environmental problems, like lost fishing income, reduces perceptions of community recovery. Five years after the oil spill a majority of respondents saw little economic recovery and almost half perceived low environmental recovery. This reflects the importance of the environment to the long-term health and success of areas dependent on natural resources. It also suggests the need
for directing funding toward community-level programs and preserving shared natural resources post-disaster. [This is a published version of an article published by International Association for Society and Natural Resources/ Routledge in
Society and Natural Resources on 2020 Jan., available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/08941920.2019.1709002.]
2020-01-01T00:00:00Z
The Advantaged Cause: Affect Control Theory and Social Movements
Bergstrand, Kelly
http://hdl.handle.net/10106/29584
2023-10-24T17:26:18Z
2019-01-01T00:00:00Z
The Advantaged Cause: Affect Control Theory and Social Movements
Bergstrand, Kelly
**Please note that the full text is embargoed** ABSTRACT: The role of grievances in drawing public concern and activist support is a surprisingly understudied topic in modern
social movement literature. This research is the first to parse issues into core components to understand whether
some grievances are more successful than others in evoking reactions that can benefit social movements. Specifically,
I use concepts and measures developed by affect control theory scholars that tap into cultural perceptions of the
goodness or badness of behaviors and identities to investigate how people react to different configurations of good or
bad perpetrators, behaviors, and victims in mobilizing events. I find strong support, across outcomes, that evaluations
of goodness and badness in grievances affect people’s willingness to care about an issue or support a campaign. This
provides insights into both the types of movements more likely to be successful as well as the types of social problems
less likely to draw public support. [This is a published version of an article published by
SAGE Publications in Socius. © The Author(s) 2019. Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/2378023119841811]
2019-01-01T00:00:00Z