The psychology of revolution

Fathali M Moghaddam; Margaret J Hendricks

doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2020.02.004

The psychology of revolution

Curr Opin Psychol. 2020 Oct:35:7-11. doi: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2020.02.004. Epub 2020 Feb 20.

Authors

Fathali M Moghaddam¹, Margaret J Hendricks²

Affiliations

¹ 3700 O St. NW, White Gravenor Hall (3rd Floor), Georgetown University, Washington, DC, 20057, USA. Electronic address: moghaddf@georgetown.edu.
² 3700 O St. NW, White Gravenor Hall (3rd Floor), Georgetown University, Washington, DC, 20057, USA.

PMID: 32193084
DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2020.02.004

Abstract

Revolutions are attempts to forcibly overthrow the political and social order. However, most revolutions fail to generate longer-term psychological changes to bring about a match between the behavior of the population and the espoused goals of the revolution. Attempts by the new ruling 'revolutionary' elite to re-establish order in society often result in a resurgence of repression and corruption, and imprisonment for those considered 'anti-revolutionary'. Recent psychological research on revolutions explains this failure through limitations in political plasticity, the speed and extent to which political behavior does or does not change, which constrain the impact a revolution can have on individual and collective behavior.

Publication types

Review