TY - JOUR
T1 - Will It Teach Them a Lesson? Validating a Measure of Retributive Efficacy in Social Issue Activism
AU - Skurka, Chris
N1 - Funding Information:
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1824212.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC part of Springer Nature.
Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - The public and policymakers have increasingly recognized the role that industry plays in contributing to societal issues, such as climate change and childhood obesity. In fact, many people now support punitive action against major corporations. The question then becomes: What beliefs factor into a person’s willingness to take political action against industry actors? I argue that one important predictor may be beliefs about whether the action will be effective at punishing the wrongdoer—a new concept I introduce called retributive efficacy. The goal of this investigation was to assess the psychometric properties of a novel measure of retributive efficacy. Across three studies and two social issues (climate change, childhood obesity), I demonstrate the reliability and validity of a retributive efficacy survey instrument. Specifically, I show that retributive efficacy is associated with (but is distinct from) other types of efficacy. I also provide evidence that retributive efficacy predicts intentions to participate in social issue activism and support for social policies, even when adjusting for the influence of demographics, covariates, and other forms of efficacy.
AB - The public and policymakers have increasingly recognized the role that industry plays in contributing to societal issues, such as climate change and childhood obesity. In fact, many people now support punitive action against major corporations. The question then becomes: What beliefs factor into a person’s willingness to take political action against industry actors? I argue that one important predictor may be beliefs about whether the action will be effective at punishing the wrongdoer—a new concept I introduce called retributive efficacy. The goal of this investigation was to assess the psychometric properties of a novel measure of retributive efficacy. Across three studies and two social issues (climate change, childhood obesity), I demonstrate the reliability and validity of a retributive efficacy survey instrument. Specifically, I show that retributive efficacy is associated with (but is distinct from) other types of efficacy. I also provide evidence that retributive efficacy predicts intentions to participate in social issue activism and support for social policies, even when adjusting for the influence of demographics, covariates, and other forms of efficacy.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85098708441&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85098708441&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s11109-020-09665-8
DO - 10.1007/s11109-020-09665-8
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85098708441
SN - 0190-9320
VL - 44
SP - 1559
EP - 1582
JO - Political Behavior
JF - Political Behavior
IS - 4
ER -