A novel momentum-based intervention sustains real-life participation in a social movement

Abstract

Abstract Social protests can play a crucial role in shaping a nation’s direction. But what drives people to stay dedicated to a cause over time? This study was the first to implement a psychological intervention tournament ( N  = 1218) within the context of an ongoing social movement, testing the effectiveness of three psychological interventions in promoting sustained engagement in the pro-democracy protests in Israel in 2023, when citizens rallied against a proposed legal reform that threatened to weaken democracy. Our findings revealed that a momentum-based intervention effectively kept participants involved in the movement two and a half months post-exposure, outperforming morality-based and identity-based interventions. These results provide novel and valuable insights for sustaining social protests in pursuit of societal change.