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This study investigates how the nature of grievances can provide advantages or disadvantages to social movements. I use an experimental design to test the effects of loss aversion and omission bias on people's reactions toward grievances and the campaigns that seek to address them. The results indicate that grievances involving a loss are perceived as more immoral, unjust, and important than grievances involving a gain. Loss-based grievances also generate stronger emotions, increase willingness to engage in activism, and produce perceptions of greater public support. Similarly, grievances resulting from a commission (action), as compared to an omission (inaction), are seen as more immoral, unjust, and important. Commission-based grievances direct attribution of blame toward perpetrators, evoke higher levels of emotions, and increase willingness to participate in campaigns. These findings provide support for the idea that not all grievances are created equal in their ability to appeal to and potentially mobilize the public.

This study investigates how the nature of grievances can provide advantages or disadvantages to social movements. I use an experimental design to test the effects of loss aversion and omission bias on people's reactions toward grievances and the campaigns that seek to address them. The results indicate that grievances involving a loss are perceived as more immoral, unjust, and important than grievances involving a gain. Loss-based grievances also generate stronger emotions, increase willingness to engage in activism, and produce perceptions of greater public support. Similarly, grievances resulting from a commission (action), as compared to an omission (inaction), are seen as more immoral, unjust, and important. Commission-based grievances direct attribution of blame toward perpetrators, evoke higher levels of emotions, and increase willingness to participate in campaigns. These findings provide support for the idea that not all grievances are created equal in their ability to appeal to and potentially mobilize the public. Adapted from the source document.

Does experiencing an environmental disaster have the transformative power to change people's attitudes, behaviors, and political actions? Do these effects persist in the longer term? And what elements of environmental disasters are most effective at spurring change?Using survey data collected in two affected coastal counties around the five-year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, we find that many residents reported mobilizing effects from the disaster: over two-thirds of respondents participated in political activities, about half engaged in environmentally-friendly lifestyle changes, and about half of the respondents reported more concern for the environment. We also investigate whether certain grievancesare more or less powerful in their transformative consequences, and differentiate damagescaused by perceived economic losses, social corrosion, physical health effects, ecological degradation, and emotional reactions. Interestingly, the strongest predictor of political, behavioral, or attitudinal changes was whether residents were affected emotionally by the oil spill, like feeling angry or distressed. Surprisingly, perceived economic losses had few effects, with the exception of becoming more opposed to offshore drilling. These results suggest that environmental threats can motivate political, lifestyle, or attitudinal changesand that certain elements of the experience may have more mobilizing power than others.

AbstractThis article documents the role of uncertainty in social exchange. Specifically, it reviews how social exchange theorists incorporate uncertainty when explaining psychological processes and social behaviors. After identifying and examining the structural roots of uncertainty, the article addresses how uncertainty affects actor behavior and attitude formation, from curbing power use to promoting the development of more committed, trusting and cohesive exchange partnerships. By assessing the consequences of uncertainty and risk for social exchange, this article contributes to sociological knowledge about the nature and form of relationships in an uncertain world.

Increasingly, colleges and universities are relying on fully online classes to teach students. This article investigates how students evaluate online courses in comparison to more traditional face-to-face courses. Data come from undergraduate student evaluations of 118 sociology courses, and results of a series of hierarchical linear models indicate that students feel they have learned less in online courses, believe they are treated with more respect in in-class courses, and rate online courses less highly than in-class courses. Findings also suggest that the negative effects of teaching online are not universal for instructors, as the switch to online classes actually results in better evaluations for teachers who typically perform poorly in the classroom. These findings caution against the broad use of online sociology classes as a strategy for coping with increasing enrollments and shrinking budgets and suggest educators should select the course format that best complements their teaching strengths and skills.