{
  "id": 8739581,
  "title": "Why do people protest? Six decades of research points to social connections over personal grievances",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/20/why-do-people-protest-six-decades-of-research-points-to-social",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-09-20T18:00:07.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "PsyPost",
    "slug": "psypost",
    "url": "https://www.psypost.org/why-do-people-protest-six-decades-of-research-points-to-social-connections-over-personal-grievances/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "A comprehensive analysis of six decades of research on protest participation has revealed that social connections and political interest are the primary motivators for people to engage in protests, rather than personal grievances or distrust of the government. The study, published in Science Advances, emphasizes the importance of organizational memberships and digital media use in translating sentiments to physical action at marches and demonstrations. The researchers, Shelley Boulianne and Jennifer Earl, aimed to identify factors that distinguish individuals who participate in protests from those who remain passive, focusing specifically on physical marches and demonstrations. The findings highlight a persistent puzzle in the field of micromobilization, which investigates the individual decision to engage in collective action. Understanding what drives people to leave their homes for demonstrations remains a key focus in sociology and political science, as it sheds light on the process of moving from passive agreement to active political engagement.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}