Sharing values as a foundation for collective hope
Author(s) / Creator(s)
Harré, Niki
Madden, Helen
Brooks, Rowan
Goodman, Jonathan
Abstract / Description
A widespread “tale of terror” amongst those seeking social change is that people in modern Western societies are caught in a neo-liberal paradigm and have come to care most about materialism, individual success and status. Our research attempted to challenge this tale. Study 1 involved New Zealand participants (N = 1085) from largely, but not exclusively, left-leaning groups. We used an open-ended process to identify their “infinite” values (that which they consider of value for its own sake); and found these concerned connection to people and other life forms, expression, nature, personal strengths, vitality, and spirituality. Systems and regulations, success and status, money, ownership and domination were named as of “finite” value (of value because of what they signify or enable). These findings suggest that our participants readily distinguished between what is inherently valuable and what is of instrumental value or signifies social status. Study 2 (N = 121) investigated participants’ responses to a word cloud that displayed the infinite values identified in Study 1. These were predominantly a sense of belonging to a human community, reassurance, and feeling uplifted and hopeful. We suggest that the word cloud offered a “tale of joy” showing that, contrary to standard neo-liberal rhetoric, people do care deeply about the common good. We also suggest that such a tale is critical to social movements that depend on a sense of collective hope.
Keyword(s)
values social movements collective hope narratives action research trust intrinsic values instrumental valuesPersistent Identifier
Date of first publication
2017-08-02
Journal title
Journal of Social and Political Psychology
Volume
5
Issue
2
Page numbers
342–366
Publisher
PsychOpen GOLD
Publication status
publishedVersion
Review status
peerReviewed
Is version of
Citation
Harré, N., Madden, H., Brooks, R., & Goodman, J. (2017). Sharing values as a foundation for collective hope. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 5(2), 342–366. https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.v5i2.742
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jspp.v5i2.742.pdfAdobe PDF - 2.14MBMD5: 4ea2643f0b8b76f86457841f96bf4b21
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There are no other versions of this object.
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Harré, Niki
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Madden, Helen
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Brooks, Rowan
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Goodman, Jonathan
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PsychArchives acquisition timestamp2018-11-26T12:45:52Z
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Made available on2018-11-26T12:45:52Z
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Date of first publication2017-08-02
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Abstract / DescriptionA widespread “tale of terror” amongst those seeking social change is that people in modern Western societies are caught in a neo-liberal paradigm and have come to care most about materialism, individual success and status. Our research attempted to challenge this tale. Study 1 involved New Zealand participants (N = 1085) from largely, but not exclusively, left-leaning groups. We used an open-ended process to identify their “infinite” values (that which they consider of value for its own sake); and found these concerned connection to people and other life forms, expression, nature, personal strengths, vitality, and spirituality. Systems and regulations, success and status, money, ownership and domination were named as of “finite” value (of value because of what they signify or enable). These findings suggest that our participants readily distinguished between what is inherently valuable and what is of instrumental value or signifies social status. Study 2 (N = 121) investigated participants’ responses to a word cloud that displayed the infinite values identified in Study 1. These were predominantly a sense of belonging to a human community, reassurance, and feeling uplifted and hopeful. We suggest that the word cloud offered a “tale of joy” showing that, contrary to standard neo-liberal rhetoric, people do care deeply about the common good. We also suggest that such a tale is critical to social movements that depend on a sense of collective hope.en_US
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Publication statuspublishedVersion
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Review statuspeerReviewed
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CitationHarré, N., Madden, H., Brooks, R., & Goodman, J. (2017). Sharing values as a foundation for collective hope. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 5(2), 342–366. https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.v5i2.742en_US
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ISSN2195-3325
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Persistent Identifierhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12034/1451
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Persistent Identifierhttps://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.1838
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Language of contenteng
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PublisherPsychOpen GOLD
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Is version ofhttps://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.v5i2.742
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Keyword(s)valuesen_US
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Keyword(s)social movementsen_US
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Keyword(s)collective hopeen_US
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Keyword(s)narrativesen_US
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Keyword(s)action researchen_US
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Keyword(s)trusten_US
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Keyword(s)intrinsic valuesen_US
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Keyword(s)instrumental valuesen_US
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Dewey Decimal Classification number(s)150
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TitleSharing values as a foundation for collective hopeen_US
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DRO typearticle
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Issue2
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Journal titleJournal of Social and Political Psychology
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Page numbers342–366
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Volume5
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Visible tag(s)Version of Record