Personal values about change and status quo influence outsiders' appraisals of intergroup conflict

In three studies, we build on Schwartz’s (1992, 1994) work on universal values to explore the content and structure of individuals’ change and status quo values, to distinguish these values from other political ideologies and orientations, and to investigate the role of these values in shaping appraisals of intergroup conflict and collective action. In Study 1, we investigated the themes that underpin beliefs about change and the status quo. In Study 2, we created and validated separate measures to assess endorsement of change and status quo values, and show that they are distinct from related ideologies such as Social Dominance Orientation and Right-Wing Authoritarianism. Study 3 demonstrated that change values—but not status quo values—influence the contextual appraisals that outsiders make when they encounter a hypothetical group conflict for the first time. Endorsing change leads to appraisals of the conflict that are supportive of a low-status citizen protestor group, and increases collective action intentions on behalf of this group. In addition, endorsing change leads to appraisals that are not supportive of a high-status government group in conflict, and decreases collective action intentions on behalf of this group.