Reform or revolution? How progress and longstanding injustice narratives shape support for incremental versus radical social change

Abstract

Social change can take different forms, including incremental reforms within the existing system and radical transformations that dismantle and rebuild institutions. This research examined how historical trajectory narratives, specifically the progress narrative, and the longstanding injustice narrative, shape support for different types of social change. Across one experimental and two correlational studies (n_total = 2,520) with a diverse sample of Americans from different racial groups, we found that the progress narrative was associated with greater support for incremental change and for maintaining the status quo, but lower support for radical change. In contrast, the longstanding injustice narrative was linked to greater support for both radical and incremental change, and lower support for maintaining the status quo. Additionally, longstanding injustice increased attributions of racial disparities to racism and moral outrage (Study 2), and perceived moral failure of the country (Study 3), which in turn were associated with higher support for radical social change.

Keywords

historical narratives social change progress narrative racial injustice

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