Scientists say they've pinpointed the reasons why people protest. They're

There are many reasons why people protest, but researchers in the Netherlands say they've teased out the motivations fueling the desire to join public demonstrations like the Black Lives Matter rallies happening across the country in the wake of George Floyd's killing. Psychologist Bert Klandermans and sociologist Jacquelien van Stekelenburg, both of VU Amsterdam, looked at the social psychology literature on protests since the 1950s. They mainly looked at books and articles about protest analysis with a social psychological approach, and focused on Western democratic countries, van Stekelenburg told Insider. The authors say you can think of protest as a type of market metaphor — the type seen in an economics class. In economics, consumers demand a product and suppliers give it to them. Enough aggrieved citizens will demand protests, and then organizations will need to help supply them by coordinating when and where a protest happens. Van Stekelenburg equates the role of marketing in economics to mobilization, or getting people from their homes and into the streets, for protests. Marketers identify demands and help lead consumers to the best product for that demand. Protest mobilizers see that people are angry and help guide protesters to the street at a certain date and time. While it may sound crass, you can think of why people protest as why they would buy a product. The reasons why protests occur are unique, and the paper focused on social psychology and not behavioral economics. The study, published in Current Sociology Review in 2013, found five main factors behind why people protest — and they mirror what we see in Black Lives Matter demonstrations today. Demonstrators protest against racial inequality in the aftermath of the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on June 6, 2020. Bastiaan Slabbers/ReutersCitizens must be angry about something, which creates a demand for change.''Most of the time, nothing happens, '' Klandermans said. ''They're angry, they're angry, and they are angry, and then nothing happens. ''But Klandermans explained that when a grassroots organization or a political leader comes along, they can help mobilize these angry citizens into action. Efficacy is an individual's belief that they can change their conditions or policies through protest, the researchers wrote. They base this statement on 2008 research finding that those who feel high efficacy are also more likely to participate in a protest. The authors also used older research from 1999 suggesting that group rather than personal efficacy prompted people to protest. Mariah Parker has been the Athens-Clarke county commissioner for Athens, Georgia, since 2018. Parker helped organize protests for a variety of issues and has recently participated in some of the past 10 Black Lives Matter demonstrations in the college town.''We have all the energy as young folks, '' Parker told Insider.

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