Collective Action on Behalf of Women: Testing the Conceptual Distinction Between Traditional Collective Action and Small Acts in College Women

The current study examines the nature of actions that U.S. college women ( N = 267) engage in to promote, protect, or enhance the welfare of other women. The study had two goals: 1) to distinguish between traditional forms of action ( traditional collective action ) and more informal, interpersonal, forms of action ( small acts ) among college women; and 2) to test whether the classic antecedents of collective action (gender identity, feminist identity, women’s activist identity, efficacy, appraisals of gender inequality, and injustice standards) are differentially predictive of these two types of participation. A confirmatory factor analysis provided strong support for these two distinct forms of participation: traditional collective action and small acts. Moreover, whereas women’s activist identity was the only predictor of traditional collective action, all predictors except gender identification and perceived group efficacy predicted small acts. Practical and theoretical implications for mobilizing college women for traditional collective action versus small acts are discussed.