Psychological Research on Urban Society
Vol. 8, No. 1

“Silence is Golden:” Explaining the Silent Majority Based on Fatalism, Culture, and National Attachments

Mashuri, Ali (Unknown)
Nurmala, Sukma (Unknown)
Zaduqisti, Esti (Unknown)



Article Info

Publish Date
30 Apr 2025

Abstract

Why do citizens tend to be silent about a country’s social, political, or economic problems? The silent majority refers to most members of society not support or engage in collective action to protest injustice. This study aimed to explain the silent majority’s psychosocial dynamics and fill the research gaps in the psychology literature that focuses on collective action and its determining factors. The study’s participants (N = 349), recruited using convenience sampling, were undergraduate and graduate students from several universities in Indonesia. In our study, the psychosocial characteristics of the silent majority included fatalism, cultural dimensions (i.e., power distance, uncertainty avoidance, collectivism, and masculinity), and national attachments (i.e., national identification and nationalism). Fatalism was the most significant predictor of the silent majority, with substantial mediating effects on the role of cultural dimensions in strengthening the silent majority. The findings revealed that nationalism significantly moderated the relationship between fatalism and the silent majority. Specifically, the positive relationship between fatalism and the silent majority was significantly stronger among participants with high, rather than low, levels of nationalism. These observations imply that fatalistic beliefs, the cultural characteristics of society’s members, and national pride underlie the psychosocial dynamics of the silent majority.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

publication:proust

Publisher

Subject

Arts Humanities Education Immunology & microbiology Social Sciences

Description

Psychological Research on Urban Society (PRoUSt) welcomes excellent empirical and theoretical contributions to applied research related to the psychology of urban issues. Reviews are also welcome, as are replications of previous research. Articles deal with all fields on urban society, such as urban ...