Silenced voice: Social identity, (empathetic) collective angst, and the troubled referendum to empower Indigenous Australians

Abstract Public policies designed to empower historically victimized groups rely on support from members of the perpetrator group (the dominant majority), who may wrestle with two concerns: a collective angst for the future vitality (continuity, prosperity) of their national ingroup and an empathetic collective angst for the future vitality of the victim group. A two‐wave survey of non‐Indigenous Australians ( N = 797/410) pre and post the 2023 Australian referendum on constitutionally enshrining a parliamentary “Voice” for its Indigenous peoples showed that collective angst was negatively, and empathetic collective angst positively, related to intending to vote “Yes” if the “Voice” was seen to have material implications. Latent true change modeling showed that participants who voted “Yes” (relative to “No”) felt, following the failure of the referendum, increased collective and empathetic collective angst. The findings highlight the role of existential collective concerns and how these shape, and are shaped by, political processes.