Age differences in engagement in Hong Kong anti-extradition bill protest: the role of self-relevance

Older adults were found to be less involved in non-institutional political actions than younger people did, and our previous work found that self-relevance mediated this age difference. In this study, we attempted to replicate the finding in a real-life social movement. We recruited 1037 participants (aged 18-84) during the anti-extradition bill movement in Hong Kong in September 2019. They responded to questions of how relevant and important the movement was to them, and whether they had taken part in a list of 8 political actions (e.g. signing petitions, joining rallies). Older adults indeed participated less in the movement compared with younger adults, and the age difference could partly be attributed to a lower perceived relevance of the movement. The finding suggested emphasizing on self-relevance as a potential way to promote political participation in older adults.