Vol.:(0123456789) Social Indicators Research (2023) 168:79–98 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-023-03094-w 1 3 ORIGINAL RESEARCH Why Hong Kong People Rebel: The Role of Economic Frustration, Political Discontent and National Identity in Non‑Institutional Political Participation Xi Chen 1  · Alfred M. Wu 2  · Fen Lin 3 Accepted: 6 March 2023 / Published online: 16 May 2023 © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. 2023 Abstract There are ongoing debates regarding the causes of social movements in recent decades in Hong Kong. Whether economic frustration or political discontent promotes Hong Kong residents’ non-institutional political participation (NiPP) remains an unanswered but important question. This study is an investigation of how perceived relative deprivation, democratic values, and attitudes toward Mainland China may infuence Hong Kong resi- dents’ participation in collective action. The analysis of a random sampling survey in 2017 (N = 919) showed that 35.4% of the respondents had participated in protests, strikes, or online collective actions. Young, single and male respondents, and those with higher edu- cation levels and incomes were more likely to engage in NiPP. Our results reveal a mixed impact of relative deprivation on NiPP: while perceived unfairness contributed to NiPP, perceived social status was positively associated with NiPP. In contrast, perceived mobil- ity had no signifcant efect on NiPP. Moreover, respondents scoring higher in democratic values were more likely to participate in non-institutional political movements. However, the attitude toward Mainland China, serving as a system-justifcation mechanism, afected the possibility of collective actions and moderated the efect of democratic values. These empirical fndings ofer nuance to understandings of the social and political turbulence in Hong Kong. Keywords Non-institutional political participation · Relative deprivation · Democratic values · Political identity · Hong Kong · China * Fen Lin fenlin@cityu.edu.hk 1 Department of Sociology and Social Policy, Lingnan University, Tuen Mun, Hong Kong 2 Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore 3 Department of Media and Communication, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.