Beyond Populism: The Psychology of Status-Seeking and Extreme Political Discontent

Abstract

<p>Modern democracies are currently experiencing destabilizing events including the emergence of demagogic leaders, the onset of street riots, circulation of misinformation and extremely hostile political engagements on social media. Some of the forms of discontent are commonly argued to be related to populism. In this chapter, however, we argue that the evolved psychology of status-seeking lies at the core of this syndrome of extreme political discontent. Thus, social status constitutes one of the key adaptive resources for any human, as it induces deference from others in conflicts of interest. Prior research has identified two routes to status: Privilege acquired through service and dominance acquired through coercion. We argue that extreme political discontent involves behaviors aimed at dominance through engagement in either individual aggression or in mobilization processes that facilitate coalitional aggression. Consistent with this, we empirically demonstrate that measures of status-seeking via dominance correlate with indices of a large number of extreme forms of political discontent and do so more strongly than a measure of populism. Finally, we argue that the reason why dominance strategies become activated in the context of modern democratic politics is that increased inequality activates heightened needs for status and, under such conditions, dominance for some groups constitutes a more attainable route to status than prestige.</p>

Some people just want to watch the world burn: the prevalence, psychology and politics of the ‘Need for Chaos’

“…Alternatively, some of the dynamics occasionally attributed to Right-wing populism (e.g. circulation of misinformation and preferences for strong leaders) may, in fact, reflect desires for chaos among some on the Rightwing rather than populist values [10]. We return to this below.…”

“…At the same time, however, not everyone who feels marginalized has a desire to 'watch the world burn'. In fact, an emerging line of research suggests that these highly disruptive sentiments, referred to as a Need for Chaos, are contingent on a particular set of psychological dispositions: an intense desire for social status [8][9][10]. Individuals vary in the degree to which they crave status and, when excluded, individuals who possess an intense desire for status are more likely to view disruption and chaos as a viable strategy for obtaining the status that they crave.…”

The Psychology of Online Political Hostility: A Comprehensive, Cross-National Test of the Mismatch Hypothesis

“…Instead, we contrast the mismatch hypothesis with existing research on hostility more broadly. Thus, it is notable that while mismatch-oriented explanations of online (political) hostility emphasize the role of fleeting states, research on offline hostility often emphasizes the role of stable psychological traits such as status seeking (Bartusevičius, van Leeuwen, and Petersen 2020;Petersen, Osmundsen, and Bor 2020). In this alternative view, the personality of discussants matters more for the hostility of a discussion than the platform where it takes place.…”

Young and Miller, Political Communication in Oxford Handbook of Poli Psych 3rd ed

“…Characteristics and dispositional traits like conflict orientation (Sydnor, 2019), need for uniqueness (Lantian et al, 2017), empathy (Simas, Clifford, & Kirkland, 2020) and statusseeking (Petersen, Osmundsen, & Bor, 2020) all help bridge the gap between political psychology and the social context in which political communication is increasingly embedded. Walther (2017) recommends scholars make use of meta-constructs that bridge the mediainterpersonal divide, including social meta-constructs like relationships, interactivity, mutual influence, and social goals.…”