Populist Attitudes, Subjective Social Status, and Resentment in Italy

Abstract

Social identity is relevant to political attitudes. Recent studies show that perceived social positions particularly shape populist attitudes. Italy is an interesting test case that has been scarcely investigated by previous research. Thus, using original data collected in 2021, this paper analyses populist attitudes in Italy and the relationship between subjective social status, status mismatch, and social resentment. This study finds that subjective status matters more than objective conditions for populist attitudes. Those who perceive themselves as being at the bottom of the social hierarchy tend to have higher levels of populist attitudes than the rest of the population. However, low social resentment can partially absorb the effect of low status. The paper provides original data from which novel insights into the debate on populism are discernible, appearing to stem more from individual perceptions than objective positions. The results also suggest some possible remedies against rising populist attitudes.