The social‐psychological bases of far‐right support in Europe and the United States

Abstract

The roles of authoritarianism, social dominance orientation (SDO), and prejudice in the prediction of far-right support were examined in Europe and the United States. A metaanalysis shows remarkably similar, positive, and strong associations of far-right support with these three variables in previous studies conducted in Europe, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Results from two cross-sectional studies in the United States further indicated that higher levels of authoritarianism and SDO related to higher voting intentions and support for Trump, via increased prejudice. In a three-wave longitudinal study in the United Kingdom, authoritarianism and SDO predicted pro-Brexit attitudes and support for the U.K. Independence Party, again via prejudice. These results shed a new light on the widely held beliefs in "American and British exceptionalism," as Trump and Brexit adherents share the same social-psychological underpinnings as far-right supporters observed in several European countries.

Understanding the psychological appeal of populism

“…When anchored in right-wing ideologies, populism is often coupled with nativism and authoritarianism (1,8,(10)(11)(12)(13) where an exclusive version of the national in-group becomes mobilised against key others who threaten 'our' system (14)(15)(16)(17). These 'others' are both the elites (usually defined in terms of education; vertical opposition) and foreigners or migrants (horizontal opposition) (5).…”

Introducing the Sociopolitical Motive × Intergroup Threat Model to Understand How Monoracial Perceivers’ Sociopolitical Motives Influence Their Categorization of Multiracial People

“…For example, consider Brexit, or the U.K.’s recent decision to leave the EU. Whereas some research has examined Brexit support using a subset of the theoretical perspectives incorporated in the SMIT model (e.g., Van Assche et al, 2019; Zmigrod et al, 2018), no research has incorporated all of the theoretical perspectives embedded in SMIT in combination (despite the relevance of each of the theories of social dominance, system justification, RWA, and social identity). Relatedly, existing research on Brexit has not examined how the specific intergroup threats made salient (e.g., because of “elite discourse” or news coverage) might activate certain sociopolitical motives (more than others) to drive Brexit support.…”

Egalitarianism: psychological and socio-ecological foundations

“…Decades of research conducted in multiple countries and cultures demonstrates that anti-egalitarianism measured in this way predicts support for ideologies, policies and behaviours that enhance versus attenuate disparities between social groups, including racism, sexism, fiscal conservatism, and harsh treatment of the poor, criminals, and immigrants [2,23,24]. SDO has emerged as a key explanatory variable in understanding even the most recent efforts to uphold intergroup hierarchy, such as through far-right nationalism and persecution of Muslims [25][26][27][28][29] (see also [30]), suggesting that such efforts are fueled by equality concerns that are ultimately grounded in dilemmas of resource distribution. This orientation is not only general, but enduring, and influential: new work using advanced longitudinal methods has demonstrated the stability of both sub-dimensions of SDO, as well as its ability to predict other social attitudes over time, already in adolescence [31] (see also [32,33]).…”