Who's to blame for failed integration of immigrants? Blame attributions as an affectively polarizing force in lay discussions of immigration in Finland

Abstract

Increasing expression of antagonism toward immigrants has turned immigration into one of the most polarizing issues in many countries, among them Finland, dividing people into those who favor and those who oppose immigration. But while affective polarization of the kind exemplified by widespread responses to immigration has recently received increasing attention from political psychologists, little attention has been paid to how affective polarization develops through the mutual reinforcement of opposing discourses. The application of critical discursive psychology to interviews with lay Finns reveals this mutual reinforcement in progress. In our interviews, Finns across the political spectrum construct five subject positions by attributing blame for immigration‐related challenges. Both sides blame some “other” for the challenges while exempting themselves from blame. Our study makes three contributions to political psychology: exploring how blame attribution helps to generate affective polarization, illustrating the ability of (critical) discursive psychology to illuminate processes of affective polarization in individuals, and bringing the concept of affective polarization drawn from survey research into dialogue with the concept of subject positions constructed by blame attribution drawn from discursive studies of populism.

‘Like we definitely have to go greener, but…’: Analysing affective–discursive practices in populist environmental discourse

“…In sum, our findings of the nuanced constructions of identities, affect and complex reasoning in lay discourse suggest that the sceptical environmental discourse may persist precisely due to the affective and polarized nature of environmental issues. Adopting the affective-discursive approach has contributed novel insights into qualitative research on the phenomenon of affective polarization (Rovamo et al, 2023). As politicized and polarized environmental questions have risen to the forefront of the agendas of right-wing populist parties, understanding the underlying affective and polarizing forces among laypeople is important.…”