The Emotional Underpinnings of Populism: How Anger and Fear Affect Populist Attitudes

Guillem Rico · Marc Guinjoan · Eva Anduiza

468 citations0/0 files storedSwiss Political Science Review

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Populism, Right-Wing Movements Electoral Systems and Political Participation Social and Intergroup Psychology

Abstract

Abstract Popular accounts of populist movements often point to negative emotions as a key motivating factor underlying their support. However, little systematic research has been devoted to examining differences in how distinct negative emotions affect levels of populism among voters. This paper attempts to fill this gap by focusing on the influence of the two emotions most frequently connected to populism in political commentary: fear and anger. Informed by appraisal theories of emotions, we hypothesize that populist attitudes are driven by feelings of anger, rather than fear. Using a three‐wave online panel survey of Spanish citizens between 2014 and 2016, we find that anger expressed over the economic crisis is consistently associated with variations in support for populism both between individuals and over time, whereas no significant effects emerge for expressions of fear. We discuss the implications of these findings for understanding the nature of populist support.

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References

1991Emotion And Adaptation 2004The Populist Zeitgeist 1983Mood, misattribution, and judgments of well-being: Informative and directive functions of affective states.2003Political conservatism as motivated social cognition.2007Populist Radical Right Parties in Europe 2005What are emotions? And how can they be measured?1985Patterns of cognitive appraisal in emotion.2017Populism: A Very Short Introduction

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