Populist Words Speak Louder? Ideology-Inconsistent Personalization and Voting for Populist Candidates

Abstract

The private background of populist politicians oftentimes seemingly contradicts the populist ideology—which can be taken up in political communication. Using two experiments (nStudy 1 = 734; nStudy 2 = 568), we investigate the effects of such ideology-inconsistent personalization on the evaluation of and voting for a populist candidate. We manipulate the politician’s localness and social class (Study 1) and traditionalism in family life (Study 2). Results reveal a number of effects on candidate evaluation which translated into voting intentions. An upper-class background of the populist politician yielded negative effects, but less so among populist voters. However, references to a cosmopolitan biography decreased perceived trustworthiness among all participants. Surprisingly, a nontraditional (i.e., homosexual) relationship was beneficial for a (female) populist.