Psychological bases of anti‐immigration attitudes among populist voters

Abstract

The ascent of populism has been linked with economic and cultural disruptions of modernization. From this perspective, it could be implied that factors such as psychological insecurity and uncertainty are key in making voters gravitate toward the populist narrative. The present research aimed at highlighting the psychological determinants that uncertainties deriving from modernization processes may activate in populist voters. Specifically, we focused on immigration in Italy, investigating whether and how support for different populist parties relates to development of negative attitudes toward immigrants. Two samples of Italian adults (total N = 1655), who voted in the Italian general elections of March 4, 2018 took part in the research. Multigroup path analysis showed that assumption of anti‐immigration stances through the joint mediating role of Dangerous World Belief and Right‐Wing Authoritarianism was shared by different groups of populist voters. However, different populist voters differed in the strength of the path passing through Competitive Jungle World Belief and Social Dominance Orientation. Results underline the relevance of social worldviews and ideological attitudes in shaping the attitudes of the Italian populist electorate.

A measure of positive and negative perception of migration: Development and psychometric properties of the Positive and Negative Perception of Immigrants Scale (PANPIS)

“…Participants with a higher educational level were instead hypothesized to have a higher positive perception in comparison with those with a lower educational level (Cavaillé & Marshall, 2019). To analyze the concurrent validity, we took into account the relationships with Social Dominance Orientation (SDO) as individuals high in SDO view intergroup interactions as competitive and ruthless, and the presence of migrants may elicit the tendency to defend and maintain order and social stability through power and dominance, and through attitudes glorifying inequality (Panno, 2018; Panno et al., 2022; Pellegrini et al., 2022). For these reasons, we expected SDO to be positively related to a negative perception of immigrants and negatively related to a positive perception of immigrants.…”

Populist ideology, ideological attitudes, and anti-immigration attitudes as an integrated system of beliefs

“…The malleability of populist ideology suggests that support for it, and the assumption of certain stances on various social issues, might be explained by resorting to psychological proclivities and motives that are known as buttressing the endorsement of classical ideologies, as well as their policy implications (e.g., anti-immigration stances and redistribution of wealth). The motivational goals concerning social change or social inequality can represent key psychological dimensions in conveying these dynamics [e.g., [10][11][12]. RWA and SDO are the sociopolitical attitudes most attuned to the resistance to change and acceptance of inequality [e.g., [25][26][27][28].…”

“…Such parties embody the right-wing strain of populism [9]. Populism's ability to assume the semblance of more tightly structured ideologies suggests that its success and the appeal of its narratives might be linked to psychological factors that are key for endorsing classical ideologies, such as authoritarianism and egalitarianism [10][11][12]. Thus, the present research also aimed to explore how classical ideological attitudes indexed by right-wing authoritarianism [RWA; 13] and social dominance orientation [SDO; 14] relate within a network including populism's main narratives.…”

Multiple routes to immigration scepticism: The association between individual grievances and anti‐immigrant attitudes in Canada, Germany and the USA

“… 2 2 We control for populist attitudes following literature which suggests they are potentially a strong predictor of anti‐immigrant attitudes (Duckitt, 2001; Pellegrini et al, 2022). The logic is as follows: individuals with populist predispositions are more likely to see the world as threatening and dangerous, and as such are more likely to categorize the world in two opposite poles, that is, good and bad.…”

“…These are: (1) I am satisfied with the current state of the economy in my country, (2) my own cultural views and values are well represented in my home country, and (3) I feel safe walking around in my neighbourhood.2 We control for populist attitudes following literature which suggests they are potentially a strong predictor of anti-immigrant attitudes(Duckitt, 2001;Pellegrini et al, 2022). The logic is as follows: individuals with populist predispositions are more likely to see the world as threatening and dangerous, and as such are more likely to categorize the world in two opposite poles, that is, good and bad.…”