The Anti-Social Triad of Grievance Politics: An Integrated Model of Reactionism, Ressentiment, and Collective Narcissism

We investigate the antecedents of affective polarization in the American public, and focus specifically on the driving role of exposure to darker forms of campaign communication (negativity, incivility, populist rhetoric) and the intervening role of individual populist attitudes. Experimental evidence was gathered among a sample of US respondents (MTurk, N = 1,081); respondents were randomly exposed to a campaign message from a fictive candidate framed either positively or negatively, and afterwards asked to express their attitudes towards Democrats and Republicans. Results show that exposure to harsher forms of campaign negativity (character attacks associated with political incivility and populist messages) drives affective polarization upwards when compared to exposure to positive messages. We also show both a direct and moderating effect of populist attitudes: populist individuals are more likely to “like” negative campaign messages (they find them more amusing and fairer) and report higher levels of affective polarization. Furthermore, exposure to negative messages is associated with greater affective polarization particularly among respondents high in populist attitudes.

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Limits of self and Other xenosophic responsiveness: Including complex emotions, power differences and possible futures

Sullivan,

Wijayanti

2024

Possibility Studies & Society

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In a complementary commentary on Streib, we highlight complexities of self and Other responsiveness when researching and attempting to enact xenosophic alternatives to xenophobic relations with a wide range of others and including related problematic forms of personal and group ‘egocentricity’. Using our similar attempts to be reflexive in theory and practice about self and Other responsiveness in our own social, political, community and cultural psychology research (extending Streib’s focus on developmental psychology), we use the later philosophical approach of Ludwig Wittgenstein – rather than the phenomenological philosophy of Waldenfels – to explore instances of self and ‘extraordinary Other’ relations via examples of everyday and form-of-life disagreements. We then focus on complex emotions and investigations of affective and discursive patterned features of self and Other relations to highlight features of responsiveness and collective wisdom evident in a dynamic typology of group-based and collective pride, shame and guilt relations in contexts of celebration, competition, challenge and conflict. The need to explore the limits of self and extraordinary Other responsiveness is shown by considering how possible futures and power considerations might lead us to step back from potentially becoming other to ourselves.

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The Anti-Social Triad of Grievance Politics: An Integrated Model of Reactionism, Ressentiment, and Collective Narcissism

Cited by 4 publications

References 59 publications

Towards a Moral Emotional Antagonism in Political Rhetoric? Our Conclusion

Towards a Moral Emotional Antagonism in Political Rhetoric? Our Conclusion

Polarized Populists: Dark Campaigns, Affective Polarization, and the Moderating Role of Populist Attitudes

Limits of self and Other xenosophic responsiveness: Including complex emotions, power differences and possible futures

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