“To Protect and to (Pre)serve”: The moderating effects of right-wing protective popular nationalism on aggressive tendencies toward ethnic minorities

Abstract

Right-wing protective popular nationalism (RWPPN) is concerned with the protection and preservation of national culture. It is theorized to arise from right popular nationalistic rhetoric based on a narrowly defined us and them. Using an online survey of 316 Australians (50.9% male; M_age = 45.46, SD = 15.97), we explored whether RWPPN moderated the relationship between nationally related constructs (collective narcissism, identity fusion, perceived threat, and flag displays) and aggressive tendencies toward ethnic minorities. Multiple regression analysis revealed that RWPPN positively predicted aggressive tendencies toward ethnic minorities and moderated the predictive ability of collective narcissism, identity fusion, and threat. The positive effects of collective narcissism and threat on aggressive tendencies were stronger for individuals with high RWPPN than for individuals with low RWPPN. Conversely, identity fusion was negatively associated with aggressive tendencies for individuals with high RWPPN but not among individuals with low RWPPN. Together, the results indicate that RWPPN is positively associated with aggressive tendencies toward ethnic minorities and moderates the effects of nationally related variables on these tendencies. Given its relationship with aggressive tendencies toward outgroups and the global rise of right-wing populism we argue that RWPPN should be identified and monitored in the international context.