Journal of Theoretical Social Psychology最新文献

Populist attitudes have been shown to predict voting behavior. These attitudes consist of a belief that everyday citizens are better judges of what is best for their own country than politicians and that the political elites are corrupt. As such, a clear “us” (pure and good everyday citizens) and “them” (the evil political elite) rhetoric is present. In the present research, we propose that identification with the government may predict whether people would vote for, and whether they have voted in the past for, a populist party (either from the political left or the political right). The present research (N = 562), carried out among French citizens, showed that lower government identification related to past voting behavior, current voting intentions and likelihood to switch from a non-populist to a populist party. Identification with the government was also negatively associated to intention to abstain from voting. Moreover, government identification was a stronger predictor of these voting-related outcomes than the recently developed populist attitudes measures. Unexpectedly, national identification was a not a significant predictor of voting behavior. In conclusion, the present research suggests that the extent to which citizens identify and feel represented by the government should be considered on par with populist attitudes in understanding support for populist parties. Perceiving that the government does not represent everyday people may be sufficient to abandon support for mainstream (non-populist) political parties.

Can understanding social representations of home unpack the central empty signifier of populism—the “true people”? Nationalist exclusionary forms of populism use home, birthplace, and born and bred narratives to frame sections of the population as Other. “Go Home” vans in the United Kingdom, Donald Trump's use of birther rhetoric during his previous presidential candidacy and the Sweden Democrats mobilization of folkhemmet (people's home) to question migrant welfare contributions together illustrate how nationalist populism works. Populism uses threat and insecurity, related to home, to make hegemonic a protectionist and reified worldview of home as stable, bounded and historically continuous. This article examines how populist rhetoric of home compares to people's actual social representations of home. Using cross-European interviews (N = 76) we find the dynamics of home relate to three social representations—home as a threatened space, home as birthplace, and home as a lifespan journey. These are articulated through a dialogical self engaged in transnational and intergenerational dialogue. The evidence of dynamic, dialogical, and relationally continuous representations of home points to the value of further examination of alternative social representations of home. This articulation could counter protectionist rhetoric associated with both vertical (ordinary/elite) and horizontal (people/migrant) dimensions of nationalist populism.

What are the psychological processes responsible for the recent spread of populist political systems and movements? All political systems essentially reflect the mental representations of their populations, and collective narcissism has recently emerged as a contributing factor in the rise of populism. This article presents two studies examining the role of collective narcissism in predicting populist attitudes and voting intentions in Hungary. Hungary offers a particularly important case study of state-sponsored populism and illiberalism in Europe, as this country has gone furthest in undermining democratic principles and practices within the EU. To establish the pervasive role of collective narcissism we first review the historical evidence, survey research, and narrative analyses of Hungarian political representations. We then present two empirical studies where we predicted and found that collective narcissism was a significant predictor of negative attitudes toward the EU (Study 1), conservatism, and support for the ruling populist party (Studies 1 and 2). Collective narcissism predicted these variables independently from other factors, such as in-group positivity or perceived relative deprivation. However, once conservatism was controlled for the effects of collective narcissism faded out in some cases. The results nevertheless indicate that collective narcissism plays important role in promoting populist politics. The implications of these findings for understanding the psychological appeal of populism and illiberalism are discussed.

Scholars and commentators have argued that national nostalgia forms a germane element of the rhetoric of populist radical right parties (PRRP). We addressed the national nostalgia component of PRRP ideology with respect to voters. Relying on political science theorizing and social psychological evidence, we proposed that national nostalgia forms a new emotion-based explanation for PRRP support within the cultural grievance framework. National nostalgia reflects grievances over perceived loss of the ethnically and culturally homogeneous moral community. Such grievances are subsequently mobilized by PRRP to justify and increase the persuasiveness of their nativist ideology. We hypothesized that voters who experience higher national nostalgia would evince stronger support for PRRP, due to national nostalgia's association with endorsement of PRRP's nativist ideology (i.e., ethnic nationhood and anti-Muslim attitudes). We tested this hypothesis by surveying a representative sample of native majority members in The Netherlands (N = 1,934). The results were consistent with the hypothesis, highlighting the relevance of national nostalgia for understanding PRRP success.

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.

The present research proposed a theoretical distinction among various stereotypes that we predicted would moderate their malleability in implicit person perception: the extent to which the stereotypes can be learned and validated with minimal or no indirect inference (i.e., their observability). We hypothesized that observable stereotypes would be less malleable than unobservable stereotypes in implicit person perception in the presence of counterstereotypic individuating information. This main hypothesis was tested in four studies, as were two alternative hypotheses that all implicit stereotype-relevant evaluations would show evidence of fast-learning, and that all such evaluations would provide support for slow-learning. Studies 1 and 2 tested these predictions in the domain of an observable (Study 1) and an unobservable (Study 2) racial stereotype, and Studies 3 and 4 in the domain of an observable (Study 3) and an unobservable (Study 4) gender stereotype. Considered as an aggregate, Studies 1 and 2 provided strong support for the hypothesis that the observability of an implicit stereotype would moderate its malleability. Studies 3 and 4 showed only limited support for this hypothesis. However, when all four studies were considered together, the hypothesis was supported. The finding that observable stereotypes in implicit person perception are less malleable than unobservable stereotypes is discussed in the context of current debates regarding the processes underlying implicit and explicit social cognition.

If asked to destroy a dollar bill, one would likely hesitate. After all, the destruction of the dollar bill equals the loss of its economic value. Yet the reluctance to destroy a dollar bill may also stem from social knowledge—the fact that it exists in the minds of many members of one's valued group. Here, we investigate whether social knowledge of money increases people's reluctance to destroy it. We create a fictional currency and vary the social knowledge of its existence across experimental conditions. Results across three studies suggest that people are slower to destroy more socially known currency without liking it more. Our findings suggest that money can be respected when it is merely known by many, without being necessarily liked by them.

According to the job demands–resources model, job demands (or hindrances) can drain energy and yield physiological and psychological costs by requiring sustained physical and/or mental effort at work. Using self-determination theory, the current study examined the associations among role conflict (as a proxy for job demands), frustration of the basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness, mindfulness, and employees’ health and work-related functioning. In line with hypotheses, the results revealed an indirect effect of role conflict on burnout, somatic symptom burden, and turnover intentions through basic psychological need frustration. Further, these indirect effects were moderated by mindfulness, such that the mediation by basic psychological need frustration was less evident among individuals who reported higher levels of mindfulness. Taken together, these findings contribute to a small but growing literature on the benefits of mindfulness in organizational settings.

This research examines how supervisor–subordinate relational dynamics influence how individuals become bound to their work unit. As such, it addresses recent calls for theory-driven research into the psychological mechanisms that influence relational identity formation as well as related organizational outcomes. The work integrates self-determination and identity theory as a means of exploring nuanced relationships that clarify how role perceptions impact supervisor–employee and unit relationships. Data were collected from 259 nurses from two healthcare organizations. The questionnaire included measures of perceived competence, perceived autonomy, identification with supervisor, and normative unit commitment and demographic descriptors. A proposed model was tested via mediated-moderation regression analyses. Consistent with predictions, nurses' perceptions of their competence were found to interact with their experience of autonomy in their work to influence their identification with supervisor such that stronger competence perceptions effect identification when employees also experience higher autonomy. Further, this interaction was found to work through supervisor identification as well as to directly influence employee normative commitment to their unit. This investigation strengthens our understanding of how supervisors can positively impact subordinates' connectedness to their work unit. To this end, we elaborate how the supervisor, as a prototypical representative in the unit, helps bridge employee empowerment and unit commitment.