Threat and Sensibility: An experiment on the effect of intergroup threat and emotions on political attitudes and action
(2021) PSPR14 20211Department of Psychology
- Abstract
- This study aimed to investigate the influence of threat inducing right-wing populist communication on emotions, attitude and political action intentions. The study applied an experimental design and was conducted on a UK sample. Participants (N=390) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions; realistic threat, symbolic threat or control group. After reading condition-specific vignettes, participants answered questions regarding their emotions, followed by questions on attitudes toward immigrants, support for policies concerning immigration and intention to take political action. Results showed that participants exposed to the realistic threat condition rated significantly higher scores on measures of anti-immigrant attitudes and... (More)
- This study aimed to investigate the influence of threat inducing right-wing populist communication on emotions, attitude and political action intentions. The study applied an experimental design and was conducted on a UK sample. Participants (N=390) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions; realistic threat, symbolic threat or control group. After reading condition-specific vignettes, participants answered questions regarding their emotions, followed by questions on attitudes toward immigrants, support for policies concerning immigration and intention to take political action. Results showed that participants exposed to the realistic threat condition rated significantly higher scores on measures of anti-immigrant attitudes and policy support but not on political action intentions. Both threat manipulations elicited significantly higher levels of negative emotions compared to the control condition. In the realistic threat condition, anger mediated increased anti-immigrant attitudes and policy support, whereas, in the symbolic threat condition, disgust mediated increased anti-immigrant attitudes. In conclusion, this study found some evidence that emotions contribute to the perception and evaluation of threatening communication. The study concludes that emotional responses to daily news may impact our attitudes. (Less)
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka hur hot i högerpopulistisk kommunikation påverkar emotioner, attityder och intentioner att handla politiskt. Studien utformades som ett experiment och genomfördes på ett brittiskt urval. Deltagare (N=390) blev slumpmässigt fördelade till tre betingelser: realistiskt hot, symboliskt hot eller kontrollgrupp. Efter att ha läst betingelsespecifika vinjetter svarade deltagarna på frågor om upplevda emotioner, följt av frågor om attityder mot invandrare, stöd för policies kopplade till invandring samt intentioner för politiskt engagemang. Resultaten visade att deltagare som exponerats för det realistiska hotmaterialet skattade signifikant högre negativa attityder mot invandrare samt starkare stöd för... (More)
- Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka hur hot i högerpopulistisk kommunikation påverkar emotioner, attityder och intentioner att handla politiskt. Studien utformades som ett experiment och genomfördes på ett brittiskt urval. Deltagare (N=390) blev slumpmässigt fördelade till tre betingelser: realistiskt hot, symboliskt hot eller kontrollgrupp. Efter att ha läst betingelsespecifika vinjetter svarade deltagarna på frågor om upplevda emotioner, följt av frågor om attityder mot invandrare, stöd för policies kopplade till invandring samt intentioner för politiskt engagemang. Resultaten visade att deltagare som exponerats för det realistiska hotmaterialet skattade signifikant högre negativa attityder mot invandrare samt starkare stöd för policys, men inte gällande intentioner för politisk handling. Båda hotbetingelser väckte signifikant högre nivåer av negativa känslor än kontrollbetingelsen. Ilska medierade högre grad av negativa attityder mot invandrare samt stöd för policys vid jämförelse mellan den realistiska hotbetingelsen och kontrollgruppen. Gällande analysen mellan symboliskt hot och kontroll fann vi att avsky medierade högre grad av negativa attityder mot invandrare. Sammanfattningsvis fann vi i denna studie stöd för att emotioner bidrar till upplevelsen och tolkningen av hotfull kommunikation. Studiens slutsats är att emotionella reaktioner på dagliga nyheter kan påverka våra attityder. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9047468
- author
- Wall, Hector LU and Olhagen Halling, Engla LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- PSPR14 20211
- year
- 2021
- type
- H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
- subject
- keywords
- Intergroup threat theory, political attitudes, political action, mediation analysis
- language
- English
- id
- 9047468
- date added to LUP
- 2021-05-31 14:52:52
- date last changed
- 2021-05-31 14:52:52
@misc{9047468,
abstract = {{This study aimed to investigate the influence of threat inducing right-wing populist communication on emotions, attitude and political action intentions. The study applied an experimental design and was conducted on a UK sample. Participants (N=390) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions; realistic threat, symbolic threat or control group. After reading condition-specific vignettes, participants answered questions regarding their emotions, followed by questions on attitudes toward immigrants, support for policies concerning immigration and intention to take political action. Results showed that participants exposed to the realistic threat condition rated significantly higher scores on measures of anti-immigrant attitudes and policy support but not on political action intentions. Both threat manipulations elicited significantly higher levels of negative emotions compared to the control condition. In the realistic threat condition, anger mediated increased anti-immigrant attitudes and policy support, whereas, in the symbolic threat condition, disgust mediated increased anti-immigrant attitudes. In conclusion, this study found some evidence that emotions contribute to the perception and evaluation of threatening communication. The study concludes that emotional responses to daily news may impact our attitudes.}},
author = {{Wall, Hector and Olhagen Halling, Engla}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Threat and Sensibility: An experiment on the effect of intergroup threat and emotions on political attitudes and action}},
year = {{2021}},
}