Motivational underpinnings of support for radical political leaders

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cris.lastimport.scopus2025-02-05T04:12:03Z
dc.abstract.enThe present research examined the idea that followers are more strongly motivated by radical as opposed to moderate political leaders. We derived this idea from the significance quest theory that posits that a desire to feel important and meaningful is one of the fundamental human motives (Kruglanski et al., 2018, 2022). We expected that voters would be more willing to support political actors when they perceived them as radical as opposed to moderate, because the goals of those radical actors would be more personally important for voters. Consequently, supporters would experience a greater sense of personal significance from supporting such goals, which would motivate them to get engaged on behalf of their candidates. In five studies (N = 2,154), including two pre-registered replications, spanning two U.S. presidential elections (2016, 2020) and Polish parliamentary elections (2023), we found support for our predictions. The results showed that as followers perceived their candidates as more radical, they viewed the leaders' goals as more personally important, experienced a greater sense of personal significance, and expressed a higher willingness to make sacrifices for the candidates. These results contribute to the understanding of the appeal of radical political actors.
dc.affiliationInstytut Nauk Humanistycznych
dc.affiliationWydział Psychologii w Katowicach
dc.affiliationInstytut Psychologii
dc.contributor.authorGrzymala-Moszczynska, Joanna
dc.contributor.authorMaj, Marta
dc.contributor.authorSzastok, Marta
dc.contributor.authorKruglanski, Arie
dc.contributor.authorJasko, Katarzyna
dc.date.access2025-08-21
dc.date.accessioned2025-01-09T09:54:06Z
dc.date.available2025-01-09T09:54:06Z
dc.date.created2024-06-21
dc.date.issued2024-12-13
dc.description.abstract<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>The present research examined the idea that followers are more strongly motivated by radical as opposed to moderate political leaders. We derived this idea from the significance quest theory that posits that a desire to feel important and meaningful is one of the fundamental human motives. We expected that voters would be more willing to support political actors when they perceived them as radical as opposed to moderate, because the goals of those radical actors would be more personally important for voters. Consequently, supporters would experience a greater sense of personal significance from supporting such goals, which would motivate them to get engaged on behalf of their candidates. In five studies (N = 2154), including two preregistered replications, spanning two US presidential elections (2016, 2020) and Polish parliamentary elections (2023), we found support for our predictions. The results showed that as followers perceived their candidates as more radical, they viewed the leaders' goals as more personally important, experienced a greater sense of personal significance, and expressed a higher willingness to make sacrifices for the candidates. These results contribute to the understanding of the appeal of radical political actors.</jats:p>
dc.description.accesstimeafter_publication
dc.description.grantnumber2015/17/D/HS6/00362
dc.description.grantnumber2019/34/H/HS6/00739
dc.description.granttitlePsychologiczne mechanizmy solidarności z grupami nieuprzywilejowanymi
dc.description.granttitleOd apatii do przemocowego ekstremizmu: Motywacyjne podstawy zaangażowania politycznego
dc.description.issue7
dc.description.physical1476-1488
dc.description.versionfinal_author
dc.description.volume54
dc.identifier.doi10.1002/ejsp.3090
dc.identifier.eissn1099-0992
dc.identifier.issn0046-2772
dc.identifier.urihttps://share.swps.edu.pl/handle/swps/1026
dc.identifier.weblinkhttps://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ejsp.3090
dc.languageen
dc.pbn.affiliationpsychologia
dc.rightsEmbargo
dc.rights.explanationEmbargo
dc.rights.questionYes_rights
dc.share.articleOPEN_REPOSITORY
dc.subject.enradical leaders
dc.subject.enpolitical extremism
dc.subject.enactivism
dc.subject.enelections
dc.swps.sciencecloudsend
dc.titleMotivational underpinnings of support for radical political leaders
dc.title.journalEuropean Journal of Social Psychology
dc.typeJournalArticle
dspace.entity.typeArticle