Recently, the master thesis Threat and sensibility: An experiment on the effects of intergroup threat and emotions on political attitudes and actions, by Engla Olhagen Halling and Hector Wall, supervised by Emma, was defended at Lund University. The thesis can be downloaded here.
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.
Keywords: Intergroup threat theory, political attitudes, political action, mediation
analysis