As a fairly recently hired associate professor, Emma was presented on the University Day at Kristianstad University. Here she is talking about our research on affective polarization with the head of the University.
Student thesis on misogynistic radicalization
Kim Holm and Matilda Plume, clinical psychologist program at the University of Gothenburg, has written a thesis on misogynistic radicalization with Emma as supervisor. The thesis is entitled: Misogynistic radicalization on the Manosphere – exploring the effects of entitlement and negative emotions can be downloaded here.
Abstract
During the last decade the online milieu known as the manosphere has been connected to numerous lethal deeds and acts of violence against women. The overarching purpose of this study was to gain a deepened understanding of the processes of online misogynistic radicalization. Drawing on theories on radicalization, masculinity, and the effects of emotions, we designed and conducted an online survey-based experiment to examine how average men can become misogynistically radicalized towards using or condoning violence. The experiment randomly assigned 596 American men to read fictional tweets designed to either threaten their masculine social identity or to be non-threatening. We used a model of moderated mediation, with entitlement as a moderator and negative emotions as mediators between the threat condition and measures of misogynistic radicalization. Our results showed that threatening messages increased negative emotions. Specific emotions had unique effects, with disgust and fear increasing measures of radicalization. Additionally, the effects of disgust on radicalization were moderated by degree of entitlement. Our results provide experimental evidence for processes of misogynistic radicalization occurring online, and its relevance to the general radicalization research field is discussed.
Interview in the magazine Expo
Emma was recently interviewed in the magazine Expo talking about our recent results on perceptions of threat and affective polarization.
Our research featured in The Guardian
Our research on radicalization was referred to in the Guardian. The article is found here.
Interview in Dagens Nyheter
Emma was recently interviewed about radicalization and polarization in relation to the vaccine debate. The interview was published in Dagens Nyheters Insidan and can be found here (in Swedish).
Student thesis on affective polarization
Ida Larsson at the Department of Psychology, University of Gothenburg has authored a thesis about variations in affective polarization depending on specific traits related to different ideological stances using data from SOM. The thesis can be found here (in Swedish).
Emma on Swedish radio about radicalization process
Emma was on Swedish radio talking about our research on social factors behind radicalization. The program is found here, about 12 mins into the show.
Affective polarization in a multiparty system
Intergroup Threat and Affective Polarization in a Multi-Party System
Emma A. Renström, Hanna Bäck & Royce Carroll
Abstract
What explains affective polarization among voters and societal groups? Much of the existing literature focusing on mass political polarization in modern democracies originates in the US, where studies have shown that, while ideological separation has grown, political conflict increasingly reflects social identity divisions rather than policy disagreements, resulting in affective polarization. We focus on explaining such polarization in a multi-party context. Drawing on social identity theory and intergroup threat theory, we hypothesize that individuals who perceive an intergroup threat show stronger intergroup differentiation and increased affective polarization. We analyze the influence of perceived threat on affective polarization drawing on two large-scale representative surveys in Sweden (N = 1429 and 1343). We show that individual-level affective polarization is related to perceived intergroup threats among the voters in both studies, measuring affective polarization using social distance, negative trait attribution, and party like-dislike ratings.
Find the full paper published in Journal of Social and Political Psychology here.
New article on personality and compliance with recommendations during Covid
Who Follows the Rules During a Crisis?—Personality Traits and Trust as Predictors of Compliance With Containment Recommendations During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Yvonne Schmeisser, Emma A. Renström & Hanna Bäck
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, many governments tried to contain the spread of the virus by legally restricting social life and imposing national lockdowns. The Swedish government did not enforce a national lockdown, but instead appealed to the individual’s self-responsibility to follow specific containment recommendations developed by the Swedish Public Health Agency. Sweden is thus an especially interesting case to study because of the potential influence of psychological and attitudinal individual-level factors that might contribute to compliance with containment recommendations. Drawing on previous literature on how individuals respond during health crises, we define and evaluate a mediation model that considers the role of personality traits and trust authorities to explain compliance. More specifically, we argue that we need to consider the role of trust in authorities to better understand the relationship between personality traits and compliance. In analyses based on a large-scale representative survey (N = 1,034), we find Conscientiousness to be directly linked to compliance, whereas Agreeableness, Neuroticism and Openness were indirectly related to compliance when trust in the Public Health Agency was taken into account.
Find the full paper published in Frontiers in Political Science here.
Emma has started a new position at Högskolan Kristianstad
From 1st of August, Emma has a new position at Högskolan Kristianstad.
Two new articles on the political psychology of Covid-19
In two recent papers, we explore the role of emotions in reactions to Covid-19 policies, political actions and health-related behaviors. The papers are published open access and are linked below.
Polarized democracy - presentation at webinar
Emma and Hanna have written a policy brief about the project Polarized democracy. The policy brief can be found here (only in Swedish).
The policy brief was presented at a webinar arranged by the Migration Studies Delegation and The Swedish Research Council. If you are interested in viewing the webinar, a recording of it will be posted on Delmi’s website.
Master thesis on intergroup threat, emotions and political attitudes and actions
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
Poster presented at the Association for Psychological Science virtual conference
26-27 May was the APS virtual conference where Yvonne presented some of our work on the interplay between the Big five and trust on compliance with recommendations during Covid-19.
The poster can be found here.
New paper about party cue effects on attitudes to a policy proposal
A new paper authored by Hanna, Emma and Annika Fredén was recently published in Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties.
This article focuses on how party identity can shape policy support or opposition to the controversial issue of legalizing cannabis in Sweden, which is strongly opposed by the public. In a survey experiment (N = 3612), we manipulated if a message that supported or opposed a policy proposal to legalize cannabis was presented by a representative of the own party or an outgroup party. Results showed increased opposition to the proposal when the ingroup party opposed the policy and when the outgroup party endorsed the policy. When the ingroup party endorsed the policy and when the outgroup party opposed the policy, attitudes to the policy were not influenced. We argue that prior attitudes moderate how ingroup- and outgroup party messages are processed and that voters do not blindly follow the party line. Only when the own party presents a position that coincides with the individual’s prior position, are attitudes strengthened and voters follow the party line. Attitudes are also strengthened as a way to increase distance to a disliked outgroup party. When the party cue contradicts prior beliefs (ingroup-endorse; outgroup-oppose), the information is ignored, which allows individuals to retain their view of the party, be it positive or negative.
The paper can be found here.
New research assistant
Recently, Britta started as our new research assistant. Britta is a licensed psychologist based in Gothenburg. Her research interest lies in how globalization and immigration are shaping modern politics, and how social and group psychology can help explain political polarization and radicalization.
Britta is specifically interested in ways in which emotions and intergroup dynamics are shaping decision-making processes and attitudinal shifts, and how such knowledge can be used to prevent further polarization. Britta has a background in clinical and applied research, investigating long-term effects of stress-related exhaustion as well as school interventions to build psychological resilience in children.
Thesis on changes in affective polarization during Covid-19
Recently, Anton Ekman, defended his licensed psychologist thesis at the University of Gothenburg. The thesis explored if affective polarization in Sweden had changed as a consequence of Covid-19. The thesis can be found here (only in Swedish). He found that left-wing oriented individuals had increased in affective polarization from 2019 before Covid19 to during Covid19 (August, 2020), while right-wing oriented people had become less polarized. The results are discussed in relation to the Swedish approach to handling Covid-19, and the political landscape in Sweden.
Exploring a pathway to radicalization. New paper out!
New pre-prints on political psychology in Covid times
We have two pre-prints out about political psychology during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The first one concerns how personality, the Big five, relates to trust in the government and health authorities, in predicting compliance with recommendations to contain the spread of the virus. It can be found here.
The second one concerns how different aspects of the Covid-19 pandemic elicit different emotions, anger, fear and anxiety, which in turn influence policy support and political actions. It can be found here.
New chapter about affective polarization in Sweden (only in Swedish)
Recently, Emma, Hanna and Yvonne co-authored a chapter for the annual SOM-institute’s book. The chapter describes affective polarization in the Swedish multiparty system and what factors, such as party identification and ideological position, may explain strength of affective polarization. An important finding is that affective polarization is present in Sweden similarly as has been shown in the US context.
The chapter is found here (only in Swedish).