back to programm overview

Right-wing populism predicts support for hate crimes through national pride and moral justification of political violence

Mete Sefa Uysal, University of Jena; Carina Hoerst, University of Sussex; Sofia Stathi, University of Greenwich; Thomas Kessler, University of Jena

The influx of populist politics changed social norms dramatically around the globe, allowing for the open expression of prejudice and committing discriminatory violence against targeted groups. Anti-immigrant hate crimes that occurred in Germany in the last years illustrate the destructive consequences of the normalization of violence that seem to derive from right-wing populism. Given the epidemic impact of divisive populist rhetoric on hostile behavior, it is important to ask whether people endorsing populism also justifies hate crimes. Using the German General Social Survey 2018 data (N 3268), we tested a model, in which the endorsement of populist beliefs predicted support for hate crimes against immigrants in Germany, through national pride and moral justification of political violence. Results showed that people who evinced higher endorsement of populist beliefs showed higher support for hate crimes in Germany. Furthermore, national pride and moral justification of political violence mediated the relationship between populist beliefs and support for hate crimes against immigrants. To overcome societal divisions in fighting against the so-called immigrant influx, enhanced national pride among the ingroup of "real people" (i.e., German nationals) is crucial for the populist agenda. Hence, it is not surprising that national pride ‐ as an emotional and mobilizing aspect of national identity ‐ mediates the relationship between the endorsement of populism and support for hate crimes. Crucially, we suggest that individuals must perceive their support for anti-immigrant action as virtuous, and therefore perceive themselves as being in the moral majority and that to achieve this, right-wing leaders attach such moral sentiments to their agendas.

back to programm overview