Naslov
Individual differences, cognitive load and proclivity to vote for populist parties: the mock election experiment

Autori
Blanuša, Nebojša ; Bovan, Kosta

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, neobjavljeni rad, ostalo

Skup
Causes, faces and consequences of populism in the global political context: ugly, bad, and sometimes good?

Mjesto i datum
Dubrovnik, Hrvatska, 11.09.2017. - 13.09.2017

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Predavanje

Vrsta recenzije
Nije recenziran

Ključne riječi
populist attitudes ; populist voting ; cognitive load ; political knowledge ; supply and demand

Sažetak
Most studies on populism focus either on citizens’ or politicians’/parties’ populist attitudes. Contrary to that, in this study we wanted to combine these two strands of research with the goal of examining the impact of various individual (demand side) on the probability of voting for a (non)populist party in a mock election (supply side). Using previous populist speeches and interviews during political campaigns in Croatia, we identified 14 salient political issues. By using expert evaluations of these data, we formed four positions (statements) for each mock party on each of issues – a combination of left-right, and non-populist-populist. Thus, the only difference between two (left or right) parties was whether they used a populist discourse or not. Participants filled out a questionnaire for individual characteristics, and two weeks later participated in a mock election. To elicit different cognitive load, participants were faced with two types of campaigns – low cognitive load was elicited in a static board situation in which they were presented with all information, had unlimited time do gather them and decide for which party to vote. High cognitive load was elicited with a dynamic campaign in which participants could not access all campaign information and had a limited time to inform themselves before voting. The results show that participants with lower political knowledge had a higher probability of voting for a populist party. Furthermore, higher populist attitudes (as a disposition) increase the probability of casting a populist vote, but this effect is only present when participants are under high cognitive load. In other words, for populist voting to appear, populist attitudes need to be activated as a dispositional tendency in a specific situation of constrained reasoning.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Politologija, Psihologija

POVEZANOST RADA