Activation and articulation of authoritarian attitudes

Background

In recent years, authoritarian values and attitudes have become increasingly prominent in liberal democracies. Authoritarian-oriented populist parties have made electoral gains in several countries.

Researchers argue that electoral support for these parties can partly be explained by the fact that they respond to key value conflicts in society and appeal to citizens who believe that the development of liberal values in certain areas has gone too far.

A substantial body of research on authoritarian-oriented values (conformity, tradition, order, security, and obedience) also suggests that such values are relatively widespread even in liberal democracies. However, they are activated and expressed as manifest political attitudes—such as negative attitudes towards immigrants, demands for harsher punishments, and restrictions on minority rights—under particular circumstances. These circumstances include crises, threats to order and stability, and social and cultural tensions.

Research also shows that the news agenda and dominant ways of framing news events can contribute to perceptions of crises, threats, and cultural tensions.

However, how this affects the development of authoritarian attitudes in society has not been examined in greater depth.

Aim

The aim of the project was to make a substantial contribution to our understanding of authoritarian values and attitudes in society by studying the influence of the media. The project was based on the assumption that news media could have a significant impact on the circumstances under which authoritarian values were activated and expressed as attitudes towards political issues.

Method

The study adopted a multi-method approach and comprised three sub-studies:

1. panel experiments
2. focus group interviews
3. a combination of automated text analysis (“structural topic modelling”) and qualitative discourse analyses of online discussion forums.

Research questions

The project addressed three overarching research questions:

1. What impact did news framing have on the activation of authoritarian values in relation to different societal issues?
2. How did citizens form and express authoritarian and liberal attitudes in relation to different societal issues on the news agenda?
3. Under what circumstances did issues on the news agenda trigger discussions in online forums in which authoritarian attitudes were expressed?

Objectives

The project aimed to make an important contribution to our understanding of the mechanisms and circumstances underlying the development of authoritarian political attitudes by integrating theories of social psychological dynamics, value change, media discourse, and media effects. This was considered to be of considerable academic significance as well as high societal relevance. The project thus aimed to contribute an important piece of the puzzle to our understanding of key trends and challenges facing contemporary liberal democracy.