| 1. |
- Ekholm, Kalle, et al.
(författare)
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Sympathizing with the Radical Right : Effects of Mainstream Party Recognition and Control of Prejudice
- 2022
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Ingår i: The Journal of Social and Political Psychology. - : Leibniz Institute for Psychology (ZPID). - 2195-3325. ; 10:1, s. 141-157
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The electoral success of radical right parties throughout Western Europe is the biggest change to these formerly stable party systems. Several studies have identified that mainstream parties can shape the trajectory of radical right parties. Our aim is to contribute to this literature, and to investigate if and how radical right parties gain from mainstream party recognition. Theoretically, we draw on the literature that has suggested that when aiming to explain the legitimization of radical right parties, we need to consider that many individuals in Western Europe are influenced by an anti-prejudice norm when forming preferences towards such parties. We hypothesize that when mainstream parties signal that it is acceptable to associate with radical right parties’ they challenge the anti-prejudice norm that dissuade voters from such parties. In addition, individuals with lower internal motivation to control prejudice (IMCP) are more susceptible to be affected by mainstream party recognition of radical right parties as those with high IMCP have a stronger internalized anti-prejudice norm. We evaluate the effects of changes in the normative context in a survey experiment (N = 1133) by manipulating mainstream party legitimization of a radical right party, the Sweden Democrats, before the Swedish parliamentary election in 2018. Our results suggest that when mainstream parties challenge the anti-prejudice norm, individuals are more likely to sympathize with radical right parties. Moreover, the effect of mainstream party recognition is moderated by IMCP – individuals with a low motivation to appear non-prejudiced are more influenced by mainstream party legitimization of a radical right party.
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| 2. |
- Agneman, Gustav, et al.
(författare)
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On the nexus between material and ideological determinants of climate policy support
- 2024
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Ingår i: ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS. - : Elsevier. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 219
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study explores how rising economic costs of climate mitigation policies differentially shape climate policy support among the political left and right. To this end, we randomly manipulate how much consumption costs increase as a result of four different climate mitigation policies and study how different cost scenarios influence policy support among a sample of 1,597 Swedish adults. We find that more costly climate policies induce greater climate policy polarization, since right -leaning participants display both lower baseline and more cost -sensitive climate policy support. In addition, we investigate how policy costs affect participants' concerns about the climatic consequences of consumption. While inconclusive, the results indicate that rightleaning participants, in some instances, display less concern about the climatic consequences of consumption when policy costs rise. This pattern can be understood through the lens of motivated disbelief, which holds that people adjust their beliefs in order to support their preferred actions. The present study provides novel insights as to how and when material conditions influence climate policy preferences.
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| 3. |
- Bäck, Hanna, et al.
(författare)
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Threat, voting and candidate support. The impact of mortality salience
- 2023
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Political Science. - : Frontiers Media S.A.. - 2673-3145. ; 5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Introduction : How does threat motivate political choices? An extensive literature has noted the importance of threat in influencing political behavior. A growing literature in political psychology has used the concept of “mortality salience” to examine the role of existential threat in political decisions. Scholars have argued that inducing mortality salience by asking individuals to think about their own death should result in either reinforcement of their existing political worldview, a shift to a more politically conservative view, or support for a “status quo” option more generally. Methods : We performed two survey experiments (N = 484 and 1514) manipulating mortality salience and candidate features (Exp. 2). Experiment 1 was performed one week before the 2016 US presidential election and utilized the varying features of the candidates. Experiment 2 manipulated features such as experience level (representing the status quo or change) and partisanship. Results : We find that mortality salience led to an increased likelihood of voting for Hillary Clinton, particularly for moderate and independent respondents. We also find that independent participants preferred the status quo candidate under mortality salience. Discussion : We interpret the findings in both studies as supporting a connection between existential threat and preference for the status quo in psychological terms, at least for less partisan voters, rather than a conservative shift in ideological terms or a tendency to reinforce existing views.
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| 4. |
- Eriksson, Louise, et al.
(författare)
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The public and geese : a conflict on the rise?
- 2020
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Ingår i: Human Dimensions of Wildlife. - : Routledge. - 1087-1209 .- 1533-158X. ; 25:5, s. 421-437
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Wild geese are increasing in agricultural and urban settings across Europe, leading to widespread human – geese interactions. This study examined how the public’s acceptance of geese (attitude and acceptance capacity) varied depending on place dimensions, interactions with geese in different settings (place-based experience), and psychological factors, including wildlife value orientations, beliefs about the ecosystem services and disservices geese provide, and emotions. A survey was conducted in two municipalities with large goose populations in Sweden; Kristianstad and Örebro (n = 898). Results revealed a favorable view of the occurrence of geese, although a substantial share believed the number of geese was too high. Place-based experiences of geese were correlated with acceptance (e.g., more experience on beaches was associated with a negative attitude) and the importance of psychological factors for acceptance was confirmed. The study highlights the need to consider the public’s experiences of geese for sustainable goose management.
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| 5. |
- Johansson, Isabelle, et al.
(författare)
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Predicting Attitudes Towards the Exchange of Sexual Services for Payment : Variance in Gender Gaps Across the Nordic Countries
- 2024
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Ingår i: Sexuality Research and Social Policy. - : Springer New York. - 1868-9884 .- 1553-6610.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Introduction: This article explores how individual-level attitudes towards the exchange of sexual services for payment differ between the Nordic countries. The sparse existing research points to gender and general attitudes towards sexual behavior as powerful predictors of attitudes towards the exchange of sex for payment. However, there are no previous research agendas that attempt to explain variance in such attitudes including all the Nordic countries. Methods: We estimate regression models utilizing data from the joint Wave 5 European Values Study (EVS)/World Values Survey (WVS) Wave 7 (EVS 2017; WVS, 2020) asking about the acceptability of prostitution to predict attitudes towards the exchange of sexual services for payment in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. Results: The findings point to considerable variation in attitudes towards the exchange of sex for payment in the Nordic countries. The attitudinal differences align with how the different Nordic governments have approached the issue at hand. Moreover, the results suggest that gender and attitudes towards non-committal casual sex play a critical role in determining attitudes towards the exchange of sex for payment. The impact of attitudes towards non-committal casual sex on attitudes towards the acceptability of exchanging sex for payment is different for women when compared to men in four of the five countries. Conclusions: The empirical results provide convincing evidence that women are less likely than men to translate liberal attitudes towards general sexual behavior into lenient attitudes towards the exchange of sex for payment. Policy Implications: The results indicate that government policies play a crucial role in shaping public attitudes towards the exchange of sex for payment, and policymakers should consider the potential impact of their stance on the issue. Policymakers and others who want to shift attitudes towards the exchange of sex for payment in the Nordic region should be cognizant of their interconnectedness with gender and attitudes towards non-committal casual sex.
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| 6. |
- Olsson, MIT, et al.
(författare)
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Gender Gap in Parental Leave Intentions : Evidence from 37 Countries
- 2023
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Ingår i: Political Psychology. - : Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd. - 0162-895X .- 1467-9221. ; 44:6, s. 1163-1192
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Despite global commitments and efforts, a gender-based division of paid and unpaid work persists. To identify how psychological factors, national policies, and the broader sociocultural context contribute to this inequality, we assessed parental-leave intentions in young adults (18–30 years old) planning to have children (N = 13,942; 8,880 identified as women; 5,062 identified as men) across 37 countries that varied in parental-leave policies and societal gender equality. In all countries, women intended to take longer leave than men. National parental-leave policies and women's political representation partially explained cross-national variations in the gender gap. Gender gaps in leave intentions were paradoxically larger in countries with more gender-egalitarian parental-leave policies (i.e., longer leave available to both fathers and mothers). Interestingly, this cross-national variation in the gender gap was driven by cross-national variations in women's (rather than men's) leave intentions. Financially generous leave and gender-egalitarian policies (linked to men's higher uptake in prior research) were not associated with leave intentions in men. Rather, men's leave intentions were related to their individual gender attitudes. Leave intentions were inversely related to career ambitions. The potential for existing policies to foster gender equality in paid and unpaid work is discussed.
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| 7. |
- Renström, Emma A., et al.
(författare)
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Protecting the Ingroup? Authoritarianism, Immigration Attitudes, and Affective Polarization
- 2022
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Political Science. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 2673-3145. ; 4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- What makes people affectively polarized? Affective polarization is based on the idea that partisanship can be a social identity leading to polarization in the form of intergroup distancing between the own party and the other parties. In this study, we argue that perceived threats from an outgroup can spur affective polarization. To investigate this, we use the issue of immigration, often framed as a threat by right-wing groups, to examine whether individual-level differences influence how sensititivity to the perception of immigration as a threat. One such factor is the trait right-wing authoritarianism (RWA), which is characterized by emphasis on submission to authority and upholding norms of social order. The emphasis among individuals with this trait on protecting the ingroup from threats means that negativity toward immigration is likely to extend toward political opponents, resulting in an increase in affective polarization. Thus, we hypothesize that the affective polarization is likely to increase when individuals interpret immigration as threatening, particularly for the individuals who are high in RWA aggression. We evaluate and find support for this claim using a large-scale survey performed in Sweden (N = 898). The results, showing a conditional effect of immigration attitudes on affective polarization, are consistent across three commonly used measures of affective polarization as follows: trait ratings, a social distance measure, and feeling thermometers. Overall, our results show that it is important to consider intergroup threats and intergroup differences in the context of sensitivity to such threats when explaining affective polarization.
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| 8. |
- Renström, Emma, et al.
(författare)
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Threats, Emotions, and Affective Polarization
- 2023
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Ingår i: Political Psychology. - : Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd. - 0162-895X .- 1467-9221. ; 44:6, s. 1337-1366
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Why do some individuals feel hostility and express bias against supporters of other political parties? Drawing on intergroup threat theory, we examine the role of emotions as a mechanism by which perceived threats against the ingroup are a source of increased affective polarization. In two survey experiments performed in the multiparty contexts of Sweden (N = 505) and Germany (N = 776), we manipulated intergroup threat using simulated online media, presenting participants with content related to immigration, and measured affective polarization using ratings of ingroup and outgroup supporter traits and feeling thermometers. Compared to a control condition, the threatening content evoked fear, anxiety, and anger among participants. However, only when individuals reacted to the threatening content with anger was increased affective polarization observed, in line with research showing that anger is a high- arousal emotion related to an increased reliance on stereotypes. We conclude that individuals distance themselves from supporters of opposing political parties when they perceive a threat to their ingroup and subsequently react with anger. The findings contribute to the literature on affective polarization by stressing the role of emotional reactions to intergroup threat.
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| 9. |
- Sandström, Annica, et al.
(författare)
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The performance of policy networks : the relation between network structure and network performance
- 2008
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Ingår i: Policy Studies Journal. - : Wiley. - 0190-292X .- 1541-0072. ; 36:4, s. 497-524
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The importance of policy networks has long been emphasized within the field of policy analysis. However, few attempts have been made to investigate the explanatory power of policy networks using the tools and theoretical concepts provided by social network analysis (SNA). This paper aims to address this need by determining if a relationship exists between the structural features of policy networks, their organizing capacities, and their performance. A comparative case study of four networks within the higher education policy sector confirms the assumption related to the existence of such a relation. It is proposed that an efficient and innovative policy network consists of a heterogeneous set of actors that are centrally and densely integrated. Furthermore, while the level of network heterogeneity is positively related to the function of resource mobilization in the process of policymaking, the level of centralized integration promotes the function of prioritizing. These findings are believed to contribute to our understanding of policymaking in contemporary society. The current paper indicates that a significant explanatory power exists in the concept of policy networks and that SNA is one way of advancing its possibilities.
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| 10. |
- Brink, Ebba, et al.
(författare)
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On the road to research municipalities : Analysing transdisciplinarity in municipal ecosystem services and adaptation planning
- 2018
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Ingår i: Sustainability Science. - : Springer. - 1862-4065 .- 1862-4057. ; 13:3, s. 765-784
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Transdisciplinary research and collaboration is widely acknowledged as a critical success factor for solution- oriented approaches that can tackle complex sustainability challenges, such as biodiversity loss, pollution, and climate-related hazards. In this context, city governments’ engagement in transdisciplinarity is generally seen as a key condition for societal transformation towards sustainability. However, empirical evidence is rare. This paper presents a self-assessment of a joint research project on ecosystem services and climate adaptation planning (ECOSIMP) undertaken by four universities and seven Swedish municipalities. We apply a set of design principles and guiding questions for transdisciplinary sustainability projects and, on this basis, identify key aspects for supporting university–municipality collaboration. We show that: (1) selecting the number and type of project stakeholders requires more explicit consideration of the purpose of societal actors’ participation; (2) concrete, interim benefits for participating practitioners and organisations need to be continuously discussed; (3) promoting the ‘inter’, i.e., interdisciplinary and inter-city learning, can support transdisciplinarity and, ultimately, urban sustainability and long-term change. In this context, we found that design principles for transdisciplinarity have the potential to (4) mitigate project shortcomings, even when transdisciplinarity is not an explicit aim, and (5) address differences and allow new voices to be heard. We propose additional guiding questions to address shortcomings and inspire reflexivity in transdisciplinary projects.
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