The distinguishing view in populist sentiments is that society is divided into the common people, who are generally virtuous, and the elite, who generally intend to exploit the common people. The common people must continually be on guard that their welfare is not ravaged by the elite. Incivility serves as a way to challenge the norms of the elites, demand attention, and express frustration. With this in mind, the researchers hypothesized that uncivility toward the opposition, such as obscene insults, will help persuade people who are high in populist attitudes.
To test this hypothesis, a group of U.S. consumers was recruited for a study. About 44% self-identified as Democrats, 27% as Republicans, 24% as Independent, and the remainder as none of those three designations.
The study participants were administered an inventory to measure their degree of agreement with populist views. They also were asked their opinion on the topic of requiring parental consent for gender transition in teens, then presented arguments either for or against, and again asked their opinion. For some of the respondents, the arguments had been presented with a courteous view of the opposition (“I know some might disagree” or “I can respect that some people may think differently”). For the remaining respondents, the view of the opposition was designed to be rude (“I don't care what other people think. It’s fucking obvious” or “Every other opinion is just bullshit”). The degree of attitude change about the parental consent topic was calculated.
As the researchers predicted, respondents reflecting populist views were persuaded to a greater extent by the arguments when those arguments were accompanied by rude statements about the opposition.
However, the pattern of findings was different in a parallel study conducted with respondents in Switzerland, a culture which, compared to the U.S., leans more toward consensus than polarization. In Switzerland, there was no evidence that incivility was more persuasive than civility among people with strong populist attitudes. Indeed, it appeared the rude messages backfired when the message aligned with the Swiss respondent’s initial view—that is, a higher rejection of the supporting arguments.
In applying these findings, then, attend to cultural differences in consensus-polarization.
Successfully influence the most prosperous & most loyal consumer age group. For the specific strategies & tactics you need, click here.
Click for more…
Persuade Populists
Image at top of post based on photo by Matt Hatchett from Pexels