Populism as a Thin Ideology: Towards an Identity Management Approach

Résumé En

Populist ideology is composed of two beliefs: That society is divided into a “good people” in-group and a “corrupted élite” out-group, and that politics should be the direct expression of a people’s general will without any institutional mediation (Mudde & Kaltwasser, 2017). Although several authors have argued the implication of identity processes in the adhesion to populism, there is little empirical evidence so far (Obradović et al., 2020). Further, most studies focused on far-right attitudes and groups, while overlooking populism as a thin ideology (e.g., Marchlewska et al., 2018). Following Motivated Identity Construction Theory (MICT; Vignoles, 2011), people construct their identity aiming to satisfy motives for self-esteem, belonging, distinctiveness, continuity, meaning, and efficacy. Our survey study (N=458, French population) aimed to examine the role of identity motives as antecedents of populist thin ideology. Satisfaction (vs frustration) of identity motives significantly predicted populist ideology (β=-.14, p