Cultural Threats Versus Economic Insecurities: A Role-Playing Experiment on Supporting Populist Radical Discourses

Abstract

Although some scholars have associated cultural threats with radical right support and economic insecurities with radical left support, it has also been highlighted that economic insecurities might drive support for radical right movements. This has created a debate in the literature between cultural threats and economic insecurities as the main drivers of radical right support. To help advance the debate, this study conducts a role-playing experiment in the United States (n = 609), Brazil (n = 594), and Italy (n = 600), testing the effects of cultural threats, economic insecurities, or the combination of both in support for radical left and right discourses. The results suggest that while economic insecurities increase support for the Radical Left (especially in Brazil), cultural threats increase support for the Radical Right. However, the latter effect is mainly driven by the combination of cultural threats with economic insecurities. Comparatively, cultural threats alone increase support for centrist parties instead (especially in the U.S.). The findings challenge anti-immigration as a single explanation for the success of the Radical Right and suggest that radical parties may depend more on their ability to link economic and cultural grievances than on either factor alone.