Egotropic or Sociotropic Motivations? Explaining Radical Right Support

• In Event: Poster Session: Polarization, Cues and Information, and Public Opinion

Abstract

What is the relative pertinence of individuals’ personal vs. societal concerns in radical right support and partisan animosity? Drawing on the foundational distinction between egotropic (personal) and sociotropic (societal) motives for voting, we advocate for sociotropic concerns as the primary motivation to engage in radical right support and partisan animosity. In an era of identity politics and relative personal wealth, we argue, societal concerns are more pressing. We present three pieces of evidence. We first conduct a qualitative analysis of interviews with German radical right voters to describe the contents of egotropic and sociotropic concerns. We then employ sentiment analyses and Large Language Models (LLM) to determine their valence and distinctness. Finally, an experiment in the US tests the causal impact of either motivation on radical right support and partisan animosity. Results suggest that individuals’ engagement in these topical political behaviors is primarily driven by societal rather than personal concerns.

Authors

• Luca Versteegen, University of Gothenburg

• Greta Frederike Groß, Hertie School

• Lilliana Hall Mason, Johns Hopkins University