Sad, fearful, angry people? Emotions and the electoral success of the far- right in Spain.

Autor principal:
Carolina Galais Gonzalez (Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona)
Autores:
María Ruiz Hernández (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona )
Programa:
Sesión 7, Sesión 7
Día: miércoles, 24 de julio de 2024
Hora: 09:00 a 10:45
Lugar: RUTA JACOBEA (140)

Research into the motivations behind support for far-right parties has identified two primary explanatory factors: ideological and protest-based (Van der Brug et al., 2000). Only recently have scholars begun to empirically examine the long-assumed link between emotions and the electoral success of the far-right, specifically the relationship between far-right claims. However, these studies tend to focus on a limited range of emotions (primarily anger and anxiety), present mixed findings concerning the relative explanatory power of these emotions, and only consider a very limited range of stimuli (e.g., immigration). In this paper, we address these issues by expanding the range of potential emotional reactions. Additionally, we investigate the role of emotional triggers that have rarely been explored in the context of right-wing voting, with a particular focus on the Most Important Problem (MIP) as an emotional stimulus. To explore the role of emotions in far-right support, we utilize four waves of a Spanish panel dataset that allows us to monitor individual changes in voting intentions from 2020 to 2023 and, notably, the influence of emotional changes related to the Most Important Problem on shifts in voting intentions for Vox. Our results emphasize the significance of accounting for the evolving nature of emotions when examining the relative importance of discrete emotions concerning the far-right, challenge prior findings on the impact of anger, reveal an unexpected effect of sadness, underscore the importance of considering other simultaneous emotions that are frequently overlooked, and raise substantial questions regarding the nature of emotions.

Palabras clave: far-right, emotions, Spain