Reactionary Discourses & Identity Threat (2026 - 2030)

In recent years, reactionary discourses from radical right and right-wing actors have gained prominence in Western democracies, resisting social change and targeting minority and progressive movements. While their political consequences -such as the erosion of democratic norms, the fostering of intolerance, and the rise in protest voting- are well documented, the conditions under which these discourses are most effective remain poorly understood. This interdisciplinary project combines political psychology and comparative politics to investigate when and how reactionary discourses influence political attitudes and behaviours. Specifically, it examines the psychological mechanisms,-status threat and morality threat- that mediate these effects, shifting the focus from attacks on minorities to the defence of majority identities.

The project adopts a most-different systems design across France, the United States, Belgium, and Germany (2010–2025) to explore how political context shapes the mobilisation and impact of reactionary narratives.

Using an innovative mix of text-as-data analysis (parliamentary debates and social media) and experimental methods, it identifies the types of identity threats invoked by political actors and tests their causal effects on political attitudes (towards minorities and democratic values) and voting behaviour. The project comprises three work packages: WP1 analyses the evolution and contextual variation of reactionary discourses; WP2 and WP3 use experiments to test how exposure to these discourses triggers identity threats and affects tolerance, democratic support, and voting behaviour. By bridging disciplinary gaps, this research advances a contextualised and mechanistic understanding of how reactionary discourses resonate with citizens and shape democratic life.


 

Funding: FNRS PDR



 



 
Mis à jour le 11 février 2026