"Our Country Needs a Strong Leader Right Now": Economic Inequality Enhances the Wish for a Strong Leader

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

Standard

"Our Country Needs a Strong Leader Right Now": Economic Inequality Enhances the Wish for a Strong Leader. / Sprong, Stefanie; Jetten, Jolanda; Wang, Zhechen; Peters, Kim; Mols, Frank; Verkuyten, Maykel; Bastian, Brock; Ariyanto, Amarina; Autin, Frederique; Ayub, Nadia; Badea, Constantina; Besta, Tomasz; Butera, Fabrizio; Costa-Lopes, Rui; Cui, Lijuan; Fantini, Carole; Finchilescu, Gillian; Gaertner, Lowell; Gollwitzer, Mario; Gomez, Angel; Gonzalez, Roberto; Hong, Ying-Yi; Jensen, Dorthe Hoj; Jasinskaja-Lahti, Inga; Karasawa, Minoru; Kessler, Thomas; Klein, Olivier; Lima, Marcus; Megevand, Laura; Morton, Thomas; Paladino, Paola; Polya, Tibor; Renvik, Tuuli Anna; Ruza, Aleksejs; Shahrazad, Wan; Shama, Sushama; Smith, Heather J.; Torres, Ana Raquel; van der Bles, Anne Marthe; Wohl, Michael J. A.

In: Psychological Science, Vol. 30, No. 11, 11.2019, p. 1625-1637.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

Harvard

Sprong, S, Jetten, J, Wang, Z, Peters, K, Mols, F, Verkuyten, M, Bastian, B, Ariyanto, A, Autin, F, Ayub, N, Badea, C, Besta, T, Butera, F, Costa-Lopes, R, Cui, L, Fantini, C, Finchilescu, G, Gaertner, L, Gollwitzer, M, Gomez, A, Gonzalez, R, Hong, Y-Y, Jensen, DH, Jasinskaja-Lahti, I, Karasawa, M, Kessler, T, Klein, O, Lima, M, Megevand, L, Morton, T, Paladino, P, Polya, T, Renvik, TA, Ruza, A, Shahrazad, W, Shama, S, Smith, HJ, Torres, AR, van der Bles, AM & Wohl, MJA 2019, '"Our Country Needs a Strong Leader Right Now": Economic Inequality Enhances the Wish for a Strong Leader', Psychological Science, vol. 30, no. 11, pp. 1625-1637. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797619875472

APA

Sprong, S., Jetten, J., Wang, Z., Peters, K., Mols, F., Verkuyten, M., Bastian, B., Ariyanto, A., Autin, F., Ayub, N., Badea, C., Besta, T., Butera, F., Costa-Lopes, R., Cui, L., Fantini, C., Finchilescu, G., Gaertner, L., Gollwitzer, M., ... Wohl, M. J. A. (2019). "Our Country Needs a Strong Leader Right Now": Economic Inequality Enhances the Wish for a Strong Leader. Psychological Science, 30(11), 1625-1637. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797619875472

Vancouver

Sprong S, Jetten J, Wang Z, Peters K, Mols F, Verkuyten M et al. "Our Country Needs a Strong Leader Right Now": Economic Inequality Enhances the Wish for a Strong Leader. Psychological Science. 2019 Nov;30(11):1625-1637. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797619875472

Author

Sprong, Stefanie ; Jetten, Jolanda ; Wang, Zhechen ; Peters, Kim ; Mols, Frank ; Verkuyten, Maykel ; Bastian, Brock ; Ariyanto, Amarina ; Autin, Frederique ; Ayub, Nadia ; Badea, Constantina ; Besta, Tomasz ; Butera, Fabrizio ; Costa-Lopes, Rui ; Cui, Lijuan ; Fantini, Carole ; Finchilescu, Gillian ; Gaertner, Lowell ; Gollwitzer, Mario ; Gomez, Angel ; Gonzalez, Roberto ; Hong, Ying-Yi ; Jensen, Dorthe Hoj ; Jasinskaja-Lahti, Inga ; Karasawa, Minoru ; Kessler, Thomas ; Klein, Olivier ; Lima, Marcus ; Megevand, Laura ; Morton, Thomas ; Paladino, Paola ; Polya, Tibor ; Renvik, Tuuli Anna ; Ruza, Aleksejs ; Shahrazad, Wan ; Shama, Sushama ; Smith, Heather J. ; Torres, Ana Raquel ; van der Bles, Anne Marthe ; Wohl, Michael J. A. / "Our Country Needs a Strong Leader Right Now": Economic Inequality Enhances the Wish for a Strong Leader. In: Psychological Science. 2019 ; Vol. 30, No. 11. pp. 1625-1637.

Bibtex

@article{211aca3ed52542a7b1ac9169c94c7b2e,
title = "{"}Our Country Needs a Strong Leader Right Now{"}: Economic Inequality Enhances the Wish for a Strong Leader",
abstract = "Societal inequality has been found to harm the mental and physical health of its members and undermine overall social cohesion. Here, we tested the hypothesis that economic inequality is associated with a wish for a strong leader in a study involving 28 countries from five continents (Study 1, N = 6,112), a study involving an Australian community sample (Study 2, N = 515), and two experiments (Study 3a, N = 96; Study 3b, N = 296). We found correlational (Studies 1 and 2) and experimental (Studies 3a and 3b) evidence for our prediction that higher inequality enhances the wish for a strong leader. We also found that this relationship is mediated by perceptions of anomie, except in the case of objective inequality in Study 1. This suggests that societal inequality enhances the perception that society is breaking down (anomie) and that a strong leader is needed to restore order (even when that leader is willing to challenge democratic values).",
keywords = "economic inequality, subjective and objective inequality, anomie, leadership, authoritarianism, populism, preregistered",
author = "Stefanie Sprong and Jolanda Jetten and Zhechen Wang and Kim Peters and Frank Mols and Maykel Verkuyten and Brock Bastian and Amarina Ariyanto and Frederique Autin and Nadia Ayub and Constantina Badea and Tomasz Besta and Fabrizio Butera and Rui Costa-Lopes and Lijuan Cui and Carole Fantini and Gillian Finchilescu and Lowell Gaertner and Mario Gollwitzer and Angel Gomez and Roberto Gonzalez and Ying-Yi Hong and Jensen, {Dorthe Hoj} and Inga Jasinskaja-Lahti and Minoru Karasawa and Thomas Kessler and Olivier Klein and Marcus Lima and Laura Megevand and Thomas Morton and Paola Paladino and Tibor Polya and Renvik, {Tuuli Anna} and Aleksejs Ruza and Wan Shahrazad and Sushama Shama and Smith, {Heather J.} and Torres, {Ana Raquel} and {van der Bles}, {Anne Marthe} and Wohl, {Michael J. A.}",
year = "2019",
month = nov,
doi = "10.1177/0956797619875472",
language = "English",
volume = "30",
pages = "1625--1637",
journal = "Psychological Science",
issn = "0956-7976",
publisher = "SAGE Publications",
number = "11",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - "Our Country Needs a Strong Leader Right Now": Economic Inequality Enhances the Wish for a Strong Leader

AU - Sprong, Stefanie

AU - Jetten, Jolanda

AU - Wang, Zhechen

AU - Peters, Kim

AU - Mols, Frank

AU - Verkuyten, Maykel

AU - Bastian, Brock

AU - Ariyanto, Amarina

AU - Autin, Frederique

AU - Ayub, Nadia

AU - Badea, Constantina

AU - Besta, Tomasz

AU - Butera, Fabrizio

AU - Costa-Lopes, Rui

AU - Cui, Lijuan

AU - Fantini, Carole

AU - Finchilescu, Gillian

AU - Gaertner, Lowell

AU - Gollwitzer, Mario

AU - Gomez, Angel

AU - Gonzalez, Roberto

AU - Hong, Ying-Yi

AU - Jensen, Dorthe Hoj

AU - Jasinskaja-Lahti, Inga

AU - Karasawa, Minoru

AU - Kessler, Thomas

AU - Klein, Olivier

AU - Lima, Marcus

AU - Megevand, Laura

AU - Morton, Thomas

AU - Paladino, Paola

AU - Polya, Tibor

AU - Renvik, Tuuli Anna

AU - Ruza, Aleksejs

AU - Shahrazad, Wan

AU - Shama, Sushama

AU - Smith, Heather J.

AU - Torres, Ana Raquel

AU - van der Bles, Anne Marthe

AU - Wohl, Michael J. A.

PY - 2019/11

Y1 - 2019/11

N2 - Societal inequality has been found to harm the mental and physical health of its members and undermine overall social cohesion. Here, we tested the hypothesis that economic inequality is associated with a wish for a strong leader in a study involving 28 countries from five continents (Study 1, N = 6,112), a study involving an Australian community sample (Study 2, N = 515), and two experiments (Study 3a, N = 96; Study 3b, N = 296). We found correlational (Studies 1 and 2) and experimental (Studies 3a and 3b) evidence for our prediction that higher inequality enhances the wish for a strong leader. We also found that this relationship is mediated by perceptions of anomie, except in the case of objective inequality in Study 1. This suggests that societal inequality enhances the perception that society is breaking down (anomie) and that a strong leader is needed to restore order (even when that leader is willing to challenge democratic values).

AB - Societal inequality has been found to harm the mental and physical health of its members and undermine overall social cohesion. Here, we tested the hypothesis that economic inequality is associated with a wish for a strong leader in a study involving 28 countries from five continents (Study 1, N = 6,112), a study involving an Australian community sample (Study 2, N = 515), and two experiments (Study 3a, N = 96; Study 3b, N = 296). We found correlational (Studies 1 and 2) and experimental (Studies 3a and 3b) evidence for our prediction that higher inequality enhances the wish for a strong leader. We also found that this relationship is mediated by perceptions of anomie, except in the case of objective inequality in Study 1. This suggests that societal inequality enhances the perception that society is breaking down (anomie) and that a strong leader is needed to restore order (even when that leader is willing to challenge democratic values).

KW - economic inequality

KW - subjective and objective inequality

KW - anomie

KW - leadership

KW - authoritarianism

KW - populism

KW - preregistered

U2 - 10.1177/0956797619875472

DO - 10.1177/0956797619875472

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 31566081

VL - 30

SP - 1625

EP - 1637

JO - Psychological Science

JF - Psychological Science

SN - 0956-7976

IS - 11

ER -

ID: 232066361