Personalism, Populism and (Affective) Polarisation: Understanding Emotivity in the Current Political Age

Emotions are an integral part of affective experience in human beings, influencing our perceptions, appraisals, attitudes and behaviours. To the extent that the phenomenon of affective polarisation is becoming increasingly important in today’s world, this paper argues in favour of a deeper understanding of emotional processes underlying affinity for co-partisans and prejudice towards out-partisans. Building on theories in social psychology regarding the role of five discrete emotions (hope, pride, anger, fear and disgust), this paper considers emotivity as a main element in group formation and a determinant of inter-group dynamics. Furthermore, we argue that this emotivity is a result of an increase in leader personalism often exploited by radical-right populist challenger parties. To test our theory, we use comparative survey data from five countries (Argentina, Chile, Italy, Portugal and Spain), collected across three waves (September 2021 – April 2022).