The Power of Perceived Threat: Examining the Differential Effects of Realistic and Symbolic Threat on Partisan Prejudice

Affective polarization and partisan prejudice present critical issues within the U.S. and Europe, but these phenomena have been far less researched in European multiparty systems. This paper aims to address this gap by examining the origins of partisan prejudice in Europe through the lens of intergroup threat. Intergroup threat theory distinguishes between two types of threat: realistic (pertaining to the group's power, resources, and safety) and symbolic (pertaining to the values, beliefs, and meaning system of the ingroup). We investigate the differential effects of realistic and symbolic threats on partisan prejudice using a cross-sectional survey that includes 13 countries, followed by an online experiment where threat is manipulated. Our findings show that both types of threat influence prejudice towards out-partisans, with symbolic threat having a much larger effect than realistic threat. This underscores the importance of considering perceived threat when researching partisan prejudice and developing interventions that specifically target symbolic threat perceptions.