An authoritarianism-compatible text changes British attitudes towards EU immigration.

ABSTRACT: Immigration was a major point of contention for voters in 2024, a record year for elections. Here we test whether British attitudes towards immigration become more positive when participants are exposed to a framed text. In the study (n = 3067), which uses a sample sourced from YouGov that is representative for age, education, gender and politics, participants are exposed to a short text written to be compatible with moderate levels of what political psychologists call 'authoritarianism' that also incorporates factual arguments and an emotional appeal. We find that people exposed to this text as opposed to a control text or a low authoritarianism text feel they share more values with a fictitious EU immigrant, and are more positive towards EU immigration. There are also differences in over

SUBMITTER: Buchanan T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12432221 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature