Only my truth can save us allThe impact of socioeconomic threat and its emotional appraisals on the monopoly on truth and political extremism

Resumo

Political extremism is one of the main threats to democratic societies and it has been related to socioeconomic threats like COVID-19. We argue that socioeconomic threat perceptions increase Monopoly on Truth (MoT), a tendency to conceive personal values as undeniable truths that are worthy of being imposed. MoT will then prompt a rise in extremist intentions. Method: These hypotheses were tested in two experimental designs (N = 274 & 484). Study 1 manipulated socioeconomic threat, while Study 2 added a manipulation of the emotional appraisal of that threat. Results: In Study 1, MoT scores were significantly different and higher in the high-threat condition. In Study 2, threat levels did not cause statistically significant differences when emotional appraisal of the threat was manipulated, with anger causing MoT to increase. Study 2 also showed that MoT works as a precursor of extremist intentions. Conclusions: Socioeconomic threats and their emotional appraisals raise MoT and, indirectly, extremism. Beyond deepening our understanding of the causes of MoT, the current findings highlight the implications of different narratives framing socioeconomic crises that may become a facilitating factor of extremism.