Effects of Socioeconomic Status on Right-Wing Voting Intentions: The Mediating Role of Economic Ideology, Perceived Threats, and National Identity

Abstract

Low socioeconomic status (SES) individuals vote for left-wing parties on economic grounds and right-wing parties on cultural grounds, while high SES individuals exhibit the opposite pattern. Various psychological mechanisms may explain this pattern. Using data from 9 European countries (n = 8,750), we quantified the mediating role of economic system justification, economic and symbolic threats, anti-immigrant attitudes, and national identification on the relationship between two indicators of SES (education and income) and right-wing voting intentions. The negative link between education and right-wing voting was predominantly mediated by anti-immigrant attitudes and immigration-specific threat. In contrast, the positive link between subjective income and right-wing voting was predominantly mediated by economic system justification. These findings identify two psychological processes that may underlie the disparity between income-related and education-related effects on political preferences.