Varieties of populist attitudes in Brexit Britain: socio-political and psychological correlates of a new multi-dimensional scale

Olivas Osuna, José Javier ORCID: 0000-0002-9877-8480, Martín, Manuel, Barrada, Juan Ramón, Moyano, Manuel and Clari, Enrique (2025) Varieties of populist attitudes in Brexit Britain: socio-political and psychological correlates of a new multi-dimensional scale. Political Studies, 73 (4). ISSN 0032-3217

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Abstract

Populism is usually understood as a complex multi-dimensional phenomenon that encompasses different manifestations. However, most studies on the demand-side adopt a parsimonious minimal definition approach that hinders the ability to capture different forms of populism and the variable weight of its components. This article tests a new multi-dimensional strategy to measure and compare populist and pluralist attitudes in the context of Brexit Britain. We explore the relationship between populism and Britons’ socio-political views – on borders, democracy, governance, identity, and the European Union – and psychological traits – such as conspiracy belief, social alienation, justification of political violence, and meaning in life—. Our new Multi-dimensional Populist Attitudes Scale (MPAS) reveals two varieties of populism, ‘aspirational/subversive’ and ‘identitarian/protective’, and a non-populist ‘moderate/pluralist’ archetype. The new items introduced in the MPAS can complement (or become an alternative to) extant scales especially in contexts where populist movements do not fully fit narrow conceptualisations of populism.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2025 The Author(s)
Divisions:	LSE IDEAS
Subjects:	J Political Science > JC Political theory H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
Date Deposited:	23 Jan 2025 15:18
Last Modified:	30 Oct 2025 20:24
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/127044

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