Egoistic Relative Deprivation and Support for Populism in Days of Democracy Crisis: the Case of Poland

Abstract

According to the social psychological literature, egoistic relative deprivation impairs well-being but has at most little impact on political protest and engagement. We considered this view incomplete and over-simplifying. It was predicted that egoistic relative deprivation itself may impair democracy by increasing support for populism, and that the postulated relationship will be mediated by dysphoric affect, political alienation, and political paranoia. The empirical basis of the article were three studies carried out on nationwide random-quota samples of adult Poles: in 2002 (N = 1500), in 2010 (N = 800), and in 2017 (N = 2000). It was found that support for populism systematically depends directly on dysphoric affect and political paranoia, which are strengthened by egoistic relative deprivation. In 2017, with populist political groupings in power in Poland, the role of political alienation turned out to be ambiguous. Political alienation slightly strengthened political paranoia but directly lowered support for populism. In conclusion it was noted that in Poland's history and in the contemporary Polish mentality there is a great potential for negative affect, pessimism and bitterness. Relative deprivation experienced today successfully maintains this potential.