Grey voters and populist voting. The role of religiosity and national collective narcissism.

Abstract

The current study aimed to explore the role of religiosity and the social psychology concept of collective narcissism in political behaviour. Individuals endorsing national collective narcissism perceive their nation as superior to others, which is accompanied by the demand that other individuals or nations accept and confirm this superiority. We focused on the process of supporting a populist party in the segment of the oldest citizens, referred to as grey voters. Our research investigates the determinants of voting behaviors and fits into discussions on aging societies. It is an important issue nowadays because demographic change creates a space of challenges, the significant consequences of which we can observe in the electoral market. Our study results confirmed the relationship between religiosity and populist voting and the mediating role of collective narcissism in this relationship. We also found religious faith to be a stronger predictor of populist voting than religious practice. Our results are discussed taking into account previous studies' results and the Polish cultural, social, and political context.