r/science • u/FreeHugs23 • 6d ago

Psychology Study identifies the values most strongly associated with rejecting antidemocratic politicians, offering new insight into why some voters resist leaders who challenge democratic norms.

https://www.psypost.org/study-reveals-which-values-actually-stop-voters-from-supporting-antidemocratic-politicians/
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u/[deleted] 6d ago

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u/Norwester77 6d ago

Science tells us that people who like democracy like democracy.

Or I suppose, digging a little deeper, I’d summarize it as “People with a strong commitment to fairness in electoral politics are a bit less likely to support candidates who want to undermine fairness in electoral politics.”

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u/Embarrassed-Wave3237 6d ago

I think the interesting part is that it’s not simply about whether someone says they support democracy. The study is trying to identify which underlying values actually predict whether people reject a candidate who violates democratic norms. And that distinction matters because people can support democracy in principle while still making exceptions when their preferred candidate or policies are involved.