Attitude change by facilitating choice: Experimentally evaluating a social identity-based intervention to nativist populist rhetoric

Nativist populism is on the rise across many liberal democratic contexts, yet we know relatively less about how to challenge its negative impacts. This study investigates the effectiveness of a novel intervention designed to counter nativist populist rhetoric. We draw on a social identity mobilization approach, and across two randomized control experiments in the United Kingdom (n = 850), test whether showing people how social identities can be used for influence effectively challenges populist and anti-immigrant attitudes. In study 1, we found significantly lower populist attitudes among participants who received the intervention versus control. However, we did not observe any significant differences in anti-immigrant attitudes. In study 2, we developed the immigration materials and employed a more comprehensive assessment that considered pre-existing attitudes. Results replicated the effects on populist attitudes but did not indicate impacts on anti-immigration attitudes. Notably, the effects on populist attitudes were maintained after controlling for age, gender, education, political orientation, and political interest. Overall, our intervention represents a novel avenue to addressing challenges posed by nativist populist rhetoric. Furthermore, the paper highlights the potential of leveraging social identity mobilization research to challenge political rhetoric, contributing wider insights for future interventions.