Modi’-fied Beliefs

Assessing Cognitive Dissonance in Populist Voting Behaviour in India

Bibliographic Data

ID11016276
AuthorsVibhor Mathur (0000-0002-0500-5770, University of Bath, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume46
Issue5
Pages1028-1048
Publication date2023-09-03
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueSouth Asia Journal of South Asian Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0085-6401 • E-ISSN: 1479-0270
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00856401.2023.2218688
OpenAlexW4383227997
LanguageEN
Citations received2

Voting is a multifaceted decision that involves choosing a leader/party in spite of not agreeing with all that they represent. How then do voters deal with the aspects that they do not like? Using a cognitive dissonance approach, this research looks to study how educated secular voters who vote for the Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi in India reduce the dissonance arising out of the communal repercussions of their vote. I find that voters both adjust their conceptions of secularism and their perceptions of communalism to justify their vote and reduce dissonance. This can have significant repercussions on democracy as voters who adjust their preferences become citizens who hold modified standards of accountability. This paper presents novel insights into voter decision-making, especially on how they may navigate between aspects they like and those they may not when taking voting decisions. It also provides rich patterns of political psychology for other researchers to explore

Accountability · Cognitive dissonance · Communalism · Democracy · Economics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Public relations · Secularism · Sociology · Voting · Voting behavior · Cultural Differences and Values · Law · Psychology · Social and Cultural Dynamics · Social Psychology · Sociopolitical Dynamics in Nepal

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