The “Pure People” vs. the “Corrupt Elite”

Political populism i.e., the idea that society is divided into two homogeneous and opposing groups — the “pure people” and the “corrupt elite”, is noticeably reflected in political behavior. Psychological factors, among others, significantly contribute to the growth of political populism. However, in their research most authors focus on individual psychological characteristics, leaving out the socio-psychological characteristics. The article attempts to analyze the connection between one of these socio-psychological characteristics, namely external political self-efficacy, and populist attitudes. This study is grounded in the self-determination theory. For the empirical data, the author conducted an online survey on the Yandex Toloka platform among Russian respondents in the spring and fall of 2022. The study showed that socio-psychological characteristics play an important role in the assimilation of populist ideas. In particular, it was found, that external political self-efficacy is negatively correlated with populist attitudes. This means that people who believe that they have sufficient opportunities to participate in political life are less predisposed to accept a populist picture of the world

Elite · Learned helplessness · Mathematical analysis · Political science · Politics · Populism · Law · Mathematics · Psychology · Social Psychology · Sociopolitical Dynamics in Russia

• Autonomy-supportive Political Climate and Attitudes to the Political System in Russia

  Open Access•Olga Gulevich, Daniil Chernov•Social Psychology and Society•2025

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