Popcorn politics: Entertainment appraisals predict support for populist leaders

Populism refers to a political style that describes society as a struggle between corrupt elites versus noble people and occurs across the political spectrum. What explains the appeal of populist leaders? In the present contribution, we tested the hypothesis that entertainment appraisals predict support more strongly for populist than non-populist leaders. Four preregistered studies conducted among US participants supported this hypothesis, comparing appraisals of existing politicians between parties (Trump vs. Biden; Study 1) and within parties (Trump vs. Romney, Study 2a; Sanders vs. Biden, Study 2b). Furthermore, we experimentally exposed participants to a populist versus non-populist speech of an unknown politician in a fictitious society (Study 3). Of importance, all studies also showed that the link between general populist attitudes and support was mediated by entertainment appraisals, but only for the relatively populist politicians. We conclude that to some extent, populism is a form of ‘popcorn politics’: Support for populist leaders depends on how entertaining people find them, more so than support for non-populist leaders.