The Psychology of Politically Unstable Societies

Anna Kende is a professor of social psychology at the Institute of Psychology of ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary. Her main research interests are intergroup conflicts, prejudice, political action and intergroup solidarity, mainly in the context of East-Central Europe and its largest ethnic minority group, Roma people. Barbara Lášticová is a senior researcher at the Institute for Research in Social Communication of the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Bratislava, Slovakia. Her main areas of research include intergroup relations (focusing on prejudice reduction in educational settings), social identity and collective action on behalf of disadvantaged groups.

List of contributors

1. The psychology of politically unstable societies: An introduction

Barbara Lášticová and Anna Kende

Part I: Societal and political processes

2. Corruption, cynicism, and the slow build-up of trust within weak democratic tradition

Girts Dimdins

3. The role of right-wing authoritarianism in support for populist leaders

Maciek Bieńkowski and Mikolaj Winiewski

4. The paranoid style in East-Central European politics

Péter Krekó

Part II: Group processes

5. Simmering hostilities, group identity, and contested autochthony beliefs in settler societies

Sibusiso Maseko and Kevin Durrheim

6. Challenging the nation in crisis-ridden societies: Nationalism and xenophobia revisited

Xenia Chryssochoou

7. European vs. National identity in post-conflict countries: The case of Croatia and Serbia

Margareta Jelić and Vladimir Mihić

Part III: Intergroup relations

8. Collective narcissism and the clash of advantaged and disadvantaged groups

Agnieszka Golec de Zavala and Oliver Keenan

9. Instilling women’s virtues and fighting an evil ideology: How national narcissism boosts prejudice against disadvantaged groups

Dagmara Szczepańska and Marta Marchlewska

10. Anti-Gypsyism as a historically lasting form of prejudice in politically unstable societies

Anna Kende and Barbara Lášticová

Index