Representations of Populism, Pandemic, and War Among Italian Citizens of Different Political Orientations: A Psycho-Linguistic Analysis of Their Associative Productions (2019–2022)

Populism is characterized by the coexistence of antithetical categories that create a contrast between the people and institutions and between the people and ‘others’ (e.g., elites or other outgroups). This polarization is built on dynamics linked to the valorization of the ingroup seen as pure, good, and honest people—and to the stigmatization of the outgroup, politics in general, and corrupt elites—seen as bad, immoral, and harmful to the people. The present work explores this polarization through the representations of populism, pandemic, and war constructed by Italian citizens of different political orientations over four years (2019–2022). Our research is framed on the theoretical tradition of social representations (SR), which privileges free associations to study representations’ most profound and unconscious aspects. To retrieve these social representations, we used five stimulus words (S-Ws) linked to populism—PEOPLE, LEADER, ELITE, PARTY, POLITICS—three to the pandemic—COVID, NATURE, SCIENCE—and two to the Russian-Ukrainian war—PEACE, and WAR. Our analyses were synchronic (on the associations of the voters of four parties, regardless of the year) and diachronic (on the associations of the voters of four parties in the four years). Based on the literature and previous empirical investigations, we formulated some research questions for the synchronic analysisSynchronic analysis and conducted an explorative study for the diachronic one. We sampled N = 2687 Italians balanced for gender (M = 35.3). The participants consisted of Italian voters of three populist parties—Fratelli d'Italia (radical right-wing, n = 393), La Lega (center-right, n = 332), Movimento 5 Stelle (eclectic, more center-left oriented, n = 960)—and a center-left-mainstream partyParty—the Partito Democratico (n = 1002). The associations to S-Ws were elaborated with the VOSPEC step of the SPAD-T statistical package. The representations of populism, the pandemic, and war differ, in terms of processes and contents, according to the political orientations of those who construct them and the socio-political context in which the participants in our survey found themselves. In some cases, the results confirm what is stated in the literature. Thus, for example, they showed the founding role of polarized and antinomic thinkingAntinomic thinking and evaluative and emotional factors in the constructing populist representations. The emotional aspects are then more characterized by negative polarity and mainly concern the voters of populist parties in syntony with their leaders. Then, some results present new elements, such as in evaluating the elites and the politics. For the ELITES, it appears markedly negative only for M5S voters. For POLITICS, it is more negative for M5S and PD voters than the voters of the other two populist parties. Furthermore, for voters of the mainstream center-left party PD, the association of to the LEADER stimulus is highlighted, which does not align with their political culture. A possible interpretation linked to the situation of widespread uncertainty is provided for this result. Concerning COVID, some results confirm what is stated in the literature regarding the denialist and conspiracy-mongering attitudes that emerge among the voters of the two right-wing populist parties. On the contrary, about SCIENCE, the associations appear positive for everyone, with the sole exception of FdI voters who also express some negative associations, a clear signal of the no-vax positions of this political area. Finally, relating to PEACE, more positive associations unexpectedly prevail among right-wing populist voters than the other voters, while for WAR, voters of the mainstream center-left party are those with the greatest negative associations. These results are interpreted in light of the political context preceding the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war, which may have influenced the associative responses.