Those who voted and supported Berlusconi. A social psychological profile of the willingly followers of a controversial political leader

In contemporary western societies individuals often do not trust politics and its leaders. The phenomenon of political cynicism and abstention are indeed growing more and more also in Italy. This came out to be particularly salient above all in the last months of 2011, as Berlusconi’s government failed. Silvio Berlusconi undoubting represent a controversial political leader. In 2001 The Economist published an article entitled “Why Silvio Berlusconi is unfit to lead Italy” where the many reasons why of S.B. being inadequate to rule the country were clearly stated. In 2011, after 10 years, the same review entitled an article “The man who screwed an entire country”. However, despite suspicious and doubts in Italy and abroad, S.B. was able to govern for eight out of the last ten years thanks to his large political consensus among the electorate. How and why? In this chapter we want to address this point investigating the psychological roots (or reasons) of Berlusconi consensus by taking a closer look at those who supported and voted for Berlusconi. Who are they? Why do they vote for him and support his politics? What do they think? How do they see the world? What are their goals? Using published and unpublished original survey data, gathered in the last 10 years, we aimED to picture a psychological profile of Silvio Berlusconi’ followers in terms of socio-political attitudes, values and personality. A matter of elective affinities.