Inward-Looking Attitudes and Support for Foreign Expressions of Ethno-Traditionalism. Experimental Evidence

Inward-looking political attitudes such as nativism and right-wing populism tend to be associated with a clear distrust of expressions of foreignness. Yet, from a cultural standpoint, foreign expressions of local traditions can be seen as “sites of struggle” against the uniformizing power of globalization and be viewed positively by individuals who might otherwise be skeptical of supranational influences. The question is, therefore: Can inward-looking attitudes also be associated with support for foreign expressions of ethno-traditionalism—that is, positive expressions of an ethno-nationalist type by actors from other countries? The existing relevant research tends to be observational; in this study, we present novel experimental evidence to test for this phenomenon. Leveraging data from a sample of American respondents (N = 1,805), we investigate the association between inward-looking attitudes and reactions to simulated exposure to foreign ethno-traditionalist messaging (in a clip from a fictitious tourism agency promotional video). We find that distrust of globalization drives support for foreign expressions of ethno-traditionalism, particularly among right-wing populists.