The Stories We Tell: Societal Narratives and Support for the Far Right

Malte Baader, Kai Barron, Anna Hochleitner and Jonas P. Kaiser
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Malte Baader: Norwegian School of Economics, FAIR
Kai Barron: ESCP Business School, WZB Berlin
Anna Hochleitner: Norwegian School of Economics, FAIR, SNF
Jonas P. Kaiser: TU Berlin, Berlin School of Economics

No 586, Rationality and Competition Discussion Paper Series from CRC TRR 190 Rationality and Competition

Abstract: In two studies using AI-assisted qualitative interviews, we ask a representative sample of the German electorate (N = 1, 013) to reflect on the most important societal events of the last 15 years. We document that far-right supporters construct systematically different narratives about the recent past. First, they recall different events—with a strong focus on migration-related issues. Second, even when they do consider the same events, they are more likely to blame the establishment and describe events more negatively and with greater emotional intensity. We further document that these narratives are associated with policy preferences, and that far right supporters are more inclined than supporters of other parties to prioritize cultural over economic issues. Together, our findings reveal that partisan divides extend to how citizens remember and interpret shared national experiences.

Keywords: polarization; narratives; ai-assisted qualitative interviews; explanations; mental models (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C90 D01 D84 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-09-18
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