Creating Fear and Insecurity for Political Goals

• Published in: International perspectives in psychology : research, practice, consultation practice, consultation, 2020-01, Vol.9 (1), p.5-17
• Main Author: Bar-Tal, Daniel
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Authoritarianism; Emotional Security; Fear; Goals; Government; Human; Leadership; Persuasive Communication; Politics; Society; Threat
• ISSN: 2157-3883; 2157-3891
• DOI: 10.1037/ipp0000113

Messages of threats and dangers are very efficient and persuasive tactics that reward the user. Threats and dangers that arouse fear and insecurity create support for the perpetrator's position, freeze the beliefs, and feed the maintenance of the position. This feeding is powerful because the collective orientation of fear and insecurity is not only maintained by the experiences of society members but also strongly reinforced by leaders, who build their case by using and misusing their powerful persuasive forces. To understand these processes, one has to realize that fear and insecurity are connected psychological constructs. The present article describes the nature of each of these constructs on the individual and collective level. Then it elucidates factors that influence their arousal, focusing on the role of external sources (leaders), collective memory, and political ideology. The last part elaborates on the potent influence that fear and insecurity have on the psyche of the individuals and collective. The conclusion connects excerpts from 6 leaders' speeches intended to evoke fear and insecurity presented at the beginning of the article and their meanings. Impact and Implications The present article describes what the nature of fear and insecurity, with their consequences, is and then explains why leaders often use messages of fear and insecurity in their rhetoric. The major point of the article is that sometimes leaders misuse threats to persuade their constituency and other society members in the need to accept their position and mobilize them not only for support but also often explicitly, and at least implicitly, to take collective action to prevent the threat that can be imagined.