Threat in Politics with Reference to Experimental Findings and Social Identity Theory

The Concept of Threat in Politics with Reference to Experimental Findings and The Social Identity Theory of Leadership
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The Concept of Threat in Politics with Reference to Experimental Findings and The Social Identity Theory of Leadership
Threat perception is one of the prominent theories of war, conflict resolution, and alliances in international relations studies. Scholars in international relations have applied the theory in political psychology to explain political behavior. For instance, leaders throughout history have exploited fear or the appearance of an external threat to increase local support. On the other hand, the perception of an internal threat such as that from a rival political party can have strong and negative effects on the popularity or actions of a political leader. This essay will examine the concept of threat in politics concerning experimental findings and the social identity theory of leadership.
The threat perception has been discussed in international relations and political science literature. A threat is an event in which one entity has the potential or goal of inflicting an adverse effect on another entity. Threats are probabilistic and may or may not be real. They could also be directed at an individual (physical security, personal beliefs, or personal wealth) or a group (economic, military, or cultural threats). However, a threat against a group can also be interpreted as a threat against an individual. For instance, the rise of China as the global manufacturing hub can be interpreted as a threat to US dominance and blue-collar workers in America. One of the ways societies manage the diverse set of potential threats against the group and individual is through politics. Political institutions and state machinery are necessary to manage the numerous threats: the two mitigate against the threat effect using various economic policies, formal institutions, and social structures (Dugan & Chenoweth, 2020). For instance, the state uses the armed forces to contain military threats against the country and social welfare to contain political threats against certain groups.
The function of the government is to manage the fear of both group and individual threats. Studies have shown that adopting certain political ideologies are linked to stability and resilience. For instance, right-wing political beliefs and policies have been shown to reduce feelings of threat by resisting social change and maintaining cultural norms. Different psychological models of political relationships have been used to explain the relationship between political beliefs and threat perception. One of these models is the social identity theory of leadership, which argues that a leader's effectiveness centers on their ability to convince followers that they are part of a common group. The theory highlights the importance of shared social identity in group functioning and posits that good leadership is founded on leaders and followers perceiving themselves as sharing a social identity instead of viewing themselves purely in personal identities (Steffens et al., 2020). According to the theory, leaders' ability to influence fol...