In this episode, Rafael Behr talks to Dr. Tessa Buchanan, a former civil servant and now an academic at Cambridge’s Political Psychology Lab, about the psychology behind changing how some voters think about outsiders or immigrants, revealing why she believes attitudes aren’t always as fixed or hostile as they may seem.

From the media’s obsession with “small boats” to conflicting anxieties about national identity, Rafael and Tessa discuss how easy is it to move public opinion, and so public policy, on a topic that has dominated political debate in the UK, EU and US for almost a decade.

Links to topics mentioned in the podcast

How an authoritarianism-compatible text changes British attitudes towards EU immigration

Study from Cambridge University Political Psychology Lab

2019 YouGov survey looking at EU immigration

2024 US survey pre-Presidential election

Cambridge University Political Psychology Lab

Podcasts mentioned

Rafael Behr and Karen Stenner

https://shows.acast.com/politicsonthecouch/episodes/theauthoritatianpersonalitywithkarenstenner

Rafael Behr and Dr Lee de-Wit

https://shows.acast.com/politicsonthecouch/episodes/theleftstroublewithconnectingwithsocialonservatives

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