Mit rechtsextremen Wahlen ist ein psychologisches Bedürfnis nach Gewissheit verbunden. Die Ergebnisse verdeutlichen, wie grundlegende psychologische Reaktionen auf eine immer komplexer werdende Welt umfassendere politische Bewegungen prägen können.

>A new [study](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2025.113449) published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences suggests that a person’s ability to handle uncertain situations plays a role in their political choices. The research provides evidence that people who struggle with ambiguity tend to favor rigid ideologies, which in turn increases their likelihood of supporting radical right political parties. These findings highlight how basic psychological responses to an increasingly complex world can shape broader political movements.

>Past research hints that broad personality traits influence voting behavior, but the exact pathway has remained somewhat unclear. To explore this dynamic, the researchers focused on a psychological concept called tolerance for ambiguity.

>Tolerance for ambiguity refers to how well a person can process complex, contradicting, or unfamiliar information without feeling threatened. People with a high tolerance for ambiguity generally accept that the world is messy and complicated. Those with a low tolerance for ambiguity tend to prefer black-and-white thinking, seeking out clear rules and simple answers. The scientists proposed that this specific psychological trait acts as a bridge between foundational personality traits and political ideology.

>“This study was inspired by both a theoretical gap and real-world developments. While previous research suggested that personality traits are indirectly related to support for radical right parties, the psychological mechanism behind this link remained unclear,” said study authors Almuth Lietz, a research associate at the German Center for Integration and Migration Research and a doctoral candidate at Goethe University Frankfurt, and Sabrina Jasmin Mayer, a political sociology professor at the University of Bamberg.

>“We aimed to address this by proposing tolerance for ambiguity as a mediating factor. At the same time, the rise of radical right parties such as the Alternative for Germany (AfD) highlights the societal importance of understanding how people cope with uncertainty in complex social and political contexts.”

I’m of the opinion that a lot of the people voting far right are doing it out of a gut feeling than actual facts.

It’s like you present scientific research to them to explain something isn’t true but they refuse to accept it.

I guess that’s sort of what is being said here; some people don’t understand/trust data and would rather vote with their gut (which is easy to manipulate).

I am driven by knowing things and it has led me only down the left path, though, I did have a pretty right-wing upbringing, and that may have something to do with it.