Hostile, Benevolent or Modern? The Role of Sexism(s) in Explaining Far-Right Support Across Eastern and Western Europe

How do different forms of sexism shape support for the far right, and how do the effects differ between Eastern and Western Europe? Previous studies have examined the effects of sexism(s) on political behaviour in general (Winter 2022), and on far-right support in particular (e.g. Anduiza and Rico 2022; Coffè et al. 2023; Off et al. 2022). However, most studies are single-country studies and focused on Western Europe, thus limiting the generalisability of their results and conclusions. Moreover, there are theoretical reasons to believe that the roles of different sexisms differ in Eastern Europe compared to Western Europe, given the distinct nature of Eastern European far-right parties and their attitudes towards and rhetoric on women, which often emphasise gender-traditional roles while relying less on overt anti-feminist backlash. This paper theorises and investigates how different forms of sexism (hostile, benevolent, and modern) relate to far-right support across Eastern and Western Europe. The study combines quantitative analysis using the ESS round 11 with qualitative evidence from far-right leaders’ rhetoric. The quantitative results show significant differences in how these distinct forms of sexism predict far-right support, in both direction and effect size, thus demonstrating how sexism operates differently in Eastern compared to Western Europe. Whereas hostile sexism predicts far-right support in Western Europe, it does not in Eastern Europe. Conversely, benevolent and modern sexism marginally predict far-right support in Eastern Europe, but not in Western Europe. The illustrative qualitative data on far-right leaders’ rhetoric complements the study, highlighting the role of these distinct forms of sexism in mobilising far-right support. The findings of this study challenge the assumption of a uniform “sexist” far-right vote, calling for more nuanced examinations of how sexism relates to far-right support in diverse country contexts.