Activation and articulation of authoritarian attitudes
May 5, 2026
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1 min read
A project investigating how the media agenda and news framing shape the emergence and articulation of authoritarian attitudes. The research uses a multi-method design including panel experiments, focus groups, and automated text analysis to study how societal issues on the news agenda activate authoritarian predispositions.
Selected publication
- M. Ekström & J. Johansson (2026). The Emotional Foundations of Authoritarian Discourse: A Mixed-Method Study of Anger, Disgust and Fear in Online Discussions on News Issues. Emotions and Society, In press.
Principal Investigator
Mats Ekström
Responsibilities
- Managed and collected major decade-long datasets through web scraping of two major Swedish discussion forums: Familjeliv and Flashback.
- Contributed analysis within the project’s broader mixed-method design.
- Theoretical and conceptual development.
Funding
Funded by the Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet).
Project size
5 500 000 SEK
Authors
Associate Researcher
I am an Associate Researcher at the Department of Sociology and Work Science and a Guest Lecturer and PhD candidate at the Department of Journalism, Media and Communication (JMG), University of Gothenburg. My research focuses on the application of advanced statistical modelling, experimental designs, and mixed-methods approaches to social processes and relationships. I work with multi-country surveys, survey experiments, longitudinal data, and computational text analysis to study inequality, institutional contexts, and the formation and expression of attitudes and public opinion.
My doctoral research applies this methodological focus to theories of media effects and audience behaviour, treating them as temporally contingent social processes. It examines public opinion, news framing, agenda-setting, and selective media use. My PhD research is affiliated with the Varieties of Media Effects (ERC) research programme.
Before starting my PhD, I worked at the SOM Institute and the Laboratory of Opinion Research (LORE) as Deputy Chief Analyst.