A comparative study of right-wing extremist attitudes and group-focused enmity in Sweden, Poland, and Germany

This is a comparative quantitative survey study that will be conducted in Sweden and Poland followed by a systematic comparison with already existing recent survey results in Germany. It will investigate the existence and proliferation of right-wing extreme attitudes and prejudices.

Data will be analyzed with the help of well-tested statistical indexes, foremost the right-wing extremism index and the group-focused enmity syndrome, used in the ongoing bi-annual German surveys since the early 2000s. The method was introduced in Poland in 2009, the idea is to now also introduce and adapt it in Sweden.

This will create a foundation for international comparisons that are more forceful and with higher validity than those that exist to this day, and that are relying on widely diverse methodological and theoretical traditions in each country.

The same survey items (questions) will also be used, although a great effort will be put into translations and cognitive testing of the items to make sure that they will have the same content and effect in each of the three countries.

The survey will also be a comparison between countries with and without a communist past (as has been the case in the German surveys).

The research group is very experienced and cross-disciplinary and the investigation will be conducted in close collaboration with the existing institutions in Poland and Germany. The survey will be anonymous (conducted by a specialized authority) and subject of an ethical review.