Objective

To determine the extent to which endorsement of racist beliefs, support for violence to effect social change, and approval of extreme right-wing political organizations and movements are associated with support for and willingness to engage in political violence in the United States. 

Methods

Nationally representative survey of members of the Ipsos KnowledgePanel conducted May-June 2022. Primary comparisons were between respondents who strongly agreed and those who did not agree with 5 statements of racist beliefs and 3 statements concerning violence and social change, and between respondents who strongly approved and those who did not approve of 8 named organizations and movements. Principal outcomes were measures of support for and willingness to engage in political violence, expressed as weighted percentages with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). 

Results

The completion rate was 55.8%; there were 8,620 respondents. Half of the respondents (50.5%, 95% CI 49.3%, 51.7%) were female, and 62.6% (95% CI 61.4%, 63.9%) were white, non-Hispanic; the weighted mean (SD) age was 48.4 (18.0) years. Respondents in the 3 strong agreement/strong approval groups were much more likely than those who did not agree/approve to consider violence usually or always justified to advance at least 1 of 17 specific political objectives; margins ranged from 29.5 percentage points (strong agreement vs non-agreement with racist beliefs) to 63.2 percentage points (strong approval vs non-approval of extreme right-wing political organizations and movements). Nearly 10% of respondents who strongly agreed with statements on violence to effect social change (9.1%, 95% CI, 6.7%, 11,5%), and nearly 30% of those who strongly approved of the named organizations and 3 movements (29.1%, 95% CI, 18.4%, 39.8%) reported that they would be very or completely willing to kill someone in a situation where they considered political violence to be justified. 

Conclusions

Endorsement of racist beliefs, support for violence to effect social change, and approval of extreme right-wing political organizations and movements are associated with support for political violence, and the latter two are associated with willingness to engage in political violence—including lethal violence. Such information can deepen our understanding of individual- and group-level risks for political violence and guide prevention measures.