On 26 March 2026, the Institute for Social Studies at the University of Warsaw hosted a meeting of the Interdisciplinary Seminar of the Zajonc Institute. The seminar featured a presentation by Anna Potoczek from the Change Lab titled “What Shapes Political Support? Psychological Mechanisms Behind Evaluations of Politicians and Political Parties”.

The talk focused on psychological mechanisms underlying political support and evaluations of politicians and political parties. Drawing on two lines of experimental research, the presentation examined how voters respond to changes in politicians’ views, perceived authenticity, ideological congruence, and expectations regarding electoral success.

The first series of studies investigated how inconsistency in politicians’ positions influences trust and support, highlighting the role of perceived alignment between politicians’ views and voters’ beliefs and certainty about them. The second line of research explored how political support is shaped by ideological agreement with a party’s program and by perceptions of the party’s chances of success. The findings demonstrated that voters mostly value ideological considerations, but also sometimes take into account the strategic calculations related to electoral viability.

The seminar provided an opportunity for a discussion on the psychological foundations of political behavior and mechanisms shaping political preferences and electoral support. The commentary was delivered by Paulina Górska.