Acceptability of Politicians’ Uncivil Behavior in a High-Trust Society

The paper explores citizens’ tolerance for politicians’ uncivil behavior in Norway’s high-trust, multiparty setting. It links social psychology and political behavior literature to argue that the acceptability of uncivil acts depends on the context, particularly on who the offender and the victim are, and how people relate to them. Using a 2x2x3 survey experiment, we find that incivility is mostly condemned. However, party loyalty and issue agreement slightly increase tolerance, mainly among supporters of the Progress Party. Additionally, identification with the victim lowers acceptance, especially among women when the victim is female. The results indicate that context and homophily matter, but uncivil political rhetoric remains largely unacceptable and can weaken cross-group solidarity, ultimately raising affective polarization.