Political Orientation, National Identification and System Support: A Cross‐National Analysis Among Several Discriminated Groups

ABSTRACT We report two studies investigating the relationship between political orientation, national identification and system support among members of discriminated groups within a nation. We used four cross‐national datasets comprising several Western countries and more than 13,000 respondents who identified as members of discriminated groups in their respective nations. Study 2 was pre‐registered and replicated the methods and analyses of Study 1. Results from both studies indicated that right‐leaning individuals from discriminated groups were slightly more likely to be satisfied with the existing system but were equally likely to trust the system compared to their left‐leaning counterparts. Furthermore, rightists showed higher levels of national identification. Across both studies, national identification was positively associated with both system satisfaction and trust and showed a significant indirect effect in the relationship between political orientation and system support. These findings suggest that increased system support among discriminated individuals may be partially associated with heightened national identification, which tends to co‐occur with right‐wing political orientation.