Beyond self-reports

Political extremism poses a significant challenge to democratic societies, yet the subconscious drivers behind extremist beliefs remain underexplored. Using an Implicit Association Test (IAT), this study examines biases towards extremism and democracy in Germany, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. By focusing on attitudes beneath the level of conscious awareness, we uncover the hidden dimensions of political extremism that are often overlooked by traditional surveys. We reveal that a substantial portion of respondents exhibited implicit extremist preferences, despite not overtly endorsing such views. People either remain unaware of their extremist biases or conceal them due to social pressures. Moreover, implicit attitudes were found to be strong predictors of explicit political extremism, even when accounting for well-established demographic and ideological factors. The study emphasises the importance of exploring both implicit and explicit attitudes in understanding political extremism and offers valuable insights for future interventions aimed at safeguarding democratic principles.