Browsing by Subject "ideological dilemmas"

The recent presidential elections in Finland in the spring of 2024 sparked widespread discussion on the acceptability of a gay presidential couple in the media, and speculations about whether candidate Haavisto’s sexual orientation had affected the election results. The purpose of this thesis is to shed light on a question that has intrigued researchers for decades. What makes a good leader and who is likely to be accepted as a leader? Discursive research in Social Psychology has contributed to the study of political communication and rhetoric. However, in recent years, research in Finland has primarily focused on the study of populism. Recently, scholars have opted for a broader exploration of the Finnish political sphere, not focusing on populist voices only. In the US, scholars have acknowledged that presidential elections intensify tensions between partisan identities and increase affective polarization in society. This thesis responds to the appeals from researchers by exploring how the meanings of presidential leadership are constructed in lay discourse across the political spectrum. In the present study, the theoretical framework of the Social Identity Approach to Leadership has been employed, as it emphasizes a mutual relationship between a leader and followers. Further, as the interest lies in talk, Critical Discursive Psychology has been employed to explore the meanings that presidential leadership holds and the identities it makes available for candidates and followers. The material consists of interviews with 55 participants across the political party field, discussing the topic of presidential leadership by reflecting upon three hypothetical presidential candidates. The results reflect the multi-faceted levels of meanings that presidential leadership holds in Finnish society, which have been portrayed by the three identified interpretative repertoires and eight subject positions. The role of a president was perceived as prestigious, involving the conveyance of morals and values to the nation. The findings aligned with the Social Identity Approach to Leadership, which posits that followers are engaged actors in the social identity process of leadership. While positioning candidates, the interviewees simultaneously positioned themselves and the nation. Typicality of a candidate was endorsed in positioning, while homosexuality was resisted as an acceptable quality for a presidential leader. The discursive negotiation of a homosexual leader formed an ideological dilemma of tolerance versus homophobia. The other two repertoires (modern nation and conservative nation) were drawn from the perceived values of the Finnish nation. The positions within these repertoires aimed at “othering” opposing partisans and formed ideological counterparts, which resulted in the negotiation of an ideological dilemma liberal equality versus conservative values. These findings reflect the increasing opposition of the political spectrum in Finnish society. The study illustrates that the meanings of presidential leadership function as an incentive for broader identity negotiations and calls for further research in co-examining opposing views across the political and ideological spectrum to shed light on the wider socio-political context in Finland.