Japanese people more susceptible to authoritarian messages: research

This supplied photo taken in July 2020 shows democratic activists holding a demonstration in Hong Kong. (Kyodo)

TOKYO (Kyodo) — A research team has found that Japanese people tend to be more easily persuaded by the illiberal narratives of authoritarian regimes than by mainstream messages from democracies extolling freedom and human rights.

At a time when countries such as China and Russia are increasingly adopting social media as a new tool to spread story-based messages that appeal to emotions and values, the Japanese team’s findings suggest illiberal narratives could become a threat to democracy in Japan.

In 2023, the team, led by Tetsuro Kobayashi, a professor of political psychology at Waseda University, surveyed some 3,300 individuals aged between 18 and 79 for their views on international issues.

Its questions regarding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, for example, included both pro-Russian narratives, such as “Western countries broke an agreement,” and the mainstream messages of democracies, such as “Russia unilaterally invaded,” to see their respective influence on people’s responses.

The survey on 12 topics, also including China’s Belt and Road initiative and the democratic movement in Hong Kong, showed participants were influenced more by illiberal narratives.

Meanwhile, another study conducted by the team on about 2,600 people showed that the impact of illiberal narratives persisted when the participants were introduced to them after reading mainstream messages.

With many Japanese people already exposed to mainstream messages on TV or in newspapers, they could potentially accept what they later learn on social media as “new facts,” the findings suggested.