The rhetoric of honor loss: A linguistic analysis of populist communication in Europe and the United States

Objective: Drawing on significance quest theory, we propose that a distinctive linguistic feature of populist political rhetoric is the recurrent use of honor-loss vocabulary-terms associated with humiliation, disrespect, and diminished social value. By focusing on this linguistic pattern, the study seeks to advance populism research through the identification of a measurable discursive mechanism by which leaders may evoke feelings of threatened significance in their audiences, thereby increasing support for actions aimed at restoring significance-even when such actions are violent. Method: We conducted two large-scale textual analyses using the Honor Dictionary to quantify honor-related language. Study 1 examined European political leaders' posts from their Personal X Accounts in 2022. Study 2 analyzed transcripts from U.S. presidential election debates spanning 1960-2024. In both data sets, we compared word frequencies in populist versus nonpopulist speech to test whether populist rhetoric contains more honor-loss words. Results: Across both studies, populist (vs. nonpopulist) discourse displayed a higher proportion of honor-loss terms, supporting the hypothesis that threats to honor and significance serve as rhetorical anchors in populist messaging. This pattern held consistently across communication platforms (televised debates vs. social media posts), cultural contexts (the United States vs. the European Union), and political circumstances (power maintenance vs. electoral competition). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that populist communication may function by heightening perceptions of significance loss, thereby motivating audiences to seek restoration through action, including violent one. A key implication is that honor-based rhetoric may play a role in fueling support for aggressive or extreme responses.