The Charismatic Leader’s Spell

Politics today feels more personal than ever. More than policymakers, political leaders are also symbols of identity, inspiring both admiration among their supporters and hostility from their opponents. But why do some leaders evoke such devotion, while others are met with outright rejection? And what role does charisma play in shaping these emotional reactions?

Our new study, published in a special issue of Politics and Governance, edited by Femke van Esch and Rudolf Metz, explores this phenomenon. It offers fresh insights into the relationship between emotional attachment, charismatic leadership, populist attitudes, and political polarisation, important topics in MORES’s research. The study is based on a large-scale survey conducted in Hungary, where political divisions run deep and charismatic leadership is a key driver of political engagement (download the article below).

Our findings challenge conventional wisdom about populism and leadership. We found that charisma is not merely a trait of political figures—it is something we, as followers, project onto them. More importantly, the study introduces an innovative new scale to measure how people perceive and emotionally connect with political leaders.

Why Do We Crave Charismatic Leaders?

One of the study’s most striking revelations is how widespread the demand for strong leadership is. The survey shows that a staggering 80% of Hungarians hold populist attitudes. These voters tend to view politics as a struggle between “the pure people” and the “corrupt elite.” These citizens romanticise leadership, believing that political and social outcomes are primarily shaped by the actions of a strong leader rather than by institutions, policies, or structural factors — important in any democratic country.

Strong charismatic leadership can be reassuring, but so is mindfulness of how our own biases can warp our perceptions.

This deep-seated “romance of leadership” explains why many voters are drawn to political figures who present themselves as decisive, bold, and willing to challenge the status quo. The study confirms that Hungarian voters—both government and opposition supporters—overwhelmingly attribute political success or failure to the abilities of leaders, rather than to other factors.

However, while populist voters crave charismatic leadership, their admiration doesn’t automatically translate into support for any specific leader. Instead, the study finds that partisan identity, or the feeling of belonging to a political party, plays a much bigger role in determining whether someone perceives a leader as charismatic. In other words, people tend to see their own political leader as inspiring and exceptional, while viewing the opposing leader as uncharismatic or even dangerous.

A New Way to Measure Charisma

One of the most interesting aspects of this research is its three-level model of charisma perception, seen as a process that is both cognitive and emotional:

1. General inclination toward charismatic leadership: The extent to which individuals look up to strong leaders and believe they are essential for political and social progress.

2. Recognition of charismatic behaviour: How much individuals identify charisma in a leader’s behaviour.

3. Emotional attachment to the leader: How much individuals emotionally connect to a leader, whether admiring or rejecting them.

This framework helps separate the psychological need for leadership from actual perceptions of individual politicians, offering a more nuanced understanding of why some leaders develop cult-like followings while others struggle to inspire loyalty.

The findings suggest that populist attitudes fuel the general hunger for leadership but do not necessarily determine whom people will find charismatic. Instead, it is partisan identity that shapes leader perceptions, reinforcing political polarisation.

Charisma and Polarisation: Two Sides of the Same Coin

The study also challenges the idea that populism itself is the main driver of political polarisation. While populist attitudes shape how people think about leadership, the real driver of division and conflict along political ideologies or agendas is citizens’ emotional attachment to leaders.

People with partisan identities not only see their own leaders as more charismatic. They also feel stronger negative emotions toward rival leaders. However, the research reveals an interesting asymmetry: while strong partisans are more likely to idealise their own leader (compared to weak partisans), rejection of the opposing leader is unanimous—meaning that disliking the opposition leader is almost all but inevitable in modern politics.

This dynamic offers a clue to understanding why political discourse has become increasingly emotional. When people see leaders not just as politicians but also as identity symbols, politics can grow more divided. Debates shift from ideas and policies to loyalty and identity, pushing compromise and consensus out of reach.

The Hungarian Case: A Nation Drawn to Charismatic Leaders

Hungary provides an interesting case for studying charismatic leadership and political polarisation. Since 2010, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has consolidated political support through a mix of institutional power concentration, use of state resources to achieve political aims, propaganda, populist rhetoric, strategic identity-building, and personal charisma.

The study finds that Orbán’s supporters overwhelmingly perceive him as a charismatic leader, while opposition voters strongly reject this view. In contrast, Péter Márki-Zay, the opposition candidate in the Hungarian 2022 general election, struggled to establish the same level of charismatic appeal, despite running on a similarly populist platform.

This, and our data, suggest that charisma goes beyond rhetoric or leadership style. It entails deeper feelings of identity and group belonging. Orbán, as the long-time leader of the ruling party, has built a strong emotional connection with his followers; Márki-Zay, a newcomer leading a fragmented political coalition, faced greater challenges in mobilising a unified identity among opposition voters.

This dynamic offers a clue to understanding why political discourse has recently become so emotionally charged.

Charisma Isn’t Just in the Eye of the Beholder

These findings have important implications. For politicians, the study highlights a crucial insight: charisma is not in the performance only—it is in how followers interpret that performance. Leaders who successfully build and reinforce a collective identity may enhance their perceived charisma, deepening emotional bonds with their supporters.

For voters, the research serves as a reminder that our perceptions of leaders are deeply shaped by our own biases and group identities. Recognising these psychological mechanisms can help individuals become more critical consumers of political messaging and less susceptible to emotional influence.

That’s important because, more generally, charisma-driven politics can not only divide society, but also weaken democratic institutions and shift power away from representative decision-making processes.

As our study suggests, charisma is about both the leader and us, citizens. As long as voters seek certainty, emotional connection, and strong leadership, charismatic figures will continue to rise and political divisions will remain deeply personal. Strong charismatic leadership can be reassuring, but so is mindfulness of how our own biases can warp our perceptions—and that no leader, no matter how charismatic, is above democratic scrutiny.

Meet the Experts

Rudolf Metz is a political scientist and economist whose research focuses on political leadership, particularly the dynamics of authority, charisma, and followership. Actively involved in international scholarly networks on leadership and elites, Metz is a senior research fellow at HUN-REN Centre for Social Sciences, associate professor at Corvinus University, a participant in the MORES research.

Bendegúz Plesz is a political scientist and early career researcher specialising in electoral behaviour and democratic theory. His work explores how identity politics shapes voting patterns and democratic engagement. Plesz is a junior research fellow at HUN-REN Centre for Social Science, PhD student at ELTE, and a participant in the MORES research.

Download Information

Metz, R., & Plesz, B. (2025). The Irresistible Allure of Charismatic Leaders? Populism, Social Identity, and Polarisation. Politics and Governance, 13, Article 9017. Download this open-access MORES publication here.

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