Abstract This study examines attitudinal heterogeneity within the electorate of the German populist radical right party AfD. Using data from the 2025 German Longitudinal Election Study (GLES) post-election survey, it applies Latent Profile Analysis to AfD voters based on attitudes toward migration, assimilation, gender equality, antisemitism, authoritarian leadership, climate change versus economic growth, and social protection, and then relates profile membership to socio-demographic and political characteristics. Three profiles emerge that differ primarily in the intensity and configuration of exclusionary and authoritarian attitudes: Moderate Conservatives (13%), Hardline Conservatives (67%), and Radical Right Authoritarians (20%). A central finding is that negative evaluations of the national economy are strongly associated with profile membership, whereas perceived personal economic hardship is not. Issue-salience patterns further suggest that migration functions as a shared baseline concern across the AfD electorate, while economic and foreign-policy priorities contribute to internal differentiation between profiles. The findings highlight the importance of collective economic pessimism for understanding ideological differentiation within the AfD electorate.
Céline Teney (Thu,) studied this question.