This chapter advances the study of populism and ontological security in International Relations by linking the critical analysis of identity performing discourses and security narratives to emotive appeals and psychological effects aimed at specific target audiences and their underlying cultural attitudes, social orientation, and political values. The chapter introduces the key concepts of ontological security, blame attribution, emotionalization, and collective narcissism and integrates them for the study of populist framing and security narratives. The aim of this approach is to examine the psychological and affective modes of political persuasion in populist rhetoric, and how blame attribution, appeals to collective narcissism, and an affective repertoire of fear, anxiety, humiliation, resentment and nostalgia are employed for the purposes of voter mobilization and the legitimation of policy.