Affective Polarization

Affective polarization is a field of research that analyzes polarization through a behavioral lens.

Description

Affective polarization is a recontextualization of polarization. It focuses on the difference between in-group attitudes and out-group attitudes. For now, I am taking a broad view towards this field and listing below any works which analyze polarization behaviorally.

Reading Notes

• Demographic Change and Political Polarization in the United States, Levi Boxell, 2018

• Is It the Message or the Messenger? Examining Movement in Immigration Beliefs, Hassan Afrouzi, Carolina Arteaga, and Emily Weisburst, 2024

• Discounting extreme positions: party normalization and support for the far right; Laia Balcells, Sergi Martínez, and Ethan vanderWilden; 2024

• The Free Movement of People and the Success of Far-Right Parties: Evidence from Switzerland’s Border Liberalization; Ala Alrababah, Andreas Beerli, Dominik Hangartner, and Dalston Ward; 2024

• Who looks up to the Leviathan? Ideology, political trust, and support for restrictive state interventions in times of crisis; Matteo C. M. Casiraghi, Luigi Curini, Nicola Maggini, and Alessandro Nai; 2024

• Does polarization increase participation? A systematic literature review and meta-analysis, Marta Kołczyńska, 2025

• Defending the Status Quo or Seeking Change? Electoral Outcomes, Affective Polarization, and Support for Referendums, Bjarn Eck and Emilien Paulis, 2025

• Beyond Observational Relationships: Evidence from a Ten-Country Experiment that Policy Disputes Cause Affective Polarization; Noam Gidron, James Adams, Will Horne and Thomas Tichelbaecker; 2025

• Affective polarization and democratic erosion: evidence from a context of weak partisanship; Loreto Cox, Pedro Cubillos, and Carmen Le Foulon; 2025

• Do Immigrants’ Partisan Preferences Influence Americans’ Support for Immigration?, Daniel McDowell and David A. Steinberg, 2025

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