15:00 - 16:40
P14
Room:
Room: Club B
Panel Session 14
Ivo Bantel, Markus Kollberg - Uncovering the Relationship between Mass and Elite-Level Polarization in European Multi-Party Systems. Evidence from Germany.
Sara Hobolt, James Tilley - Affective Polarization in a Social Setting
Hanna Bäck - Explaining affective polarization – The role of party messages
Markus Wagner - Affective Polarization and Coalition Signals
Noam Gidron, Lior Sheffer - The Cumulative Impact of Elections on Affective Polarization - Evidence From a Panel Study of Four Elections in Israel
Affective Polarization in a Social Setting
P14-2
Presented by: Sara Hobolt, James Tilley
Sara Hobolt 1, Katharina Lawall 1James Tilley 2
1 London School of Economics
2 University of Oxford
We are witnessing increasing affective polarization – a partisan divide that fuels out-group animosity and prejudices - in many parts of the world. What drives affective polarization? Observational studies have suggested that both elite polarization and interpersonal ‘echo chambers’ are drivers of polarization. In this study, we build on this literature to explore the micro-mechanisms of how the political environment shapes affective polarization. We argue that since affective polarization is rooted in emotional group-based attachments, they are best explored in a social setting. We use an experimental social setting - an online group discussion - to examine how affective elite polarization and group composition shapes affective polarization among partisans in Britain. Our participants, who are party supporters but otherwise broadly representative of the British population, are placed in groups with either like-minded partisans (an ‘echo chamber’) or in a heterogeneous group. They are also exposed to competing elite arguments about a policy issue that are more or less emotive in tone. Following a discussion on the policy, participants answer a survey about their attitudes towards in- and out-group partisans. This experimental design therefore enables us to examine how group composition and elite cues impact affective polarization of partisans.