Abstract
This study explored the relationships between a selection of social identity factors and affective political polarization among adults in the United States. A broad selection of literature was reviewed and employed in informing a descriptive and inferential statistical analysis of 2008 and 2020 American National Election Studies (ANES) survey data. Multiple regression was used to describe and quantify the relationships between selected variables and affective polarization within the datasets. These methods were paired with tests for differences in means in a comparative analysis of the 2008 and 2020 demographic and political environments, which revealed a statistically significant difference in the levels of affective polarization between the two years. Ideological polarization and ageing stood out as the factors that contributed most heavily to this this growth in affective polarization. Broadly, these findings suggested that demographic and psychographic shifts may have played a role in facilitating growth of affective political polarization across the years. Finally, a post-hoc analysis identified the growth of affective polarization as originating from increased hostility for political out-groups, highlighting the need for further research into other political, social, and economic events that may have triggered the growth of affective polarization.
Published Version
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