Abstract
We revisit the construct of political polarization and current distinctions between issue-driven and affective polarization. Based on our review of recent research on polarization from psychology, political science, and communication, we propose to treat polarization as a process that integrates the concepts of social identification (collective self-definition) with ideologically opposed camps - that is, psychological groups based on support or opposition to specific socio-political issues and policies (related to issue-driven polarization), and that of ideological and psychological distancing between groups (related to affective polarization). Furthermore, we discuss the foundations of polarizing groups – and more specifically, the role of conflicting collective narratives about social reality in providing an initial platform for polarization in a technologically networked world. In particular, we highlight the importance of online media in facilitating and enhancing polarization between ideologically opposed camps. As a theoretical contribution, the review provides a more functional conceptualization of polarization that can explain how polarization may occur across partisan fault lines and in domains outside of politics. We conclude with a discussion of new pathways to the study of polarization which this integrative conceptualization opens.
Highlights
Advances in modern communication technology have enabled wider access and reach across some of the most culturally and geographically remote regions in the world, creating unprecedented opportunities for cooperation that bridges cultural, economic, and geo-political boundaries
We present evidence that a collective narrativebased approach to understanding polarization has advantages over previous approaches, as they are more descriptive of current polarization trends
We argue that polarization is most likely to occur when ideological conflicts are salient in society, as this fosters the formation of ideologically opposed camps which by their nature are prone to polarizing
Summary
Advances in modern communication technology have enabled wider access and reach across some of the most culturally and geographically remote regions in the world, creating unprecedented opportunities for cooperation that bridges cultural, economic, and geo-political boundaries. These conceptualizations suggest that (intergroup) polarization can result from increasing intergroup differentiation, via a intergroup dissent driven pathway (mostly deductive) – where polarizing norms are likely deduced from the intergroup context From this perspective, polarization is a process underpinned by identification with opposed camps in contexts where alternative collective narratives about social reality exists; it manifests in both ideological and psychological outcomes as distancing between ingroup and outgroup in terms of group beliefs, norms, and affective responses (as the social identity content of opposed camps shifts toward stronger ingroup stereotype and further away from the outgroup’s). Recent research on affective polarization in the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic (Druckman et al, 2020, 2021), shows that partisan animosity is predictive of both attitudes toward the pandemic (i.e., participants’ concerns about the virus, and support for policies aiming to limit the spread of infection) and behaviors taken to limit the spread of infection, suggesting that at least in the context of United States politics, partisan animosity and issue-positions seem to be aligned and polarized across the expected fault-lines
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