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Jacoby N, Landau-Wells M, Pearl J, Paul A, Falk EB, Bruneau EG, Ochsner KN. Partisans process policy-based and identity-based messages using dissociable neural systems. Cereb Cortex 2024; 34:bhae368. [PMID: 39270673 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhae368] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2024] [Revised: 08/12/2024] [Accepted: 08/27/2024] [Indexed: 09/15/2024] Open
Abstract
Political partisanship is often conceived as a lens through which people view politics. Behavioral research has distinguished two types of "partisan lenses"-policy-based and identity-based-that may influence peoples' perception of political events. Little is known, however, about the mechanisms through which partisan discourse appealing to policy beliefs or targeting partisan identities operate within individuals. We addressed this question by collecting neuroimaging data while participants watched videos of speakers expressing partisan views. A "partisan lens effect" was identified as the difference in neural synchrony between each participant's brain response and that of their partisan ingroup vs. outgroup. When processing policy-based messaging, a partisan lens effect was observed in socio-political reasoning and affective responding brain regions. When processing negative identity-based attacks, a partisan lens effect was observed in mentalizing and affective responding brain regions. These data suggest that the processing of political discourse that appeals to different forms of partisanship is supported by related but distinguishable neural-and therefore psychological-mechanisms, which may have implications for how we characterize partisanship and ameliorate its deleterious impacts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nir Jacoby
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Moore Hall, 3 Maynard St, Hanover, NH 03755, USA
- Department of Psychology, Columbia University, 1190 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10027, USA
| | - Marika Landau-Wells
- Travers Department of Political Science, University of California-Berkeley, 210 Barrows Hall #1950, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Jacob Pearl
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, 3620 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Alexandra Paul
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, 3620 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Emily B Falk
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, 3620 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
- Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, 3733 Spruce St, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, 3720 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
- Annenberg Public Policy Center, University of Pennsylvania, 202 S 36th St, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Emile G Bruneau
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, 3620 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Kevin N Ochsner
- Department of Psychology, Columbia University, 1190 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10027, USA
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Bakker BN, Lelkes Y. Putting the affect into affective polarisation. Cogn Emot 2024; 38:418-436. [PMID: 38847476 PMCID: PMC11182229 DOI: 10.1080/02699931.2024.2362366] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2024] [Accepted: 05/23/2024] [Indexed: 06/15/2024]
Abstract
While many believe that affective polarisation poses a significant threat to democratic stability, the definition and operationalisation of the concept varies greatly. This leads to conceptual slippage as well as imprecise tests of the causes and consequences of affective polarisation. In order to clearly identify and target its micro-foundations, we must understand the degree to which political divides are, in fact, affective. In this paper, we do so. We begin by delineating affective polarisation, a social divide that is purportedly distinct from policy-based disagreements. Subsequently, we explore the influence of emotions in politics, including how affect is conceptualised within the framework of polarisation. Where possible, our literature review is supplemented with analyses of existing datasets to support our points. The paper concludes by proposing a series of questions emotion researchers could address in the study of polarisation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bert N. Bakker
- Amsterdam School of Communication Research, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Yphtach Lelkes
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, CA, USA
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Braley A, Lenz GS, Adjodah D, Rahnama H, Pentland A. Why voters who value democracy participate in democratic backsliding. Nat Hum Behav 2023; 7:1282-1293. [PMID: 37217740 DOI: 10.1038/s41562-023-01594-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2022] [Accepted: 04/03/2023] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
Around the world, citizens are voting away the democracies they claim to cherish. Here we present evidence that this behaviour is driven in part by the belief that their opponents will undermine democracy first. In an observational study (N = 1,973), we find that US partisans are willing to subvert democratic norms to the extent that they believe opposing partisans are willing to do the same. In experimental studies (N = 2,543, N = 1,848), we revealed to partisans that their opponents are more committed to democratic norms than they think. As a result, the partisans became more committed to upholding democratic norms themselves and less willing to vote for candidates who break these norms. These findings suggest that aspiring autocrats may instigate democratic backsliding by accusing their opponents of subverting democracy and that we can foster democratic stability by informing partisans about the other side's commitment to democracy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alia Braley
- Travers Department of Political Science, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
| | - Gabriel S Lenz
- Travers Department of Political Science, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Dhaval Adjodah
- MIT Connection Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Hossein Rahnama
- MIT Connection Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
- MIT Media Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Alex Pentland
- MIT Connection Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
- MIT Media Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
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Areal J. 'Them' without 'us': negative identities and affective polarization in Brazil. POLITICAL RESEARCH EXCHANGE : AN ECPR JOURNAL 2022; 4:2117635. [PMID: 36147779 PMCID: PMC9484554 DOI: 10.1080/2474736x.2022.2117635] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2021] [Accepted: 08/22/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
High levels of hostility between those on opposing sides of politics have led to a burgeoning literature on the concept of affective polarization. Though a globally widespread phenomenon, extant literature has generated theoretical expectations and empirical findings mostly inspired by the United States and Western Europe. By studying the case of Brazil, I argue and show that traditional explanations do not provide satisfactory accounts of affective polarization in contexts where politics is only weakly structured by ideology or partisan attachments. I argue and show that in such contexts the concept of negative political identities can provide a much better explanation for why politics is so divisive. Using both the 2014 and 2018 waves of the Brazilian Electoral Studies (BES) and independently collected survey data (N = 1732), I provide robust empirical findings supporting the primacy of negative political identities over traditional explanations. Negative identification with the out-party/leader has a strong effect on dislike towards out-voters even when controlling for instrumental evaluations of political elites. This paper contributes to the comparative research agenda on affective polarization outside Western contexts, as well as to the study of negative political identities.
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Affiliation(s)
- João Areal
- Mannheim Centre for European Social Research (MZES), University of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany
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