Reducing affective polarization: Warm group relations or policy compromise?
Abstract
Hostility between rival political partisans, referred to as affective polarization, has increased in the United States over the last several decades generating considerable interest in its reduction. The current study examines two distinct sets of factors that potentially reduce affective polarization, drawn respectively from a group‐based and a policy‐based model of its origins. Specifically, we contrast the degree to which warm social relations and policy compromise reduce affective polarization. In two experimental studies ( N = 937), respondents read a mock news story about an observed interaction between Chuck Schumer, Senate minority leader, and Mitch McConnell, Senate majority leader. The leaders either interact in a warm or hostile manner and independently compromise, or fail to compromise, on immigration matters. In both studies, warm leader relations reduced affective polarization whereas policy compromise did not. We consider the implications of these findings for the study of affective polarization and its reduction.
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Some work on reducing polarization with shared goals and common identities shows promising effects.
“While some work on reducing polarization with shared goals and common identities shows promising effects (e.g., Huddy & Yair, 2021;Levendusky, 2018a)”
From Measuring affective polarization: Matching concepts to measures (2026) · cites this paper as Huddy & Yair, 2021
Exposing people to warm interactions between political elites from opposing parties seems to reduce out-group animosity.
“Exposing people to warm interactions between political elites from opposing parties also seems to reduce out-group animosity58,199.”
From Cognitive–motivational mechanisms of political polarization in social-communicative contexts (2022) · cites this paper as [199]
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Siev, J. J., Philipp-Muller, A. Z., Durso, G. R. O., & Wegener, D. T. (2024) · Journal of Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2024.104631 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Overgaard, C. S. B., Lukito, J., & Soorholtz, K. (2024) · Proceedings of the International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media · doi:10.1609/icwsm.v18i1.31380 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
“Yet to gain such an understanding, it is necessary to go beyond the methodologies traditionally used employed in polarization research, such as surveys (Iyengar, Sood, and Lelkes 2012) or experiments (Huddy and Yair 2021).”
MethodElite Cooperation and Affective Polarization: Evidence From German Coalitions
Wagner, M., & Harteveld, E. (2024) · Political Studies · doi:10.1177/00323217241300993 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
“If improved relations between political elites (for instance, through coalitions) indeed foster more sympathy towards formerly disliked political parties, this likely also trickles down to warmer relations between citizens supporting these parties (Huddy and Yair, 2021).”
InfluentialStability and Volatility in Cultural Models of Contention
Gøtzsche‐Astrup, O., & Gøtzsche‐Astrup, J. (2024) · Social Forces · doi:10.1093/sf/soae134 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Neureiter, M., & Waldmann, G. (2025) · Journal of International Migration and Integration / Revue de l integration et de la migration internationale · doi:10.1007/s12134-025-01292-8 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Harteveld, E., Russo, L., & Wagner, M. (2023) · Electoral Studies · doi:10.1016/j.electstud.2023.102691 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Segovia, C. (2023) · Estudios Internacionales · doi:10.5354/0719-3769.2023.71014 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“When people identify with a group, they develop a sense of belonging and attachment that expresses positive feelings regarding that group (Iyengar et al., 2019; Huddy & Yair, 2021).”
Affective polarization and democratic identity: a comparison of Italy and Norway
Bein, S. (2025) · Zeitschrift für Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft · doi:10.1007/s12286-024-00623-w · Cited by 4 · see citing works
“Huddy and Yair (2021), for example, found in an experiment that affective polarization on the part of voters can be reduced through more friendly and less hostile interactions between politicians in political conflicts.”
Repairing cognitive distortions in political divides
Santos, L. A., Garton, C., & Zaki, J. (2025) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2025.06.007 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
“We organize several nove l interventions into interrelated categories of CBT techniques: reality testing, cognitive reframing, and behavioral experiments (Table 1).”
Myers, C. D., & Hvidsten, T. (2024) · Political Behavior · doi:10.1007/s11109-024-09991-1 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Galais, C., & Balinhas, D. (2024) · International Journal of Public Opinion Research · doi:10.1093/ijpor/edae059 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Ahn, S., & Carnahan, D. (2025) · Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media · doi:10.1080/08838151.2025.2492868 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Learning to Like the Enemy: Moral Learning Reduces Affective Polarization
Moran, T., & Walther, E. (2025) · Social Psychological and Personality Science · doi:10.1177/19485506251343667 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“For example, some studies are based on intergroup contact theory and use inter-party discussions, or the warm interaction of leaders, as a remedy against affective polarization (Huddy & Yair, 2021; Santoro & Broockman, 2022).”
Affective polarization and strategic voting in Britain
Down, I., & Han, K.-J. (2025) · Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties · doi:10.1080/17457289.2024.2337422 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“…influence the views of supporters of other political parties toward itself, by cooperating with those other parties (e.g. through co-governance [Bassan-Nygate and Weiss 2022; Horne, Adams, and Gidron 2023]) or, more broadly, by forming “warm” relationships with them (Huddy and Yair 2021).”
Hall, J., & Whitt, S. (2024) · Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics · doi:10.1016/j.socec.2024.102253 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Perspective Getting and Cross-Party Support for Electoral Fairness
Strickler, R. (2025) · Political Behavior · doi:10.1007/s11109-025-10056-0 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Partisan Cues and Public Support for Democratic Norm ViolationsPreprint
Metin, O. F., & Georgarakis, G. N. (2023) · doi:10.31219/osf.io/tyru4 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
‘Sleeping With the Enemy’: Partisan Sorting in Online DatingPreprint
Sleiman, Y., Melios, G., & Dolan, P. (2023) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.4589420 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Measuring affective polarization: Matching concepts to measures
Druckman, J. N., Klar, S., Krupnikov, Y., Levendusky, M., & Ryan, J. B. (2026) · Political Psychology · doi:10.1111/pops.70152 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Duxbury, S. (2024) · Social Forces · doi:10.1093/sf/soae052 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Long, F., Ye, Z., & Luo, L. (2025) · Journal of Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2025.104732 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Blair, R., Gottlieb, J., Schenk, M., & Woods, C. (2025) · Political Psychology · doi:10.1111/pops.70046 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“…of these interventions vary, most if not all focus on promoting two ideals in particular: civility in interpersonal interactions and tolerance for disparate political perspectives (Baron et al., 2023; Fishkin et al., 2021, 2024; Huddy & Yair, 2021; Voelkel et al., 2021; Wojcieszak & Warner, 2020).”
Long, F., Ye, Z., & Luo, L. (2025) · Journal of Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2025.104811 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“Sleeping with the enemy”: partisanship and tolerance in online dating
Sleiman, Y., Melios, G., & Dolan, P. (2025) · Political Science Research and Methods · doi:10.1017/psrm.2025.10011 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Gill, H., Lee, H., Kim, S. Y., Liao, X., & Rojas, H. (2025) · International Journal of Public Opinion Research · doi:10.1093/ijpor/edaf053 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Two kinds of political understanding
Prescott‐Couch, A. (2025) · Philosophical Studies · doi:10.1007/s11098-025-02397-7 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Introducing a novel method to support polarized citizens to sustain political dialogue
English, A., & Mahendran, K. (2025) · Political Psychology · doi:10.1111/pops.70080 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“In contrast with research that prioritizes depolarization or consensus-focused outcomes (Chu & Yang, 2018; Huddy & Yair, 2019), this novel approach sought to create polarizing ruptures in the dialogue to understand how pairs navigate such discussions.”
A Male Hostility Spiral? Polarized Communication among Political Elites on Social Media
Wendsjö, A., Bäck, H., & Kokkonen, A. (2025) · The Journal of Politics · doi:10.1086/739664 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Affective polarization and anti-democratic attitudes: a complex relationship
McWagner, K., & Kidd, W. (2025) · Journal of Elections Public Opinion and Parties · doi:10.1080/17457289.2025.2558780 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“A focus on elite comity and friendship may reduce affective polarization (Horne, Adams, and Gidron 2023; Huddy and Yair 2021), but congeniality may not be the best metric for grading democratic representation.”
(De)polarizing words: How elite rhetoric shapes affective polarization toward the radical right
Calvo, E. M. L. (2026) · Parliamentary Affairs · doi:10.1093/pa/gsag019 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
From Antagonistic Talk to Cooperative Acts: The Effect of Polarization Cues on Newspaper Audiences
Farjam, M., & Meyer, H. (2026) · Political Behavior · doi:10.1007/s11109-026-10197-w · Cited by 1 · see citing works
The Impact of Social Norms on Cohesion and (De)Polarization
Lubbers, M. J., Bukowski, M., Christ, O., Jaspers, E., & van Zalk, M. H. W. (2025) · Social Inclusion · doi:10.17645/si.10984 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
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Appeals to shared suffering in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Reinhardt, L., & Whitehouse, H. (2025) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0332197 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“…that analyses a rich toolbox of interventions including correcting misperceptions about the outgroup [43], emphasizing common interests [44], highlighting commonalities [45], creating real shared experiences [46], fostering intergroup contact [47], and modelling warm intergroup relations [48].”
Party Identification and Social Relationships: Exploring the Causal MechanismsPreprint
Ogura, I. (2022) · doi:10.33774/apsa-2022-vgw52
Affektiv polarisering i Norden – en oversikt
Knudsen, E. S., Lindholm, J., Heiselberg, L., & Holmberg, N. (2023) · Tidsskrift for samfunnsforskning · doi:10.18261/tfs.64.3.7
Party Polarization and COVID-19
Lin, J. A.-J., & Druckman, J. N. (2023) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780197615133.003.0015
Does Interaction With Out-Party Elites in a Classroom Setting Diminish Negative Partisanship?
Frederick, S., Miller, M. G., & GREEN, D. P. (2024) · American Politics Research · doi:10.1177/1532673x241263076
“Huddy and Yair (2021) show that simply observing warm relations among elites can reduce affective polarization in the public.”
Blame Avoidance in Polarized Societies
Sulitzeanu‐Kenan, R., & Amitai, Y. (2024) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780198896388.003.0018
Burack, C. (2024) · doi:10.1093/oso/9780197758526.003.0014
Türkiye’de Duygusal Kutuplaşma ve Oy Verme İlişkisi
Çalışır, S. (2024) · Alternatif Politika · doi:10.53376/ap.2024.14
Conclusion: Researching (and Improving) Migrant Integration Outcomes in Western Europe
Neureiter, M. (2024) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-78817-8_8
Affektive Polarisierung und ökonomisches Wählen
Stövsand, L.-C. (2024) · doi:10.21248/gups.88336
Ramstetter, L., Klackl, J., Jonas, E., & Spilker, G. (2025) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-025-02525-8
“Second, when leaders connect warmly and show mutual respect, affective polarization is lower (Huddy & Yair, 2021).”
- Authors
- Huddy, L., & Yair, O.
- Affiliations
- Stony Brook University (US)
- Hebrew University of Jerusalem (IL)
- Corresponding author
- Huddy, Leonie
- Venue
- Political Psychology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2020-11-02
- Volume
- 42
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 291-309
- ISSN
- 0162-895X (ISSN-L)
- 1467-9221
- OpenAlex
- W3096278343
- Cited by
- 124
- References
- 49
- Citations by year
- 2026: 14 · 2025: 38 · 2024: 30 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 1
- FWCI
- 36.19
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Political Psychology (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Electoral Systems and Political Participation
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Media Influence and Politics
- Keywords
- affective polarization, partisan hostility, policy compromise, partisanship, immigration policy
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