Cross-Country Trends in Affective Polarization
Abstract
We measure trends in affective polarization in twelve OECD countries over the past four decades.According to our baseline estimates, the US experienced the largest increase in polarization over this period.Five countries experienced a smaller increase in polarization.Six countries experienced a decrease in polarization.We relate trends in polarization to trends in potential explanatory factors.
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Comparative research on affective polarization, though scarce, is already underway and promises to identify idiosyncratic aspects of each society as well as general processes and patterns.
“No obstante, la investigación comparada del fenómeno, si bien escasa, ya está en marcha (por ejemplo, Gridon et al., 2020) y promete poder identificar aspectos idiosincráticos de la polarización afectiva de cada sociedad, así como procesos y patrones generales (Boxell et al., 2020).”
From El estudio de la polarización afectiva: una mirada metodológica (2022) · cites this paper as Boxell et al., 2020
Rising partisan antipathy, or affective polarization, mirrors these attitudes.
“These attitudes are mirrored in rising partisan antipathy; dislike toward members of the opposing ideology—a phenomenon known as “affective polarization” (3, 4, 5).”
From Troll and divide: the language of online polarization (2022) · cites this paper as [3]
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- Authors
- Boxell, L., Gentzkow, M., & Shapiro, J.
- Affiliations
- National Bureau of Economic Research (US)
- Venue
- National Bureau of Economic Research
- Publisher
- National Bureau of Economic Research
- Published
- 2020-01
- OpenAlex
- W3003483085
- Cited by
- 359
- References
- 56
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 19 · 2024: 44 · 2023: 89 · 2022: 105 · 2021: 63 · 2020: 28 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 1
- Type
- report
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- National Bureau of Economic Research (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation (DGE-165651 8, 1656518)
- John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
- Brown University
- York University
- Queen's University
- Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research
- Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
- Army Research Office (W911NF-20-1-0252, W911NF)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Electoral Systems and Political Participation
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Social Policy and Reform Studies
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Fiscal Policies and Political Economy
- Keywords
- affective polarization, political attitudes, public opinion, social attitudes, United States, OECD countries
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