Cited by 0Media Influence and PoliticsElectoral Systems and Political ParticipationMedia Studies and Communication

Dieta mediática y polarización afectiva en un sistema mediático pluralista polarizado: un estudio longitudinal de España

Open access
Cuéllar Rivero, Rubén·2026·Revista Española de Investigaciones Sociológicas

Abstract

Este estudio tiene por objetivo analizar los efectos de la dieta mediática en sus tres dimensiones (cantidad, frecuencia y diversidad ideológica) sobre la polarización afectiva en elecciones generales españolas entre 1993 y 2023. Utilizando datos de encuestas poselectorales del proyecto CNEP y empleando modelos de regresión lineal multivariante, los resultados muestran que una alta frecuencia de consumo de televisión o una dieta mediática homogénea ideológicamente incrementan la polarización afectiva a nivel individual en determinados contextos electorales de los últimos treinta años. Los hallazgos contribuyen a esclarecer el rol de las dimensiones de la dieta mediática en la polarización afectiva en España, interpretados desde el marco de la teoría de los efectos limitados de los medios de comunicación.

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

This longitudinal study analyzes how three media-diet dimensions—quantity, frequency, and ideological diversity—affect affective polarization in Spanish general elections from 1993 to 2023 using CNEP post-election surveys and multivariate linear regression. It finds limited, context-dependent effects: intensive television consumption and ideologically homogeneous media diets increase affective polarization in some elections, while the quantity hypothesis is rejected.

Key findings

  • The quantity hypothesis (H1) is rejected in all models; except in 2004, the estimated direction is contrary to the hypothesis, though coefficients show a slight positive trend.
  • The diversity hypothesis (H2) is accepted only in 2004; in 2023 the coefficient has the expected positive direction and intensity but does not reach statistical significance.
  • The frequency hypothesis (H3) is partially confirmed in 1993 and 2011 for intensive television use; intensive press consumers in 1993 and 2011 show decreased affective polarization, and there are no significant radio effects.
  • Among controls, party closeness is positive and significant in all four models, notably in 2023 (0.223, p<0.001); right self-placement increases polarization in 2011 and 2023 (0.129, p<0.001; 0.098, p<0.05), left self-placement reduces it in 2011 (-0.123, p<0.001), and general political interest lowers polarization in 1993/2011 while campaign interest increases it.

Methods

  • Longitudinal quantitative study of Spain using Comparative National Elections Project (CNEP) post-election surveys after the general elections of 1993, 2004, 2011, 2015, and 2023; 2015 is used only descriptively because the dependent variable is in the pre-election questionnaire and the independent variables are in the post-election questionnaire. Sample sizes: 1993 N=1448; 2004 N=2929; 2011 pre N=7194/post N=6082; 2015 pre N=2411/post N=2264; 2023 pre N=1113/post N=944.
  • Multivariate linear regression models are estimated for each election year. The dependent variable is Wagner’s (2021) weighted affective polarization index based on feeling thermometers toward leaders of statewide parties. Independent variables cover number of media consumed, frequency of press/radio/TV use (0–5), and diversity/homogeneity based on media audiences’ mean left-right self-placement, classified as progressive (0–4.5), transversal (4.51–5.49), or conservative (5.50–10). Controls include sex, age, education, political interest, campaign interest, left-right self-placement, and party closeness. Multicollinearity checks report tolerance values between 0.341 and 0.988 and VIF between 1.012 and 2.935.

Limitations

  • The paper states limitations including reliance on self-report for media use and media ideological tendency; exclusion of local, provincial, and some regional media; variable sample sizes across years; exclusion of social media; and a focus on affective polarization toward leaders of main statewide parties, excluding peripheral-nationality leaders and polarization toward parties or party voters.
  • The text also makes evident that 2015 cannot support causal inference due to the pre/post questionnaire mismatch, that the 2023 model lacks the campaign-interest variable, and that the observational design leaves open possible mutual influence or reinforcing spirals, which the paper flags for future research.

Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.5477/cis/reis.194.25-44

Cites

76 of 76 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Claims the paper makes

4 of 37 cited sources checked · 3 supported · 0 flagged · accuracy not yet measured

  • Premisecitation

    The effects of deliberate or accidental cross-cutting and counter-attitudinal consumption can be depolarizing.

    “los efectos del consumo transversal y contractitudinal deliberado o accidental pueden ser despolarizantes (Beam, Hutchens y Hmielowski, 2018;Kelly et al., 2014;Nordbrandt, 2022).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim1 of 3 sources checked
    • cites Beam, Hutchens y Hmielowski, 2018 source
    • cites Kelly et al., 2014

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

    • cites Nordbrandt, 2022 source

      The Introduction reports links between crosscutting communication and attitude moderation, and the biased-information-processing section says some studies suggest depolarization. But the paper distinguishes lower polarization from actual depolarization; its own results concern discussions, not deliberate or accidental consumption, and do not establish a depolarizing effect for both. (LLM, conf=0.82)

      Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Premisecitation

    Evidence on the effects of selective exposure on affective polarization is mixed or sometimes inconclusive.

    “la evidencia sobre sus efectos en la polarización afectiva es mixta o, en ocasiones, poco concluyente (Aelst et al., 2017;Iyengar et al., 2019).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim1 of 2 sources checked
    • cites Aelst et al., 2017 source
    • cites Iyengar et al., 2019 source
  • Findingown data

    In 2011, there was a minimal and non-significant positive association between accumulated consumption of conservative media and affective polarization.

    “se encontró una mínima y no significativa asociación positiva entre el consumo acumulado de medios conservadores y la polarización afectiva”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • Findingreasoning

    H3 (frequency hypothesis) is partially confirmed in 1993 and 2011 for those who intensively use television to get informed during the campaign.

    “La hipótesis de la frecuencia (H3) se confirma parcialmente en los años 1993 y 2011 para aquellos que utilizan de forma intensiva la televisión para informarse durante la campaña.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • Findingown data

    An ideologically homogeneous media diet increases affective polarization at the individual level in certain electoral contexts in Spain over the last thirty years.

    “una alta frecuencia de consumo de televisión o una dieta mediática homogénea ideológicamente incrementan la polarización afectiva a nivel individual en determinados contextos electorales de los últimos treinta años.”
    • Also stated in: § IntroduccIón 1 · plain
      “Los resultados muestran un complejo panorama de efectos, donde la frecuencia del consumo de televisión o la homogeneidad ideológica de la dieta mediática emergen como factores explicativos del incremento de la polarización afectiva en determinados contextos electorales.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: The media diet dimensions have causal effects on affective polarization rather than merely being associated with it.
  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim. 19
  • May combine two claims. 19
  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    Predominan los estudios centrados en la polarización provocada por los medios.

    “Dada la predominancia de los estudios centrados en la polarización provocada por los medios (Cuéllar-Rivero, 2024; Kubin y Sikorski, 2021)”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim1 of 2 sources checked
    • cites Cuéllar-Rivero, 2024 source
    • cites Kubin y Sikorski, 2021

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationcitation

    The frequency hypothesis of this study is coherent with the intensive consumer hypothesis, but not with the same results obtained by Crespo-Martínez et al. (2024), because their study indicates that social media and digital newspaper consumption contributes to affective polarization, while television lacks significant effects.

    “la hipótesis de la frecuencia de este estudio es coherente con la hipótesis del consumidor intensivo, pero no con los mismos resultados obtenidos por Crespo-Martínez et al. (2024), pues su estudio indica que el consumo de redes sociales y periódicos digitales contribuye a polarizar afectivamente, mientras que la televisión carece de efectos significativos.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim1 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Crespo-Martínez et al., 2024 source
  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    Closeness to political party shows positive and significant results in all four models presented, with notable prominence in 2023 (0.223, p<0.001).

    “La cercanía al partido político muestra resultados esperados dada la naturaleza identitaria de la polarización afectiva: positivos y significativos en los cuatro modelos presentados, con un notable protagonismo en 2023 (0,223, p<0,001).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    The quantity hypothesis (H1) is rejected in all presented models, and except in the 2004 context, the estimated direction of effects on affective polarization is contrary to the hypothesized direction.

    “La hipótesis de la cantidad (H1) queda rechazada en todos los modelos presentados y, salvo en el contexto de 2004, la dirección en la estimación de los efectos sobre la polarización afectiva es contraria a la hipotetizada.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: The media diet dimensions have causal effects on affective polarization rather than merely being associated with it.
  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    The average number of media outlets consumed oscillates between 2.53 in 1993 and 0.6 in 2023; its greatest decline occurred between 2015 and 2023.

    “El número promedio de medios de comunicación consumidos oscila entre 2,53 en 1993 y 0,6 en 2023; su mayor descenso se produjo entre 2015 y 2023.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: The CNEP surveys from 1993, 2004, 2011, 2015 and 2023 are comparable enough to support a longitudinal analysis of media diet and affective polarization despite their different sampling methods.
  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    The diversity of media diets has decreased as their ideological homogeneity increased between 1993 (0.49) and 2023 (0.96), peaking in 2015 at 1.33.

    “la diversidad de las dietas mediáticas se ha reducido al incrementarse su homogeneidad ideológica entre 1993 (0,49) y 2023 (0,96), llegando a su pico en 2015 con un valor de 1,33.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: The CNEP surveys from 1993, 2004, 2011, 2015 and 2023 are comparable enough to support a longitudinal analysis of media diet and affective polarization despite their different sampling methods.
  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    General interest in politics and interest in the electoral campaign play inverse roles in 1993 and 2011: general interest is associated with lower polarization, while campaign interest is associated with increasing affective polarization.

    “El interés general en la política y el interés en la campaña electoral juegan roles inversos en 1993 y 2011: mientras el primero se asocia en estos casos a una menor polarización, el segundo lo hace incrementando la polarización afectiva.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing), S4 (based).

    Findingnone given

    La polarización afectiva en España está condicionada por actitudes y orientaciones individuales previas, como la ideología o la cercanía a los partidos políticos.

    “Esta, a su vez, está condicionada por actitudes y orientaciones individuales previas, como la ideología o la cercanía a los partidos políticos, así como por posibles factores contextuales que no se abordan en este estudio.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing), S4 (based).

    Interpretationreasoning

    The increase in press consumption from 2004 to 2015 is probably influenced by the emergence of new digital newspapers.

    “probablemente influido por la emergencia de nuevos periódicos en formato digital.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: The CNEP surveys from 1993, 2004, 2011, 2015 and 2023 are comparable enough to support a longitudinal analysis of media diet and affective polarization despite their different sampling methods.
  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S1 (asserted), S4 (based). May combine two claims.

    Premisereasoning

    A media diet that is homogeneous in ideological and partisan terms is characterized by a greater predominance of selecting information sources matching prior political preferences, which eventually increases adherence to in-group members and rejection of out-group members and consequently increases affective polarization.

    “Una dieta mediática homogénea, en términos ideológicos y partidistas, se caracteriza por un mayor predominio de la selección de fuentes informativas coincidentes con las preferencias políticas previas, lo que eventualmente aumentará la adhesión hacia los miembros del in-group y el rechazo hacia los miembros del out-group y, en consecuencia, incrementará la polarización afectiva.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Interpretationcitation

    The slight positive trend in the beta coefficients for quantity could be interpreted in light of Padró-Solanet and Balcells (2022), according to which mere cumulative media use could exacerbate affective polarization.

    “la ligera tendencia positiva que muestran los coeficientes beta podría interpretarse a la luz de los hallazgos de Padró-Solanet y Balcells (2022), según la cual el mero uso acumulativo de medios -independientemente del tiempo o la atención dedicados a cada uno-podría exacerbar la polarización afectiva.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Padró-Solanet y Balcells (2022)

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Spain has evolved from a media ecology of scarce choice capacity to one with greater choice capacity and audience fragmentation.

    “una ecología mediática desarrollada con más opciones informativas que hace treinta años (Díaz-Nosty, 2017)”
    • Also stated in: § Diseño de investigación · plain
      “expresa una evolución desde una ecología mediática de escasa capacidad de elección hacia una ecología con una mayor capacidad de elección y fragmentación de audiencias (Díaz-Nosty, 2017)”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Díaz-Nosty, 2017

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Study design and conductown data

    The 2023 model is run without being able to use interest in the electoral campaign due to its absence from the questionnaire used in Spain.

    “Lamentablemente, el modelo del año 2023 es realizado sin poder utilizar el interés en la campaña electoral dada su ausencia en el cuestionario empleado en España.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationreasoning

    The negative relationship between homogeneous media diet and affective polarization in 2011 is explained by a reduction of affect, even rejection, toward left-wing candidates.

    “solo así cabría esperar que la homogeneidad de la dieta mediática esté negativamente relacionada con la polarización afectiva, ya que se explica por una reducción del afecto, e incluso el rechazo, hacia los candidatos de izquierda.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • The authors state this as an assumption: Affective polarization is caused by some dimensions of the media diet.
  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S1 (asserted). May combine two claims.

    Premisereasoning

    A media diet that is heterogeneous in these same terms is characterized by a lower predominance of selective consumption combined with the choice of cross-cutting and counter-attitudinal information sources, so an inverse effect to that proposed for more ideologically homogeneous intakes is expected and it will decrease affective polarization.

    “Una dieta mediática heterogénea en estos mismos términos se caracteriza por un menor predominio de consumo selectivo combinado con la elección de fuentes informativas transversales y contractitudinales, de modo que se espera un efecto inverso al propuesto para las ingestas ideológicamente más homogéneas y, en consecuencia, disminuirá la polarización afectiva.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Premisecitation

    In high-choice media ecologies, individuals tend to select a subset of media outlets as information sources they use regularly to inform themselves about politics, which can be called a media diet.

    “En ecologías mediáticas de alta capacidad de elección, los individuos tienden a seleccionar un subconjunto de medios de comunicación como fuentes informativas que utilizan regularmente para informarse de política, lo que podría denominarse dieta mediática (Dubois y Blank, 2018;Heeter, 1985;Padró-Solanet y Balcells, 2022;Wolfsfeld, Yarchi y Samuel-Azran, 2016).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 3 sources checked
    • cites Dubois y Blank, 2018

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

    • cites Heeter, 1985 source
    • cites Padró-Solanet y Balcells, 2022

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing), S4 (based).

    Interpretationreasoning

    The positive effect among those who consume television for political information could be expected in intensive press consumers given the historical tendency of main newspapers to a much clearer political positioning than main TV channels.

    “El efecto positivo entre quienes consumen televisión para informarse de política cabría esperarse en los consumidores intensivos de prensa dada la histórica tendencia de las principales cabeceras a un posicionamiento político mucho más nítido que los principales canales de televisión.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    The effects of selective exposure on affective polarization can be small or null.

    “los efectos de la exposición selectiva en la polarización afectiva pueden ser pequeños (Kelly et al., 2014;Padró-Solanet y Balcells, 2022) o nulos (Wojcieszak et al., 2021(Wojcieszak et al., , 2022)).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 3 sources checked
    • cites Kelly et al., 2014

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

    • cites Padró-Solanet y Balcells, 2022

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

    • cites Wojcieszak et al., 2021, 2022

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Premisecitation

    A 'poor' media diet will have a polarizing effect.

    “una dieta mediática «pobre» tendrá un efecto polarizador (Padró-Solanet y Balcells, 2022: 3).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Padró-Solanet y Balcells, 2022

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Spain is among the most or upper-middle affectively polarized democracies analyzed, or in an intermediate position.

    “ser una de las democracias más afectivamente polarizadas, según los estudios más recientes (Reiljan, 2020).”
    • Also stated in: § Marco teórIco · plain
      “España se encuentra en los escalafones altos o medio-altos de la polarización afectiva de las democracias analizadas (Gidron, Adams y Horne, 2019; Reiljan, 2020) o en un lugar intermedio (Wagner, 2021).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 3 sources checked
    • cites Gidron, Adams y Horne, 2019

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

    • cites Reiljan, 2020 source
    • cites Wagner, 2021 source
  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Individuals' media diets differ according to the number of media outlets consumed, their diversity, their frequency of use, and how they are combined.

    “Las dietas mediáticas de los individuos difieren en función del número de medios de comunicación consumidos, su diversidad, su frecuencia de uso y la forma en la que se combinan (Dubois y Blank, 2018;Wolfsfeld, Yarchi y Samuel-Azran, 2016).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites Dubois y Blank, 2018

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

    • cites Wolfsfeld, Yarchi y Samuel-Azran, 2016 source
  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Premisecitation

    A media diet with a greater number of media outlets increases the probability of encountering cross-cutting and counter-attitudinal media.

    “Una dieta mediática con una mayor cantidad de medios aumenta la probabilidad de encontrar medios transversales y contractudinales (Dubois y Blank, 2018)”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Dubois y Blank, 2018

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing), S4 (based). May combine two claims.

    Interpretationreasoning

    The decline in average media outlets consumed may be due to a progressive reduction in the use of traditional media in favor of social media, as well as to unanalyzed contextual factors.

    “Este descenso puede deberse a una progresiva reducción del uso de medios de comunicación tradicionales en favor de los medios sociales, así como a factores contextuales no analizados.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: The CNEP surveys from 1993, 2004, 2011, 2015 and 2023 are comparable enough to support a longitudinal analysis of media diet and affective polarization despite their different sampling methods.
  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationcitation

    Despite its systematic rejection in this study, the quantity hypothesis shares the same direction regarding increase in polarization as seen in Padró-Solanet and Balcells (2022); however, they do not coincide when it comes to effective number of media consumed, predictor of depolarization in that study that has not been operationalized here.

    “pese a su rechazo sistemático en este estudio, la hipótesis de la cantidad comparte la misma dirección en lo que se refiere al incremento de la polarización que el visto en el estudio de Padró-Solanet y Balcells (2022); sin embargo, no coinciden cuando se trata del número efectivo de medios consumidos, predictor de la despolarización en citado estudio que no ha sido operacionalizado aquí.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Padró-Solanet y Balcells, 2022

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Study design and conductreasoning

    The study excludes media diet of local, provincial and some regional media, whose impact is not measured due to diverse coding of those media, variable sample size between study years, and statistical practice.

    “la exclusión de la dieta mediática de los medios de comunicación locales, provinciales y algunos regionales -cuyo impacto no es medido debido a la diversa codificación de esos medios-al tamaño muestral variable entre los años de estudio y a la práctica estadística.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Study design and conductcitation

    The study excludes from its analysis the use of social networks and other social media, which since at least 2011 are a growing space for political information flow, participation and activism, no less loaded with emotionality and dramatism.

    “este artículo excluye de su análisis el uso de redes sociales y otros medios de comunicación social, que, desde al menos 2011, son un espacio creciente para el flujo de información política, participación y activismo, no menos cargado de emocionalidad y dramatismo (Serrano-Puche, 2021).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Serrano-Puche, 2021 source
  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable).

    Interpretationreasoning

    These statistically modest effects do not diminish the importance of the media's role in electoral contexts in the Spanish political and media system, characterized by high ideological and affective polarization.

    “Estos efectos estadísticamente modestos no restan importancia al rol de los medios en contextos electorales en el sistema político y mediático español, caracterizado por una alta polarización ideológica y afectiva.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.

    Study design and conductnone given

    The study focuses on affective polarization at individual level based on feelings of affection and rejection toward leaders of main national political parties, which excludes leaders of peripheral nationalities, as well as affective polarization based on feelings toward the party in general and toward voters of those parties.

    “este artículo se centra en la polarización afectiva a nivel individual basada en los sentimientos de afecto y rechazo hacia los líderes de los principales partidos políticos de ámbito nacional, lo que excluye a los líderes de las nacionalidades periféricas, así como la polarización afectiva basada en los sentimientos hacia el partido en general y hacia los votantes de esos partidos.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationcitation

    The diversity hypothesis, confirmed in 2004, is coherent with selective exposure theory and homophilic media consumption according to social identity, despite the unexpected result obtained in the 2011 electoral context.

    “la hipótesis de la diversidad, confirmada en 2004, es coherente con la teoría de la exposición selectiva y del consumo homofílico de medios de acuerdo con la identidad social (Dvir-Gvirsman, 2017, 2019), a pesar del inesperado resultado obtenido en el contexto electoral de 2011.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Dvir-Gvirsman, 2017, 2019

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationown data

    Given the characteristics of the Spanish media system and the particularities of each electoral conjuncture, media diets characterized by high frequency of political information consumption via television or by marked ideological homogeneity of informative sources contribute to intensify affective polarization at individual level.

    “cabe proponer una lectura general de los resultados según la cual, dadas las características del sistema mediático español y las particularidades de cada coyuntura electoral, las dietas mediáticas caracterizadas por una alta frecuencia de consumo de información política a través de la televisión o por una marcada homogeneidad ideológica de las fuentes informativas contribuyen a intensificar la”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • The authors state this as an assumption: Affective polarization is caused by some dimensions of the media diet.
  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable). May combine two claims.

    Interpretationown data

    A first reading of this table invites restraint in claims about the capacity of media to affectively polarize given the role of prior political attitudes and orientations of audiences, which invites analysis from limited effects or conditioned effects theories.

    “Una primera lectura de esta tabla invita a la contención en las afirmaciones sobre la capacidad de los medios de comunicación de polarizar afectivamente dado el papel que ostentan las actitudes y orientaciones políticas previas de las audiencias, lo que invita a un análisis desde las teorías de efectos limitados (Lazarsfeld, Berelson y Gaudet, 1948) o efectos condicionados (Ball-Rokeach y DeFleur,”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 3 sources checked
    • cites Lazarsfeld, Berelson y Gaudet, 1948

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

    • cites Ball-Rokeach y DeFleur, 1976

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

    • cites Katz, Blumler y Gurevitch, 1974

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S4 (based).

    Premisenone given

    Previous studies, with high predominance of those having the US as case study or a single medium or platform, offer a localized and partial image of the effects of information consumption on affective polarization.

    “Los estudios previos, con un alto predominio de aquellos que tienen a EE.UU. como caso de estudio o un solo medio o plataforma, ofrecen una imagen localizada y parcial de los efectos del consumo informativo sobre la polarización afectiva.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
32 of 32
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The media diet dimensions have causal effects on affective polarization rather than merely being associated with it.

    “Entrando en el análisis causal, se presentan en la tabla 2 cuatro modelos de regresión lineal multivariante que representan los efectos de las tres dimensiones de la dieta mediática analizados y de las variables de control sobre la polarización afectiva a nivel individual en cada uno de los años analizados.”
    “El objetivo de este estudio es determinar los efectos de las dimensiones de la dieta mediática de los españoles que contribuyen a incrementar o reducir los niveles de polarización afectiva.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The CNEP surveys from 1993, 2004, 2011, 2015 and 2023 are comparable enough to support a longitudinal analysis of media diet and affective polarization despite their different sampling methods.

    “Los datos empleados proceden del proyecto Comparative National Elections Project (CNEP) de encuestas poselectorales realizadas en los días posteriores a las elecciones generales de 1993, 2004, 2011, 2015 y 2023 en España, cuyas características técnicas pueden observarse en la tabla 1.”
  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    Affective polarization is caused by some dimensions of the media diet.

    “en este artículo se asume que la polarización afectiva es causada por algunas dimensiones de la dieta mediática.”
3 of 3

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

  • Se atribuye a la televisión un efecto en al menos tres ocasiones, pero solo se identifican dos años

    Minor

    La discusión afirma que el consumo intensivo de televisión incrementa la polarización en al menos tres ocasiones. Los resultados identifican ese efecto únicamente en 1993 y 2011; la tabla 3 también rechaza la hipótesis de frecuencia en los otros dos años modelados.

  • La escala de frecuencia se describe con cinco posiciones, pero sus extremos implican seis

    Minor

    Una escala que incluye los valores enteros de 0 a 5 tiene seis posiciones, no cinco.

2 of 2

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 9

  1. Arias Maldonado, Manuel (2016). La democracia sentimental: Política y emociones en el siglo XXI. Barcelona: Página Indómita. (1.ª ed.).
  2. Díez-Nicolás, Juan y Semetko, Holli A. (1995). La televisión y las elecciones de 1993. En: Muñoz Alonso, A. y Rospir, J. I. (eds.). Comunicación política (pp. 243-304). Madrid: Editorial Universitas.
  3. Fraile, Marta y Meilán, Xavier (2012). Los medios de comunicación y la información política en las elecciones Europeas de 2009. En: Torcal, M. y Font Fábregas, J. (eds.). Elecciones europeas 2009 (pp. 109-137). Madrid: Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas.
  4. González, Juan J.; Rodríguez, Raquel y Castromil, Antón R. (2010). «A Case of Polarized Pluralism in a Mediterranean country. The Media and Politics in Spain». Global Media Journal: Mediterranean Edition, 5(1-2): 1-9.
  5. Lazarsfeld, Paul F.; Berelson, Bernard y Gaudet, Hazel (1948). The people’s choice: How the voter makes up his mind in a presidential campaign. New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce. (2.ª ed.).
  6. Martín, Irene y Urquizu-Sancho, Ignacio (2014). The 2011 General Election in Spain: The Collapse of the Socialist Party. En: Bosco, A. y Verney, S. (eds.). Elections in Hard Times: Southern Europe 2010-11. London: Routledge.
  7. Tajfel, Henri y Turner, John (1979). An Integrative Theory of Intergroup Conflict. En: Austin, W. G. y Worchel, S. (eds.). The Social Psychology of Intergroup Relations. Monterey: Brooks/Cole.
  8. Torcal, Mariano (2023). De votantes a hooligans. La polarización política en España. Madrid: Catarata. (1.ª ed.).
  9. Tsfati, Yariv y Nir, Lilach (2017). «Frames and Reasoning: Two Pathways From Selective Exposure to Affective Polarization». International Journal of Communication, 11: 301-322. 1932–8036/20170005

Authors
Cuéllar Rivero, R.
Venue
Revista Española de Investigaciones Sociológicas
Published
2026-03-26
Issue
194
Pages
25-44
ISSN
  • 0210-5233 (ISSN-L)
  • 1988-5903
OpenAlex
W7140742785
Cited by
0
References
73
FWCI
0.00
Type
journal article
Open access
Locations
Revista Española de Investigaciones Sociológicas (publishedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Media Influence and Politics
  • Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Electoral Systems and Political Participation
  • Social Sciences › Communication › Media Studies and Communication
Keywords
media diet, affective polarization, television viewing, media pluralism, political campaigns, Spanish general election

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Claims read by deepseek-v4.1-flash under definition version 3 (extract-v3) on 2026-10-13.

Classified by jev-1.13-20260917 (gold-guideline-v0.2) on 2026-10-13.

Cited sources are checked by gpt-6-sol.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review