How digital media drive affective polarization through partisan sorting

Petter Törnberg
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Petter Törnberg: a Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research, University of Amsterdam, 1018 WV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands;; b Institute of Geography, University of Neuchâtel, 2000, Neuchâtel, Switzerland

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2022, vol. 119, issue 42, e2207159119

Abstract: Recent years have seen a rapid rise of affective polarization, characterized by intense negative feelings between partisan groups. This represents a severe societal risk, threatening democratic institutions and constituting a metacrisis, reducing our capacity to respond to pressing societal challenges such as climate change, pandemics, or rising inequality. This paper provides a causal mechanism to explain this rise in polarization, by identifying how digital media may drive a sorting of differences, which has been linked to a breakdown of social cohesion and rising affective polarization. By outlining a potential causal link between digital media and affective polarization, the paper suggests ways of designing digital media so as to reduce their negative consequences.

Keywords: polarization; sorting; social cohesion; agent-based modeling; opinion dynamics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nas:journl:v:119:y:2022:p:e2207159119

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