Affective Polarization Did Not Increase During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Levi Boxell, Jacob Conway, James N. Druckman and Matthew Gentzkow

Quarterly Journal of Political Science, 2022, vol. 17, issue 4, 491-512

Abstract: We document trends in affective polarization during the COVID-19 pandemic. In our main measure, affective polarization is relatively flat between July 2019 and February 2020, then falls significantly around the onset of the pandemic. Three of five other data sources display a similar downward trend, with two of five data sources showing no significant change. A survey experiment shows that priming respondents to think about the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic significantly reduces affective polarization.

Keywords: Partisanship; political polarization; coronavirus; public opinion; group attitudes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:now:jlqjps:100.00021027

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