Feeling Like A Partisan: Valenced Stereotype Comparisons and Polarization

• In Event: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Emotions

Abstract

Though social scientists are increasingly interested in partisan stereotypes and their content, research has overlooked—or even outright dismissed—the importance of the emotional valence of these mental images. Drawing on social identity theory, I argue that partisan judgment hinges on valenced intergroup comparisons: polarization increases as the affective contrast between parties grows. Analyzing two surveys (one prior and one original), I measure partisan stereotype content with structural topic modeling/sentiment analysis, and use OLS regression to assess whether/how strongly the valence contrasts between partisan stereotypes are associated with various measures of polarization. Across both datasets, valence contrast shows stronger statistical/substantive relationships with polarization than any other dimension of partisan stereotype content—including absolute valence measures. Model comparisons further support the primacy of valence contrast over absolute valence in accounting for variation in polarization. These findings highlight the importance of considering valence in research on partisan stereotypes, underscore the necessity of explicit attention to the mechanism of intergroup comparison when modeling the effects of group stereotypes, and cohere with long-standing claims that partisan stereotypes blend affect with cognition.

Author

• Elle Johnston, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor