In person icon The Social and Emotional Foundations of Affective Polarization: From Political Expectations to Everyday Interactions

Abstract

Affective polarization is not just a reflection of ideological divides—it shapes and is shaped by policy expectations, social interactions, workplace experiences, and emotional responses to political leaders. This panel examines how affective polarization extends beyond electoral politics into everyday life, interpersonal relations, and economic realities, highlighting its social and emotional dimensions. This panel explores key mechanisms through which affective polarization manifests and deepens: how voters’ dissatisfaction with policy failures fuels negative partisanship, how apolitical social cues shape political conversations, how service sector workers experience political divisions in their daily jobs, and how radical-right populist leaders leverage emotions to intensify political hostility. Drawing on experimental, survey, and qualitative research conducted across multiple countries, these studies highlight how affective polarization operates not only at the elite level but in personal, economic, and institutional contexts.

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