ABSTRACT

When defined in terms of social identity and evaluations of in and out groups, the polarization of the American electorate has clearly increased. We elaborate on the question of affective polarization by developing and validating a measure of implicit or subconscious partisan affect. Using this measure, we demonstrate not only that hostility for the out party is ingrained or automatic in voters’ psyches, but also that partisan affect exceeds affect based on race and other social cleavages. After documenting the extent of affective party polarization, we demonstrate that party cues exert powerful effects on non-political judgments and behaviors. Partisans discriminate against out partisans, and do so to a degree that exceeds discrimination based on race. In concluding, we note that heightened partisan affect and the intrusion of partisan bias into non-political domains means that partisan affiliation in America now approximates the model of the “mass membership” party.

SPEAKER BIO

Shanto Iyengar holds a joint appointment as the Harry and Norman Chandler Chair in Communication and Professor of Political Science at Stanford University. Iyengar is also a senior fellow (by courtesy) at the Hoover Institution. Iyengar currently serves as the editor of Political Communication (Taylor and Francis), an inter-disciplinary journal sponsored by the American Political Science Association and the International Communication Association. According to the 2012 Thomson-Reuters Journal Citation Reports, Political Communication is the top-ranked journal in the field of Communication, and fourth (out of 170) in the field of Political Science. Iyengar's teaching and research addresses the role of the news media and mass communication in contemporary politics. He is the author of several books including Media Politics: A Citizen's Guide (W. W. Norton, 2007), Going Negative: How Political Advertisements Shrink and Polarize the Electorate (Free Press, 1995), Explorations in Political Psychology (Duke University Press, 1993), and News That Matters: Television and American Opinion (University of Chicago Press, 1987). Iyengar's research has been published by leading journals in political science and communication. He is also a regular contributor to Washingtonpost.com. His scholarly awards include the Murray Edelman Career Achievement Award for research in political communication, the Philip Converse Award for the best book in the field of public opinion (for News That Matters), the Goldsmith Book Prize (for Going Negative), and the Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award from the University of Iowa.