Working Paper: NBER ID: w28036
Authors: Levi Boxell; Jacob Conway; James N. Druckman; Matthew Gentzkow
Abstract: We document trends in affective polarization during the coronavirus 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. Two other data sources show no evidence of an increase in polarization around the onset of the pandemic. Finally, we show in an experiment that priming respondents to think about the coronavirus pandemic significantly reduces affective polarization.
Keywords: affective polarization; coronavirus pandemic; political division
JEL Codes: P16
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Pandemic (H12) | Affective polarization (F52) |
| Affective polarization did not increase during the coronavirus pandemic (F69) | Affective polarization (F52) |
| Media consumption patterns (D10) | Affective polarization (F52) |
| Exposure to pandemic-related content (F65) | Affective polarization (F52) |
| Priming respondents with thoughts of the pandemic (E71) | Feelings towards the opposing party (D74) |