Decomposing attitude distributions to characterize attitude polarization in Europe
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22229488 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Martin Gestefeld (0000-0001-6399-8996, Constructor University, corresponding author), Jan Lorenz (0000-0002-6333-3828), Nils Tobias Henschel (0000-0002-9366-7722, Constructor University), K Boehnke (0000-0002-5435-4037, Constructor University) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 2 |
| Issue | 7 |
| Publication date | 2022-07-06 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | SN Social Sciences (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2662-9283 • E-ISSN: 2662-9283 |
| Publisher | Springer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1007/s43545-022-00342-7 |
| OpenAlex | W4283825090 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 49 |
In recent years, political discourse and election results appear to be more polarized in western countries but is this associated with increasing attitude polarization of their general public? To answer this question, many different polarization measures have been proposed in the literature but no systematic empirical comparison exists. In an exploratory analysis of 4155 attitude distributions on 11-point scales from the European Social Survey, we find that most polarization measures for single attitude distributions correlate strongly with the average attitude discrepancy between randomly selected pairs. We propose this as a catch-all measure for polarization because it can be decomposed into components related to different groups. By analyzing attitude distributions of the left–right political self-placements and several other topics, we find that distributions are typically not unimodal or bimodal, but show more so a structure with up to five modes. We exploit this structure by fitting a model with five latent groups of moderates, extremists, and centrists. Finally, we use the decomposition of polarization with respect to these groups to analyze polarization and its different aspects across topics, countries, and time establishing an overview and new perspectives on single attitude polarization in Europe
Data science · Econometrics · Exploratory analysis · Physics · Political science · Politics · Statistical physics · Chemistry · Computer Science · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Mathematics · Psychology · Social and Intergroup Psychology · Social Media and Politics · Social Psychology
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| Citations per year | 1.67 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2023 - 2025 (3) |
| Highly cited | No |