Revista de comunicación política e institucional

No. 59 (2025): Political polarization in Spain and Argentina
Monographic sections

Effects of Selective Exposure on the perception of political leaders in an affective polarized democracy: the case of Spain

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.56151/maspoderlocal.267
Rubén Cuéllar Rivero
Universidad de Salamanca

Keywords

  • polarización afectiva,
  • medios,
  • consumo informativo,
  • rasgos
  • Affective polarization,
  • media,
  • information consumption,
  • traits

How to Cite

Cuéllar Rivero, R. (2025). Effects of Selective Exposure on the perception of political leaders in an affective polarized democracy: the case of Spain. Más Poder Local, (59), 30-49. https://doi.org/10.56151/maspoderlocal.267

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Abstract

Selective exposure to partisan media is one of the mechanisms most investigated as a cause of affective polarization. This study aims to offer a more qualitative view of the phenomenon based on the perceived traits of political leaders. Using survey data from the 2015 general elections, the study analyses the impact of cumulative information consumption on the perception of Spanish and Catalan political leaders. The results show that cumulative selective consumption has an impact on the improvement or worsening of affective perception of political leaders, especially in the case of nationalist and pro-independence leaders. The results are discussed within the framework of the contributory perspective of the informative consumption of traditional media and the effects of the Catalan independence process on affective polarization in Spain.

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