Misperceptions about the beliefs of others: Cause or consequence of affective polarization?
Keywords
- polarización afectiva,
- brecha perceptiva,
- polarización ideológica,
- falsa polarización
- affective polarization,
- perception gap,
- ideological polarization,
- false polarization
How to Cite
Copyright (c) 2021 Ismael Crespo Martínez, José Miguel Rojo Martínez, Alberto Mora Rodríguez
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Abstract
To what extent do we have a misperception about other parties and their supporters? This study addresses the concept of “false polarization” in connection with the phenomena of ideological polarization, thematic polarization and affective polarization. For this, data from a national survey conducted by the CEMOP Special Research Group of the University of Murcia were used. The paper focuses on determining the levels of perception gap that exist both at an ideological level (differences between the self-placement of the voters of each party and the location that the rest make on the different parties) and thematic (how the voters of each party think that voters of other parties think about high-contrast cultural issues). The conclusions point to the tendency of the supporters of a formation to exaggerate the extent of their disagreement with other groups, especially with those of the opposing ideological bloc, as a way of increasing their identification with the group to which they belong and their rejection of the opposite group. In addition, important findings were reached on the relationship between ideological and thematic polarization, and between the perception gap that occurs at the ideological and thematic level.
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