| Summary: | We are witnessing increasing partisan polarization across the world. It
is often argued that partisan ‘echo chambers’ are one of the drivers of both
policy and affective polarization. In this article, we develop and test the argument that the political homogeneity of people’s social environment shapes
polarization. Using an innovative, large-scale pre-registered ‘lab-in-the-field’
experiment in the UK, we examine how polarization is influenced by partisan group homogeneity. We recruit nationally representative partisans and
assign them to discuss a salient policy issue, either with like-minded partisans (an echo chamber) or in a mixed-partisan group. This allows us to
examine how group composition affects polarization. In line with our expectations, we find that partisan echo chambers increase both policy and
affective polarization compared to mixed discussion groups. This has important implications for our understanding of the drivers of polarization and
for how outgroup animosity might be ameliorated in the mass public.
|
|---|