Researchers have presented study results on affective polarization. This is spoken of when people meet with emotional rejection on important socio-political issues.
According to a study in ten European countries, the issues of migration and climate change are the main causes of polarization in society.
“In general, left-wingers are more polarized than right-wingers. When it comes to immigration, however, people who position themselves politically on the right are more emotionally polarized,” said the Mercator Forum Migration and Democracy (MIDEM) research center at the Technical University of Dresden. The scientists understand affective polarization when people meet with emotional rejection on important socio-political issues.
“Italy generally shows the highest level of affective polarization, ahead of Greece and Hungary. In contrast, respondents in the Netherlands and the Czech Republic are the least polarized.” Germany is in the middle, it said. When it comes to migration, those who want to limit the influx of foreigners are the most polarized. In connection with climate change, it is those for whom the political measures to combat it do not go far enough, explained MIDEM Director Hans Vorländer.
The Ukraine war is polarizing, especially in the Czech Republic
Another finding was that the topic of “dealing with sexual minorities” – the researchers included homosexuals or transsexuals among them – is polarizing particularly in Italy, Spain and Greece. Women are even more polarized than men. The war in Ukraine is polarizing the most in the Czech Republic. Many Czech citizens are very critical of their own government and its policy of supporting Ukraine. Immigration not only polarizes the most, it also has the greatest potential for division.
The study is based on a survey that was carried out in ten EU member states in autumn 2022 in cooperation with the opinion research institute YouGov. Around 20,000 people were asked about topics such as the war in Ukraine, the corona pandemic, climate change or social benefits and their financing. Instead of measuring differences in attitudes towards political issues, the study measures the emotional evaluation of groups of people with opposing political views. For this, respondents were asked about their own position on a topic and about their feelings towards those who think differently.
Source: Stern
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