Perceived Polarization and Its Effects on Voter Behavior
Description
Political polarization is at an all-time high in the United States and people are more polarized in their beliefs than ever. The issue of polarization is one of the most divisive conflicts in America today. The following honors thesis analyzes how political polarization affects voter emotions and behaviors. To study this, I expose participants to a high polarization news article and a low polarization news article and observe the results. Out of the test came two key findings. The first is that participants who identify as Independents were much more likely to feel inspiration in a high polarization context than in a low polarization context. The second is that in a high polarization condition, Democrat and Republican participants felt more connected to their own parties compared to the control condition.
Date Created
The date the item was original created (prior to any relationship with the ASU Digital Repositories.)
2020-05
Agent
- Author (aut): Sharp, Harrison
- Thesis director: Mandel, Naomi
- Committee member: Eaton, Kathryn
- Contributor (ctb): School of Politics and Global Studies
- Contributor (ctb): Department of Marketing
- Contributor (ctb): Department of Information Systems
- Contributor (ctb): Department of Information Systems
- Contributor (ctb): Barrett, The Honors College