Politically divided societies are also often divided emotionally: people like and trust those with similar political views (in-group favoritism) while disliking and distrusting those with different views (out-group animosity). This phenomenon, called affective polarization, influences individual decisions, including seemingly apolitical choices such as whether to wear a mask or what car to buy.

In this talk we are going to study a dynamical model of decision-making in an affectively polarized society, identifying three potential global outcomes separated by a sharp boundary in the parameter space: consensus, partisan polarization, and nonpartisan polarization. Findings in such models are crucial to understand and address the cascading effects of affective polarization, offering insights into strategies to mitigate polarization.

Alisson Serracín Morales

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