How Affective Polarization Shapes Political Divides
Political division is no longer just about beliefs – it’s about how we feel toward the people who hold them. This session explores affective polarization: the deepening emotional hostility between opposing social or political groups that is on the rise globally. Participants will examine how identity, perceived threat, and moral difference shape contempt, and how to interrupt these cycles without dismissing real ideological disagreement.
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Recognize and disrupt the emotional drivers of group-based contempt
🧠 Affective Polarization
🧠 Moral Emotions
🧠 Threat Perception
☑️ Distinguish between affective polarization and ideological disagreement
☑️ Explore the role of social sorting in political division
☑️ Recognize how contempt distorts mutual understanding
☑️ Learn tools to cool reactivity
Emotions are driving polarization
Group division is escalating into contempt or disgust
Political Strategists
Who want to understand how identity threats shape resistance and support
NGOs and Advocacy Teams
Seeking tools to navigate in-group bias and emotional reactivity in cross-partisan or coalition work
Community Organizers
Who need strategies to build solidarity without fueling out-group contempt or escalation
Journalists
Looking for ways to frame stories that reduce moral outrage fatigue and humanize across divisions