Does Talking to the Other Side Reduce Inter-party Hostility? Evidence from Three Studies

According to recent scholarship, citizens in various Western democracies show a growing sense of dislike and distrust toward members of opposing political parties. While political communication processes have been shown to influence inter-party hostility, the literature has so far focused mainly on mass-mediated communication. Co-written by Eric Merkley and Peter Loewen, this paper argues that affective polarization might also be determined by interpersonal political communication.