A Polarization Problem
By Andrew McCarty
We live in divided times. Almost every societal issue is polarized to its extremes, and you must choose a side. This prevents us from reaching a compromise and brings progress to a grinding halt. The human brain evolved to thrive in social environments quite different than the ones we encounter today, and it really hasn’t changed much since then. Historically, cultural and technological innovations have catalyzed humankind to grow rapidly. The invention of the internet and the development of cheap computers has revolutionized our world in an incredibly short amount of time, but we are still running on the same old human hardware. By no fault of our own, this process of rapid social evolution can leave us with an outdated social toolbox in certain situations. Ancient humans needed to learn how to cooperate (and compete), both within and between groups, to survive and reproduce. It's important for people to be aware of what we come from and to recognize the skills and shortcomings that we developed as a result. If we are honest in analyzing our behaviors and identifying what influences them today, maybe we can change them for the better.
As politics seem to become increasingly intertwined with day-to-day life, it also becomes more personal. Some identify very closely with their political affiliation, so any attack on party policy or another member of the group registers as a stinging personal attack. We are wired to process in-groups and out-groups in a way that consequently insulates and polarizes political groups. We experience social emotions such as embarrassment, pride, shame, and guilt upon reflection of our behaviors, and these reflections are referred to as self-conscious emotions (Suhay, 2015). These emotions function to promote conformity within a group. According to Thomas Scheff’s 1988 article from the American Sociological Review, a deference-emotion system exists within and between individuals to reward conformity and punish nonconformity. When you conform, you get respect from the group and you are allowed to feel a sense of personal pride. When you fail to conform, you do not get respect from others, you may even get disrespect, and, instead of pride, you feel a sense of shame. This is simply how we evolved to regulate conformity within and between social groups (meaning it was the most successful method resulting in survival/resource accrual/opportunities to reproduce for ancient humans), and most of us are unaware of this process all while being stuck in the thralls of it.
While it’s difficult to think rationally about the barrage of socio-political issues we confront every day, it’s easy to have an emotional reaction to it. This can be partially explained by Intergroup Emotions Theory, which postulates that people will experience emotions stemming from the group that are independent of the emotions of the individual (Mackie, Maitner, & Smith, 2016). For an easy example; a person in Minnesota might never think about the security of the USA-Mexico border because it doesn’t directly affect them from >1000 miles away. However, if this person identifies as a Republican and they watch Fox News, they will be exposed to the group’s opinion on the subject, and may suddenly feel very strongly about the southern border. Troublingly, this person might also be left with a racist attitude towards Latino people. Intergroup Threat Theory sheds some light on the damaging aspects of media on intergroup relations. More often than their majority counterparts, minorities are stereotypically displayed in media as being menacing and threatening, and this has been shown to have a negative impact on intergroup relations (Atwell Seate, 2017).
As polarization ramps up and the rhetoric becomes fierier, we dig ourselves deeper and deeper into a pit of hate. While the venom spitting from one side of the aisle seems to be demonstrably more vitriolic, we shouldn’t assume that the other side is immune to maladaptive conformity. A self-identifying democrat could just as easily tune into CNN and be left fuming over something Marjorie Taylor Greene said, even if it’s not pertinent to them in any way, just by observing the attitudes and behaviors displayed by the news anchors. I’m not saying it’s unimportant to be informed about the goings-on of the world, I just don’t think feeding into far-right or far-left conspiracy theories leads to anything productive. In that case, the example Democrat wasted time and energy which could have been purposefully refocused to produce tangible changes. I suspect media companies want to keep you angry to keep you clicking, and I think that’s doing real damage not only to our political system but to our ability to rationally communicate with each other.
It’s important to realize that the adaptive problems of survival, which our ancestors successfully solved, have left us all with certain ways of thinking and behaving that don’t fit nicely into the modern world. Instead of ignoring these issues, we should honestly confront how each of us personally contributes to them. So, the next time you are reading/watching Fox News or CNN, think about why the words being said make you feel the way you do, and if that emotion is coming from within yourself or from the group. If you suspect a signal from the group, decide if it makes sense to you as an individual to conform or dissent.
References
Atwell Seate, A. (2017). Media influence on intergroup communication. In P. Rössler (Ed.), The international encyclopedia of media effects. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Blackwell.
Explainer: Political Polarization in the United States. Facing History and Ourselves. (n.d.). Retrieved September 13, 2021, from https://www.facinghistory.org/educator-resources/current-events/explainer/political-polarization-united-states#:~:text=What%20can%20I%20do%20about%20political%20polarization%3F%201,to%20other%20points%20of%20view%20before%20judging.%20 . This source further describes political polarization by discussing four of the many factors that can cause political polarization, the consequences of polarization, and what you can do about political polarization.
Mackie, D. M., Maitner, A. T., & Smith, E. R. (2016). Intergroup emotions theory. In T. D. Nelson (Ed.), Handbook of prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination (pp. 149–174). Psychology Press.
Scheff, T. (1988). Shame and Conformity: The Deference-Emotion System. American Sociological Review, 53(3), 395-406. doi:10.2307/2095647
Suhay, E. Explaining Group Influence: The Role of Identity and Emotion in Political Conformity and Polarization. Polit Behav 37, 221–251 (2015). https://doi-org.ezproxy.mnsu.edu/10.1007/s11109-014-9269-1