Opinion Formation and Political Polarization
Bäck, Hanna LU
and Gustafsson, Nils
LU
(2026)
p.98-104
- Abstract
- ·Public opinion is essential for democratic societies, but social media
changes how opinion is formed.
·Affective polarization – the phenomenon that individuals develop strong
emotional attachments to their own political group and strong dislike
and bias toward political outgroups – is growing in many democratic
societies.
·Affective polarization may make individuals more susceptible to
believe in and share political misinformation, suggesting that this type
of polarization may be detrimental for information processing and
information sharing in democratic societies.
·Another potential consequence of affective polarization is that it may
... (More) - ·Public opinion is essential for democratic societies, but social media
changes how opinion is formed.
·Affective polarization – the phenomenon that individuals develop strong
emotional attachments to their own political group and strong dislike
and bias toward political outgroups – is growing in many democratic
societies.
·Affective polarization may make individuals more susceptible to
believe in and share political misinformation, suggesting that this type
of polarization may be detrimental for information processing and
information sharing in democratic societies.
·Another potential consequence of affective polarization is that it may
influence what political opinions individuals take on various issues,
and that it may increase ideological polarization in the electorate, for
example on issues like climate change (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/9bb63559-4e5d-4b75-8025-ab4ce3e31ad8
- author
- Bäck, Hanna
LU
and Gustafsson, Nils
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2026-01-20
- type
- Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- opinion formation, political polarisation
- host publication
- Psychological Defence and Information Influence : A textbook on theory and practice - A textbook on theory and practice
- editor
- Falkheimer, Jesper and Pamment, James
- pages
- 7 pages
- publisher
- Myndigheten för psykologiskt försvar
- ISBN
- 978-91-989646-8-4
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 9bb63559-4e5d-4b75-8025-ab4ce3e31ad8
- alternative location
- https://mpf.se/psychological-defence-agency/publications/archive/2026-01-19-psychological-defence-and-information-influence----a-textbook-on-theory-and-practice
- date added to LUP
- 2026-01-19 15:40:18
- date last changed
- 2026-01-20 10:27:40
@inbook{9bb63559-4e5d-4b75-8025-ab4ce3e31ad8,
abstract = {{·Public opinion is essential for democratic societies, but social media <br>
<br/>changes how opinion is formed.<br>
<br/>·Affective polarization – the phenomenon that individuals develop strong <br>
<br/>emotional attachments to their own political group and strong dislike <br>
<br/>and bias toward political outgroups – is growing in many democratic <br>
<br/>societies.<br>
<br/>·Affective polarization may make individuals more susceptible to <br>
<br/>believe in and share political misinformation, suggesting that this type <br>
<br/>of polarization may be detrimental for information processing and <br>
<br/>information sharing in democratic societies.<br>
<br/>·Another potential consequence of affective polarization is that it may <br>
<br/>influence what political opinions individuals take on various issues, <br>
<br/>and that it may increase ideological polarization in the electorate, for <br>
<br/>example on issues like climate change}},
author = {{Bäck, Hanna and Gustafsson, Nils}},
booktitle = {{Psychological Defence and Information Influence : A textbook on theory and practice}},
editor = {{Falkheimer, Jesper and Pamment, James}},
isbn = {{978-91-989646-8-4}},
keywords = {{opinion formation; political polarisation}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{01}},
pages = {{98--104}},
publisher = {{Myndigheten för psykologiskt försvar}},
title = {{Opinion Formation and Political Polarization}},
url = {{https://mpf.se/psychological-defence-agency/publications/archive/2026-01-19-psychological-defence-and-information-influence----a-textbook-on-theory-and-practice}},
year = {{2026}},
}