Validating the feeling thermometer as a measure of partisan affect in multi-party systems

Noam Gidron, Lior Sheffer, Guy Mor

Electoral Studies. 2022

Quick Info
Polarization: affective mass vertical
Data: other
Measures: socialdistance

Abstract

Affective polarization is increasingly studied comparatively, and virtually all studies that do so operationalize it using the feeling thermometer. Yet this survey instrument has not yet been validated in a multi-party context. We argue that for the thermometer to be a valid measure of partisan affect also in multi-party systems, it needs to capture sentiment towards partisans and to correlate with other measures of affective polarization. Using panel study fielded throughout Israel’s elections in 2019–2020, we show that both requirements hold. We use text analysis to substantiate that thermometer scores reflect sentiment towards party supporters, and demonstrate that they go hand-in-hand with preferences for social distance and discrimination in economic games. We discuss implications for the study of affective polarization.

Use Cases of Measures

A regional perspective to the study of affective polarisation

Affect, Not Ideology

Affective Polarisation in Comparative and Longitudinal Perspective

Affective polarisation in multiparty systems

Affective polarization and coalition signals

Affective Polarization and Misinformation Belief

Affective polarization and the salience of elections

Affective polarization in Europe

American Affective Polarization in Comparative Perspective

Camps, not just parties

Can’t We All Just Get Along? How Women MPs Can Ameliorate Affective Polarization in Western Publics

Centre Parties

Centre-Space Politics

Challenges to established parties

Cleavage politics, polarisation and participation in Western Europe

Conflict or choice? The differential effects of elite incivility and ideological polarization on political support

Consequences of affective polarization

Divided by the jab

Divided by the Vote

Do Voters Polarize When Radical Parties Enter Parliament?

Does affective polarisation increase turnout?

Does Austerity Cause Polarization?

Does Left/Right Structure Party Positions on European Integration?

Does voter polarisation induce party extremism?

Economic Integration, Party Polarisation and Electoral Turnout

Election campaigns and the cyclical nature of emotions—How politicians engage in affective polarization

Electoral Rule Disproportionality and Platform Polarisation

Elite communication and affective polarization among voters

Elite polarisation and voting turnout in Latin America

Elite polarization, party extremity, and affective polarization

Exploring differences in affective polarization between the Nordic countries

Fear and Loathing across Party Lines

Fear and loathing across party lines (also) in Europe

Fragmented foes

From political conflict to partisan evaluations

Globalization and the transformation of the national political space

Group-based public opinion polarisation in multi-party systems

Has Trust in the European Parliament Polarized?

Ideological identity, issue-based ideology and bipolar affective polarization in multiparty systems

Ideological Polarization and Far-Right Parties in Europe

Institutional design and polarization

Intergroup contact reduces affective polarization but not among strong party identifiers

Is Polarization a Myth?

Left-Right Polarisation In National Party Systems

Meaningful choices, political supply, and institutional effectiveness

Measuring partisan polarization with partisan differences in satisfaction with the government

Missing Links in Party-System Polarisation

Modeling ideological polarisation in democratic party systems

On the relationship between party polarisation and citizen polarisation

Overlapping polarization

Parties and party systems

Parties` Policy Programmes and the Dog that Didn't Bark

Party Polarisation and Mass Partisanship

Party System Compactness

Party System Polarisation and Electoral Behavior

Party Systems and Government Stability

Party-System Extremism in Majoritarian and Proportional Electoral Systems

Party-System Polarization and Individual Perceptions of Party Differences

Patterns of Affective Polarisation toward Parties and Leaders across the Democratic World

Polarisation, identity and affect

Polarization and correct voting in U.S. presidential elections

Polarization and ideological congruence between parties and supporters in Europe

Polarization, Number of Parties, and Voter Turnout

Political polarisation and environmental attitudes

Political Polarization and Cabinet Stability in Multiparty Systems

Politicizing Europe in the National Electoral Arena

Reflections

Social trust and affective polarization in Spain (2014–19)

Sweet victory, bitter defeat

The Activists Who Divide Us

The Bipolar Voter

The Downsian roots of affective polarization

The impact of party polarisation and postmaterialism on voter turnout

The Left-Right Semantics and the New Politics Cleavage

The mobilising effect of political choice

The Politics of Interpersonal Trust and Reciprocity

The Quantity and the Quality of Party Systems

The relationship between affective polarisation and democratic backsliding

The Spatial Structure of Party Competition