Polarization in the Political Sphere

 In the United States, social media has been a major influence in how we obtain information. Using algorithms to tune news and information to one’s interest, polarization between groups of people with differing opinions is easily able to develop. These issues can especially be seen in politics, as the two-party system upon which we elect our government officials divides the people in our country. With the election happening a little over a month ago, it is important to research and understand the nature of polarization and methods of preventing polarization from occurring. Dr. Grzywacz from Loyola University Chicago has done research to further help us understand the nature of polarization from an arts perspective, while Dr. Levy from Tel Aviv University explores polarization in the political sphere and offers insights for preventing this polarization. 

 

Dr. Grzywacz from Loyola University Chicago has contributed immensely to the field of neuroscience and has explored the dynamics and ways in which polarization occurs. Through his research examining participants opinions on art pieces of varying complexities and symmetries, Dr Grzywacz discovered that people tended to fall into two separate groups, or islands, one which preferred high levels of symmetry and any level of complexity, and one which preferred low levels of complexity and any level of symmetry. He also found that based on one’s exposure to art, a person may not fall within one of these groups. Curious with understanding whether outside influence can sway someone’s opinion, he decided to change his experiment to include an “expert” opinion that fell in line with the low complexity island. In this experiment, Dr. Grzywacz found that, after the expert opinion was given, participants tended to have a shift in their preferences towards the expert opinion depending on factors such as level of education. All these findings provide interesting insight into how polarization naturally forms in populations and the nature into which opinions can be swayed. 

 

Dr. Levy, an economist and researcher at Tel Aviv University in Israel explored the effects of social media on political polarization and offers insight into preventing this polarization. In his large-scale experiment, including data from 17,635 participants, Dr. Levy first gained data on the political viewpoints of individuals based on the new outlets that they were exposed to on Facebook. After gaining this data, Dr. Levy split participants into two groups, one which is exposed to content from the opposing political viewpoint, and one which has no change in their news exposure. After the study period, participants were given a survey designed to measure their opinions towards the other party. Interestingly, they found that while being exposed to news of the other party did not change the party viewpoint of the individuals, it reduced their negative thoughts towards the other party. These are very interesting results and propose that by providing information of the opposite viewpoint, we could possibly reduce the polarization that is present amongst the public in the political sphere. 

 

These researchers explore polarization through different facets and help to contribute towards understanding the nature of polarization in art and politics and the ways in which opinions can be influenced. By understanding what leads people to form these sorts of “in-groups,” we can better explore ways of working around polarization, which may lead to less disputes amongst groups of people. With the influences of social media plaguing the information that we are exposed to, it is important to consider the way in which we can be exposed to differing views of individuals, taking a focus towards understanding the other side. By taking these preventative measures, we can forge our way into a better and healthier future as a country. 

 

Works Cited 

Mather, K.B., Aleem, H., Rhee, Y., & Grzywacz, N. Social groups and polarization of aesthetic values from symmetry and complexity. Sci Rep 13, 21507 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-47835-w 

Levy, Ro'ee. 2021. "Social Media, News Consumption, and Polarization: Evidence from a Field Experiment." American Economic Review, 111 (3): 831–70.DOI: 10.1257/aer.20191777