Perspective-taking and partisan depolarization in the US and Türkiye

Abstract

There is keen research interest in the reduction of affective polarization, which can worsen interpersonal interactions and challenge democratic norms. Past research has generated inconsistent findings on efforts to reduce affective polarization, however, including their ability to backfire. Additionally, studies have primarily focused on the two-party U.S. political system, resulting in less information about the success of interventions in a multiparty system. In this study, we test the ability of perspective-taking (PT) to reduce affective polarization in two highly polarized contexts: Turkey, a typical multi-party context, and the U.S. two-party system. We use a specific form of PT, perspective-getting (PG), which is less likely to backfire and has proven to be more successful than other forms of PT in mitigating polarization. Data is drawn from a Facebook sample in Turkey (N = 605), and an MTurk sample in the U.S. (N = 386; 186 Republicans, 200 Democrats). The PG intervention improved attitudes towards an out-partisan target person in both national contexts and boosted feelings of warmth towards outpartisans more generally in both countries when compared to a control condition. The PG intervention was less successful in reducing negative cognitions about out-partisans. This study documents the success of a PG exercise and lends insight into the reduction of affective polarization in two national contexts.