The relationship between affective polarization and perspective-taking: A multi-method assessment

In this dissertation, I aim to scrutinize the relationship between perspective-taking and affective polarization using multi-method assessment and cross-national data. First, I delved into the dynamics of affective polarization and the process of out-partisan perspective-taking in a typical multi-party context in Turkey. In-depth interviews with 23 partisans showed that the "out-party" is represented not only by the least-liked party but also by all the parties outside the electoral alliance. Additionally, perspective-taking that is focused on "out-partisans" rather than "opposing policies" worked better. Therefore, in the second study, I designed an out-partisan perspective-taking intervention based on the "Out-group Experience Effect" framework and the logic of "Perspective-getting" to enhance the out-partisan perspective-taking process. I conducted the experiments in two countries with alarming levels of partisan animosity: the U.S. (n=386) and Turkey (n=605). I found that the intervention improved positive attitudes towards the individual target out-partisan. In addition, the effect spilled over to feelings of warmth towards the out-partisan group in general and supporters of all parties outside one's electoral alliance (only in Turkey). The third study provided observational large-N evidence for the link between perspective-taking and out-party attitudes using representative survey data. Moreover, I tested the role of attitudes towards a politicized social group, immigrants, in the model via two studies. First, in a preliminary study, I investigated the link between immigrant empathy and anti-immigrant prejudice across 32 European countries (1500 individuals on average from each country) using European Values Survey (EVS) 2017 data. Then, in the main study, I used the American National Election Survey (ANES) 2020 data (n=8,280 for pre-election interviews and n=7,449 post-election re-interviews) to test the role of immigrant prejudice in mediating the immigrant perspective-taking and out-party sympathy in the U.S. I found that anti-immigrant prejudice mediates the link between perspective-taking and out-party sympathy. Overall, the dissertation provides cross-national, multi-method evidence for the link between perspective-taking and out-party animosity.