What is Polarization in the Social Sciences? A Scoping Review of Reviews

Resumen

La palabra polarización ha ganado notoriedad tanto en los titulares periodísticos como en las publicaciones académicas, para explicar los conflictos sociales y políticos de los últimos años. A pesar de su relevancia, este concepto se usa de manera indiscriminada, por lo que su significado no siempre resulta claro. En consecuencia, esta investigación busca brindar un panorama general de la polarización en las ciencias sociales, con base en las teorías y variables que soportan su uso académico. A partir de la metodología PRISMA, se realizó una revisión de revisiones en la que

se analizaron 56 publicaciones de diferentes disciplinas y bases de datos. Las publicaciones fueron evaluadas en su calidad metodológica a partir de los instrumentos AMSTAR2 y SANRA, analizadas mediante un Análisis Estadístico de Datos Textuales. Con base en dichos análisis, se delimitaron definiciones de tres clases y 19 subclases de polarización, se determinó la calidad de las revisiones y se precisaron las variables y teorías asociadas al fenómeno. La mayoría de las revisiones son narrativas, lo cual evidencia poca sistematicidad metodológica. De igual manera, la mayoría de las revisiones pertenecen a la polarización política y solo se encontraron cinco variables en relación inversa a la polarización, lo que evidencia lo poco que se ha estudiado la despolarización.

Palabras clave:

polarización grupal polarización política polarización social PRISMA

Citas

Adams, J. F., & Rexford, N. J. (2017). Electoral systems and issue polarization. In E. S. Herron, R. J. Pekkanen, & M. S. Shugart (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Electoral Systems (pp. 247–261). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190258658.013.24

Amiel, Y., Cowell, F., & Ramos, X. (2009). Poles apart? An analysis of the meaning of polarization. Review of Income and Wealth, 56, 23-46. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-4991.2009.00361.x

Axelrod, R. (1997). The dissemination of culture: A model with local convergence and global polarization. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 41(2), 203–226. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022002797041002001

Baethge, C., Goldbeck-Wood, S., & Mertens, S. (2019). SANRA—a scale for the quality assessment of narrative review articles. Research Integrity and Peer Review, 4, Article 5. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41073-019-0064-8

Banisch, S. & Olbrich, E. (2019). Opinion polarization by learning from social feedback. The Journal of Mathematical Sociology, 43(2), 76-103. https://doi.org/10.1080/0022250X.2018.1517761

Barnir, A. (1998). Can group-and issue-related factors predict choice shift? A Meta-Analysis of Group Decisions on Life Dilemmas. Small Group Research, 29(3), 308–341. https://doi.org/10.1177/1046496498293002

Barreto, I. (2020). Análisis estadístico de datos textuales. In P. Páramo (Ed.), La investigación en ciencias sociales: la historia del método y su filosofía (pp. 449–467). Lemoine Editores.

Benedek, J., & Moldovan, A. (2015). Economic convergence and polarization: Towards a multi-dimensional approach. Hungarian Geographical Bulletin, 64(3), 187–203. https://doi.org/10.15201/hungeobull.64.3.3

Bettenhausen, K. L. (1991). Five Years of Groups Research: What We Have Learned and What Needs to Be Addressed. Journal of Management, 17(2), 345–381. https://doi.org/10.1177/014920639101700205

Bliuc, A. M., Bouguettaya, A., & Felise, K. D. (2021). Online Intergroup Polarization Across Political Fault Lines: An Integrative Review. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.641215

Boccia Artieri, G., García-Bilbao, P. A., & La Rocca, G. (2021). Rethinking affective polarization and sharing of emotions in digital platform ecosystems. Theories and research practices. International Review of Sociology, 31(2), 223–230. https://doi.org/10.1080/03906701.2021.1947949

Bordonaba-Plou, D. (2019). Polarización como impermeabilidad: cuando las razones ajenas no importan. Cinta de Moebio, 66, 295–309. https://doi.org/10.4067/S0717-554X2019000300295

Bramson, A., Grim, P., Singer, D. J., Berger, W. J., Sack, G., Fisher, S., Flocken, C., & Holman, B. (2017). Understanding Polarization: Meanings, Measures, and Model Evaluation. Philosophy of Science, 84(1), 115–159. https://doi.org/10.1086/688938

Bramson, A., Grim, P., Singer, D. J., Fisher, S., Berger, W., Sack, G., & Flocken, C. (2016). Disambiguation of social polarization concepts and measures. Journal of Mathematical Sociology, 40(2), 80–111. https://doi.org/10.1080/0022250X.2016.1147443

Dalton, R. J. (1987). Generational change in elite political beliefs: The growth of ideological polarization. The Journal of Politics, 49(4), 976–997. https://doi.org/10.2307/2130780

Deutsch, J., & Silbe, J. (2010). Income polarization: measurement, determinants, and implications. Review of Income and Wealth, 56(1), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-4991.2009.00359.x

Dion, K. L., Baron, R. S., & Miller, N. (1970). Why do Groups Make Riskier Decisions Than Individuals? Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 5, 305–377. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2601(08)60094-5

DiMaggio, P., Evans, J., & Bryson, B. (1996). Have Americans’ social attitudes become more polarized? American Journal of Sociology, 102(3), 690–755. https://doi.org/10.1086/230995

Esteban, J., & Schneider, G. (2008). Polarization and conflict: Theoretical and empirical issues. Journal of Peace Research, 45(2), 131–141. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022343307087168

Farina, C. R. (2015). Congressional polarization: terminal constitutional dysfunction? Law Review, 115(7), 1689–1738. https://columbialawreview.org/content/congressional-polarization-terminal-constitutional-dysfunction-2/

Fernbach, P. M., & van Boven, L. (2022). False polarization: Cognitive mechanisms and potential solutions. Current Opinion in Psychology, 43, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2021.06.005

Fiorina, M. P., & Abrams, S. J. (2008). Political polarization in the American public. Annual Review of Political Science, 11, 563–588. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.polisci.11.053106.153836

Gigliarano, C. (2018). Income and social polarization: empirical findings. In D’Ambrosio Conchita (Ed.), Handbook of research on economic and social well-being (pp. 460-479). Edward Elgar.

Grünhage, T., & Reuter, M. (2021). Tell Me Who You Vote for, and I’ll Tell You Who You Are? The Associations of Political Orientation with Personality and Prosocial Behavior and the Plausibility of Evolutionary Approaches. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.656725

Guan, T., Liu, T., & Yang, Y. (2021). Moving Away From Partisanship: Diversifying the Motives Behind Political Polarization. Political Studies Review, 19(4), 656-667. https://doi.org/10.1177/1478929920921650

Hetherington, M. J. (2009). Review article: Putting polarization in perspective. British Journal of Political Science, 39(2), 413–448. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123408000501

Iandoli, L., Primario, S., & Zollo, G. (2021). The impact of group polarization on the quality of online debate in social media: A systematic literature review. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 170. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2021.120924

Isenberg, D. J. (1986). Group Polarization: A Critical Review and Meta-Analysis. Journal of Personally and Social Psychology, 50(6), 1141–1151. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.50.6.1141

Iyengar, S., Lelkes, Y., Levendusky, M., Malhotra, N., & Westwood, S. J. (2019). The Origins and Consequences of Affective Polarization in the United States. Annual Review of Political Science, 22, 129-146. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-polisci-051117-073034

Jones, P. E., & Roelofsma, P. H. M. P. (2000). The potential for social contextual and group biases in team decision-making: Biases, conditions and psychological mechanisms. Ergonomics, 43(8), 1129–1152. https://doi.org/10.1080/00140130050084914

Jost, J.T., Baldassarri, D.S. & Druckman, J.N. (2022). Cognitive–motivational mechanisms of political polarization in social-communicative contexts. Nature Reviews Psychology, 1, 560–576. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44159-022-00093-5

Jungkunz, S. (2021). Political Polarization During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Frontiers in Political Science, 3, 622512. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2021.622512

Kubin, E., & von Sikorski, C. (2021). The role of (social) media in political polarization: a systematic review. Annals of the International Communication Association, 45(3), 188–206. https://doi.org/10.1080/23808985.2021.1976070

Lamm, H. (1988). A review of our research on group polarization: Eleven experiments on the effects of group discussion on risk acceptance, probability estimation, and negotiation positions. Psychological Reports, 62(3), 807–813. https://doi.org/10.2466/pr0.1988.62.3.807

Lamm, H., & Myers, D. G. (1978). Group-Induced Polarization of Attitudes and Behavior. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in Experimental Social Psychology (Vol. 11, pp. 145–195). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2601(08)60007-6

Layman, G. C., Carsey, T. M., & Horowitz, J. M. (2006). Party polarization in American politics: Characteristics, causes, and consequences. Annual Review of Political Science, 9, 83–110. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.polisci.9.070204.105138

Lebart, L., Salem, A., & Bécue Bertaut, M. (2000). Análisis estadístico de texto. Editorial Milenio.

Lee, F. E. (2015). How party polarization affects governance. Annual Review of Political Science, 18, 261–282. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-polisci-072012-113747

Maggino, F. & Fattore, M. (2019). Polarización social. Wiley StatsRef: Referencia de estadísticas en línea, 2, 1-4. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118445112.stat08138

Martemyanova, A. (2020). The Effects of Group Discussion and Exposure to Evidence on Political Attitude Polarization: A Meta-Analysis [Undergraduate thesis]. University of Florida. https://ufdc.ufl.edu/es/AA00077086/00001/pdf

McCoy, J., Rahman, T., & Somer, M. (2018). Polarization and the Global Crisis of Democracy: Common Patterns, Dynamics, and Pernicious Consequences for Democratic Polities. American Behavioral Scientist, 62(1), 16–42. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764218759576

Moore-Berg, S. L., Hameiri, B., & Bruneau, E. (2020). The prime psychological suspects of toxic political polarization. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 34, 199–204. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2020.05.001

Myers, D. G., & Lamm, H. (1976). The Group Polarization Phenomenon. Psychological Bulletin, 83(4), 602–627. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.83.4.602

Nevryuev, A., & Gagarina, M. (2020). “After the Discussion, I am Even More Confident in My Point of View”: An Overview of Studies of Group Polarization. Review of Business and Economics Studies, 8(3), 6–11. https://doi.org/10.26794/2308-944x-2020-8-2-6-11

Orian Harel, T., Maoz, I., & Halperin, E. (2020). A conflict within a conflict: intragroup ideological polarization and intergroup intractable conflict. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 34, 52–57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2019.11.013

Page, M. J., McKenzie, J. E., Bossuyt, P. M., Boutron, I., Hoffmann, T. C., Mulrow, C. D., Shamseer, L., Tetzlaff, J. M., Akl, E. A., Brennan, S. E., Chou, R., Glanville, J., Grimshaw, J. M., Hróbjartsson, A., Lalu, M. M., Li, T., Loder, E. W., Mayo-Wilson, E., McDonald, S., … Moher, D. (2021). The PRISMA 2020 statement: an updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews. Systematic Reviews, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-021-01626-4

Pérez Zafrilla, P. J. (2021). Polarización artificial: cómo los discursos expresivos inflaman la percepción de polarización política en internet. RECERCA. Revista de Pensament i Anàlisi. https://doi.org/10.6035/recerca.4661

Prior, M. (2013). Media and political polarization. Annual Review of Political Science, 16, 101–127. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-polisci-100711-135242

Pruitt, D. G. (1971). Conclusions: toward an understanding of choice shifts in group discussion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 20(3), 495–510. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0031923

Quirk, P. J. (2011). Polarized populism: Masses, elites, and partisan conflict. Forum, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.2202/1540-8884.1428

Roberts, K. M. (2021). Populism and Polarization in Comparative Perspective: Constitutive, Spatial and Institutional Dimensions. Government and Opposition, 57(4), 680–702. https://doi.org/10.1017/gov.2021.14

Schaffner, B. F. (2011). Party Polarization. In G. C. Edwards III, F. E. Lee, & E. Schickler (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of the American Congress (pp. 527–549). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199559947.003.0023

Serrano-Puche, J. (2021). Digital disinformation and emotions: exploring the social risks of affective polarization.

International Review of Sociology, 31(2), 231–245. https://doi.org/10.1080/03906701.2021.1947953

Shea, B. J., Reeves, B. C., Wells, G., Thuku, M., Hamel, C., Moran, J., Moher, D., Tugwell, P., Welch, V., Kristjansson, E., & Henry, D. A. (2017). AMSTAR 2: A critical appraisal tool for systematic reviews that include randomized or non-randomized studies of healthcare interventions, or both. BMJ (Online), 358. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.j4008

Sobkowicz, P. (2020). Whither Now, Opinion Modelers? Frontiers in Physics, 8, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphy.2020.587009

Stewart, A.J., McCarty, N., Bryson, J.J. (2020). Polarization under rising inequality and economic decline. Science Advances, 6(50), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abd420

Sunstein, C. R. (2022). The Law of Group Polarization. The Journal of Political Philosophy, 10(2), 175–195. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9760.00148

Talisse, R. B. (2020). Problems of polarization. In Overdoing Democracy: Why We Must Put Politics in its Place (pp. 209–225). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780192893338.003.0012

Thornal, K. (2015). Partisan media and polarized politics: A meta-analysis of the relationship between partisan selective exposure and political polarization [Unpublished master’s thesis]. Gonzaga University.

Turner, J. C., & Oakes, P. J. (1986). The significance of the social identity concept for social psychology with reference to individualism, interactionism and social influence. British Journal of Social Psychology, 25(3), 237–252. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8309.1986.tb00732.x

van Baar, J. M., & FeldmanHall, O. (2022). The polarized mind in context: Interdisciplinary approaches to the psychology of political polarization. American Psychologist, 77(3), 394–408. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000814

van Bavel, J. J., Rathje, S., Harris, E., Robertson, C., & Sternisko, A. (2021). How social media shapes polarization. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 25(11), 913–916. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2021.07.013

Vinokur, A. (1971). Review and theoretical analysis of the effects of group processes upon individual and group decisions involving risk. Psychological Bulletin, 76(4), 231–250. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0031568

Waisbord, S. (2020). ¿Es válido atribuir la polarización política a la comunicación digital? Sobre burbujas, plataformas y polarización afectiva. Revista de la Sociedad Argentina de Análisis Político, 14(2), 249–283. https://doi.org/10.46468/rsaap.14.2.A1

Weber, T. J., Hydock, C., Ding, W., Gardner, M., Jacob, P., Mandel, N., Sprott, D. E., & van Steenburg, E. (2021). Political Polarization: Challenges, Opportunities, and Hope for Consumer Welfare, Marketers, and Public Policy. Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, 40(2), 184–205. https://doi.org/10.1177/0743915621991103

Wheeler, N. E., Allidina, S., Long, E. U., Schneider, S. P., Haas, I. J., & Cunningham, W. A. (2020). Ideology and predictive processing: coordination, bias, and polarization in socially constrained error minimization. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 34, 192–198. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2020.05.002

Wilson, A. E., Parker, V., & Feinberg, M. (2020). Polarization in the contemporary political and media landscape. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 34, 223–228. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2020.07.005

Wojcieszak, M. (2016). Polarization, Political. In G. Mazzoleni (Ed.), The International Encyclopedia of Political Communication (1st ed., pp. 1–7). John Wiley & Sons, Inc. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118541555.wbiepc168

Zhuravskaya, E., Petrova, M., & Enikolopov, R. (2020). Political Effects of the Internet and social media. Annual Review of Economics, 12, 415–438. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-economics-081919-050239

Citado por