Bridging the divide: Can respectful intergroup contact alleviate affective polarization?

Nicole Tausch

University of St Andrews

Referenda can enliven political interest and enhance democratic decision making, but they can also lay bare ideological divisions and create animosity and bitterness between opposing sides. In the aftermath of two recent UK referenda, I report findings from a research programme that examines the potential of high-quality intergroup contact in alleviating this affective polarization and in fostering reconciliation and cooperation. Surveying community samples of ‘yes’ and ‘no’ voters in the days following the 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum (Study 1, N=167) and ‘remain’ and ‘leave’ voters across the UK in the days following the 2016 EU Referendum (Study 2, N=301), as well as shortly after the ratification of the Brexit withdrawal agreement in 2020 (Study 3, N = 302), I examine both the quantity and quality of everyday contacts with members of the opposing opinion group as predictors of a range of outcomes assessing intergroup affect, reconciliation, and willingness to compromise and cooperate. The results point to the importance of attributions about the sources of outgroup’s views and meta-perceptions as mediating processes. These findings are followed up experimentally with a randomized controlled trial (Study 4, N = 120), which brought together self-identified Leavers and Remainers who engaged in either respectful intergroup contact (intervention group) or in a interpersonal interaction (control group) and assessed both short- and longer-term effects on outgroup perceptions and affect. I discuss the findings in relation to current calls for more civil and respectful political debate.