Are opinions on controversial political issues as divided as many people perceive them to be?
Researchers from the Complexity Science Hub (CSH), the Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT) in Bremen and the University of California Merced have addressed this question in a study recently published in PNAS Nexus.
There is a widespread perception that society is becoming increasingly divided into opposing factions, giving the impression that ideological divides are deepening, for example on important issues such as public health, immigration, or climate change.
Against this backdrop, past scientific studies have attempted to quantify the degree to which opinions actually diverge – often with contradictory results. In their new study, Peter Steiglechner (CSH, formerly ZMT), Agostino Merico (ZMT) and Paul E. Smaldino (University of California Merced) explored how robust and realistic the widespread perception of polarization is.
Read the Neuroscience News article by Eliza Muto HERE.
