2018/09/06 by Shanto Iyengar, Tobias Konitzer, Kent Tedin +1 · 240 citations
Psychology · Social Sciences · #American political science #Electoral Systems and Political Participation #Elite #Family Dynamics and Relationships #Gender Politics and Representation #Gridlock #Law #Legislature #Polarization (electrochemistry) #Political economy #Political science #Political socialization #Politics #Psychology #Social psychology #Socialization #Sociology
paper · doi:10.1086/698929
published in The Journal of Politics 80(4), 1326-1338 (University of Chicago Press)
openalex publication_date 2018/09/06 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The manifestations of party polarization in America are well known: legislative gridlock, harsh elite rhetoric, and at the level of the electorate, increasing hostility across the partisan divide. We investigate the ramifications of polarization for processes of family socialization. Using the classic 1965 Youth-Parent Political Socialization Panel data as a baseline, we employ original national surveys of spouses and offspring conducted in 2015 supplemented by the 2014 and 2016 TargetSmart national voter files to demonstrate that political correspondence between married couples and parent-offspring agreement have both increased substantially in the polarized era. We further demonstrate that the principal reason for increased spousal correspondence is mate selection based on politics. Spousal agreement, in turn, creates an “echo chamber” that facilitates intergenerational continuity. Overall, our results suggest a vicious cycle by which socialization exacerbates party polarization.