When Do Policy Disagreements Lead to Animosity and Avoidance Tendencies?

While policy disagreements are inherent to democracy, they can also generate interpersonal animosity (e.g., Orr et al., 2020). Previous research shows that animosity is amplified when policy positions align with partisan identities (e.g., Lelkes 2018; Mason 2015), yet we know little about why policy disagreement itself produces animosity. We argue that disagreements are especially likely to lead to negative affect and social avoidance when a policy is central to an individual’s self-concept. Recent cases such as Brexit (Hobolt et al., 2020) or vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic (Wagner and Eberl, 2024) illustrate how highly central issues can even function as identities. We test this argument using a vignette experiment with two conditions. In one condition, policy scenarios are tailored to respondents’ previously stated most important policy issues. In the other, respondents receive pre-selected policy scenarios. We assess whether the interaction between policy disagreement and policy centrality increases negative affect and avoidance tendencies. This study advances our understanding of the conditions under which policy disagreement translates into animosity and social avoidance and offers insights into potential strategies for mitigating affective polarization.