Disambiguation of social polarization concepts and measures |
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| Authors: | Aaron Bramson Patrick Grim Daniel J Singer Steven Fisher William Berger Graham Sack |
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| Institution: | 1. Riken Brain Science Institute, Laboratory for Symbolic Cognitive Development, Wakoshi, Japan;2. Department of General Economics, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgiumbramson@brain.riken.jp;4. Department of Philosophy, Group for Logic &5. Formal Semantics, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, USA;6. Philosophy Department, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA;7. Center for the Study of Complex Systems, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA;8. Department of Political Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA;9. Department of English &10. Comparative Literature, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA |
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| Abstract: | This article distinguishes nine senses of polarization and provides formal measures for each one to refine the methodology used to describe polarization in distributions of attitudes. Each distinct concept is explained through a definition, formal measures, examples, and references. We then apply these measures to GSS data regarding political views, opinions on abortion, and religiosity—topics described as revealing social polarization. Previous breakdowns of polarization include domain-specific assumptions and focus on a subset of the distribution’s features. This has conflated multiple, independent features of attitude distributions. The current work aims to extract the distinct senses of polarization and demonstrate that by becoming clearer on these distinctions we can better focus our efforts on substantive issues in social phenomena. |
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| Keywords: | Belief aggregation formal epistemology measurement polarization social epistemology |
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