Cultural Polarization and Social Groups: The Case of Book Banning

Research on cultural polarization often presumes a direct link between rising affective animus and contestation over everyday items of popular culture. Yet the degree to which affective polarization is driving cultural polarization is unknown. We propose two main models through which affective and cultural polarization may be linked, which we term the “spillover model” and “consolidation model” of cultural polarization, and test them in the context of contemporary conservative social movement: book bans in public schools and libraries. Using vignette experiments that manipulate the social characteristics of the main characters in existing novels, our findings support the consolidation model of cultural polarization. Although Americans are inclined to judge the appropriateness of books based on the social identities of their main characters, they still generally consider stories about outgroups and rivals to be appropriate for public schools and libraries. Ideological effects are significantly attenuated by sociodemographic, psychometric, and sociometric factors that have been consolidated into parties. This suggests that even at the height of a “takeoff” issue replete with consistent cueing by partisan elites and targeted campaigns by activists, affective polarization may not be driving culture polarization to the degree that is presumed.

Duke Scholars

Author Craig Michael Rawlings Sociology