Affective Polarization among Educational Groups and the Influence of Exposure to the Educational Gradient of Ethnocentrism: A Study in the UK context.

This research explores the relationship between affective polarization and educational group membership, with a focus on the influence of exposure to research emphasizing educational differences regarding ethnocentrism. The study contributes to the existing literature by exploring how educational group membership shapes social identity and attitudes towards others. It offers a unique contribution by analyzing the impact of research output highlighting educational differences. A survey experiment (N = 1314) measured warmth towards participants' educational ingroup and outgroup. The experimental group was exposed to research on educational differences and ethnocentrism to assess its effect on affective polarization. The findings indicate that both more and less educated individuals exhibit affective polarization towards their educational outgroup. Furthermore, exposure to research on educational differences amplifies affective polarization for both educational groups. These results emphasize the role of educational disparities in shaping social identity and stress the need for cautious presentation of research findings on educational differences to mitigate further polarization.