Cross‐pressures and (More) Comorbidities

Chapter 9 examines how intersecting social identities such as gender, ethnicity, age, and education shaped affective polarization in the 2024 US election. Using national survey data, the authors test whether these demographic factors moderate partisan hostility once party identification is accounted for. The findings reveal only modest variation: women, particularly Democratic women, exhibit slightly higher polarization following Kamala Harris's nomination, while Hispanic Democrats briefly show increased animosity after Donald Trump's late-campaign rhetoric on immigration. Yet across all groups, Democrats and Republicans consistently ascribe two-thirds or more of possible negative traits to their counterparts, underscoring the dominance of partisan identity over other social influences. Younger Republicans and older Democrats display the highest negative affect within their parties, while higher education correlates with only marginally lower hostility. The chapter concludes that although demographic “cross-pressures” produce small fluctuations, affective polarization remains a near-universal feature of contemporary American political identity.