Well Said: Personalities and politics
On this week's podcast, global studies associate professor Jonathan Weiler and political science professor Marc Hetherington discuss their research on the political divide and how stereotyping adds to the problem.
On a previous episode, global studies associate professor Jonathan Weiler and political science professor Marc Hetherington discussed the political divide in the United States. This week, the conversation continues on how our choices — such as the coffee brand we drink or the car we drive — can cause others to assume our political preferences.
“These non-political tastes and preferences are just such clear political signals nowadays,” Weiler said. “You tell me what kind of food or beer you like, and I download a whole bunch of associations about you and how you see the world, and who you probably voted for.”
Weiler and Hetherington, co-authors of Prius or Pickup?: How the Answers to Four Simple Questions Explain America’s Great Divide, believe that the root of the acrimonious divide in the United States spawns from the growing affinity Americans have for their own political party, and in turn, the adversarial feelings developed for those across the aisle.
“Our identities are so driven by how negatively we feel about our opponents,” Hetherington said. “One of the odd things that has happened in this period of polarization is that we don’t love our own side any more than we used to, but what we really have grown to do is hate the other side.”
On this week’s episode, Weiler and Hetherington discuss their research and how stereotypes are adding to the challenges of the political divide.
Listen to the episode on SoundCloud or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Read a transcript of this episode.
Join us every Wednesday for Well Said to hear from students, faculty, staff and alumni. Each week, you’ll learn what’s going on in classrooms, labs and around campus, and how it pertains to the local, national and international headlines.
