Hurt Feelings and Blocked Complexity in American Politics: Interpersonal Wounds Under Political Polarization and Social Distance.

This study assessed connections between five negative interpersonal feelings with political polarization in America. A total of 203 participants, Democrats and Republicans, were studied to see if their level of feeling hurt, dismissed, misunderstood, offended, and looked down upon was connected with their level of affective polarization, social distance, and integrative complexity. Positive correlations were found amongst all five negative interpersonal feelings and the level of affective polarization and social distance for both party members. Feeling hurt, offended, and looked down upon were negatively correlated with integrative complexity in political issues. Feeling dismissed was a predictor of lower integrative complexity. Implications for future research and real-world application are discussed in the conclusion.