Man, I Feel Like A Woman: The Effects Of Gender On Affective Polarization And Durability Of Depolarization Interventions

<span style="font-weight: 400;"> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Over the past decade, affective polarization in the American electorate has reached unprecedented heights, manifesting in growing antipathy between partisans and raising alarms about democratic resilience. This thesis investigates how gender moderates both the magnitude of affective polarization and the durability of a proven depolarization intervention, addressing two notable gaps in the literature: the limited measurement of long‐term intervention effects and the under-examined role of gender as a moderating factor. I conducted a two-wave experimental survey among residents of Hillsborough and Roxboro, NC. In Wave 1 (n = 67), participants were randomly assigned to view either a four-minute &ldquo;Positive Contact Video,&rdquo; selected for its superior record in reducing partisan animosity, or a neutral control video, followed by six‐item trait‐rating measures of affective polarization. Two weeks later, Wave 2 (n = 25) re-administered the same trait ratings to assess the persistence of treatment effects. Findings show that women exhibit higher baseline affective polarization than men, although gender differences in immediate treatment efficacy remain inconclusive. Crucially, men demonstrate greater stability of depolarization effects across both general and personalized measures, whereas women&rsquo;s responses fluctuate markedly depending on whether they are rating &ldquo;ordinary&rdquo; out-partisans or individuals they personally know. These results deepen our understanding of gendered dynamics in political psychology and underscore the need for tailored, durable interventions to bridge partisan divides.</span>