The Closed Partisan Mind: A New Psychology of American Polarization

American politics today can be defined by the intense and increasingly toxic divide between Democrats and Republicans. Matthew D. Luttig explores why so many Americans have endorsed this level of political conflict.



Luttig illustrates how the psychological need for closure leads people, regardless of whether they identify as Democrat or Republican, to express more polarized political attitudes. This association between closed minds and partisan polarization is a new phenomenon and can be tra...