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Ideology plays a central role in conflicts, both on the intergroup and intragroup levels. On the intergroup level, ideology can either contribute to the preservation and escalation of conflicts or serve as the key to resolving them. On the intragroup level, ideology can generate and induce conflicts between opposing ideological groups. However, the interaction between these two levels of conflict and the unique role of ideology in such interactions have not received sufficient systematic scholarly attention so far. We suggest a new theoretical framework emphasizing a possible reciprocal relationship between intractable intergroup conflicts and intragroup ideological polarization: intergroup conflict enhances inner polarization, which in turn, hinders the resolution of the external conflict.

Most previous studies that examined the effect of anxiety on hostility towards a distinct group have focused on cases in which we hate those we are afraid of. The current study, on the other hand, examines the relationship between anxiety in one domain and hostility towards a distinct group that is not the source of that anxiety. We focus here on symptoms of anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic, which have become increasingly frequent, and show that the implications of such mental difficulties are far-reaching, posing a threat to relationships between ideological groups. In two studies conducted in both Israel and the United States, we found that high levels of anxiety during the COVID-19 epidemic are associated with higher levels of hatred towards ordinary people from the respective political outgroups, lower levels of willingness to sustain interpersonal relations with these people (i.e., greater social distancing), and greater willingness to socially exclude them. This relationship was mediated by the perception of threat posed by the political outgroup. This study is the first to show that mental difficulty driven by an external threat can be a fundamental factor that explains levels of intergroup hostility.

Our study uses a qualitative analysis of social media discourse on a Facebook page to demonstrate how the phenomena of affective polarization and dehumanization are manifested through participation in a homogeneous enclave, or echo chamber. We employ Northrup’s theory of identity in intractable conflict to show how users express their desire for psychological and physical separation from the other and use dehumanizing language that normalizes potentially dangerous levels of hatred during their participation on a Facebook page. This study contributes to our understanding of the link between identity, affective polarization, and dehumanization.