Research indicates that affective polarization pervades contemporary democracies
worldwide. Although some studies identify party leaders as polarizing agents, affective …

Recent developments in Western societies have motivated a growing consideration of the
role of negativity in public opinion and political behavior research. In this article, we review …

Existent research shows that affective polarization has been intensifying in some publics,
diminishing in others, and remaining stable in most. We contribute to this debate by …

A growing body of studies shows that the reasons for competing candidates to “go negative”
on their opponents during elections—that is, attacking their opponents instead of promoting …

About one third of American voters cast a vote more “against” than “for” a candidate in the
2020 Presidential election. This pattern, designated by negative voting, has been initially …

We investigate the contextual conditions under which campaigns in elections worldwide are
fought “negatively”, that is, rely on attacks against political opponents. We test the …

Meine Damen und Herren, Bundeskanzler Olaf Scholz. 2 It was not the scriptwriters' original
intent and arguably represented one of the greatest surprises in German electoral history …

Voter perceptions of leadership traits impact overall candidate evaluations. Less is however
known about the impact of candidates' personality traits, and especially the “darker” ones …

Do evaluations of presidential candidates in the US affect the level of voter turnout? Voters'
affections towards presidential candidates, we contend, can either stimulate or inhibit voter …

In American politics, few argue with the idea that leaders matter: the media closely tracks the
performance and activities of Joe Biden and Donald Trump, for example, suggesting to us …