The Need for Cognitive Closure and Partisan Group-Centrism

This chapter provides an empirical assessment examining the relationship between the need for cognitive closure and outcomes among both Republicans and Democrats. It talks about group-centric partisanship, which expresses the outcomes of partisan strength, intensity of partisan social identity, difference in feelings about the two parties, and attitudes toward interparty marriage. It also emphasizes the relevance of the concept of affective polarization in the causes of affective polarization in US society. The chapter highlights the nationally representative 2008 survey collected through GfK networks, the representative survey from 2014 collected through YouGov, and a 2018 SSI study containing unique indicators of group-centric partisanship and were administered in an environment of high political polarization or party entitativity. It explores the interaction of the need for cognitive closure (NFCC) and political attention, which are positively associated with various indicators of group-centric partisanship.