Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Recent years have seen an increase in polarized discourse worldwide, on various platforms. We propose a novel method for quantifying polarization, based on the emotional style of the discourse rather than on differences in ideological stands. Using measures of Valence, Arousal, and Dominance, we detect signals of emotional discourse and use them to operationalize the concept of affective polarization. Applying this method to a recently released corpus of proceedings of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament (in Hebrew), we find that the emotional style of members of government differs from that of opposition members; and that the level of affective polarization, as reflected by this style, is significantly increasing with time.
Source: Computational Linguistics
DOI: 10.1162/coli.a.600
Authors: Gili Goldin, Ella Rabinovich, Shuly Wintner
Institutions: University of Haifa, Academic College of Tel Aviv-Yafo
Language: English
Subfield: Artificial Intelligence
Field: Computer Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
Funder: University of Haifa
OpenAlex ID: W4417142096