Crucially, these affective divides also map onto politics: Urbanites with stronger in-group bias tend to support GAL parties (Green/Alternative/Libertarian). Ruralites with stronger in-group bias lean toward TAN parties (Traditional/Authoritarian/Nationalist). 6/7

Residential mobility also matters: Urbanites who grew up in rural areas but later moved to cities are less polarised. Divided loyalties dampen affective divides — helping explain why ruralites are consistently more polarised than urbanites. 5/7

Feelings of place-based identity and resentment fuel these divides. The more strongly people identify with their place — and the more they feel it is being left behind — the more they favour their in-group over the out-group. 4/7

Using original survey data from 9 European countries 🇨🇿🇩🇰🇫🇷🇩🇪🇬🇷🇭🇺🇮🇹🇵🇱🇪🇸, we find clear evidence of affective polarisation along the urban–rural divide. Rural residents show stronger in-group bias, but urbanites, too, often favour their own. 3/7

Lastly, in a third paper, I show that urbanites and ruralites view each other as opposing groups, tied to stereotypes around class, education, and political attitudes. These perceptions deepen the urban-rural divide and fuel political polarization. (5/6)
🔗 osf.io/preprints/os...

In a second paper, @dschraff.bsky.social‬ and I develop the concept of place-based affective polarization. Rural and urban groups strongly identify with their in-groups while disliking out-groups, driving voting behavior along the transnational cleavage. (4/6)
🔗 osf.io/preprints/os...

Just wrapped up a fantastic visit to Aalborg University, where I presented my research on the political effects of regional accents. Huge thanks to @dschraff.bsky.social for hosting me and for the super helpful feedback! 🙌

Furthermore, concerns over representation appear to be the most important factor. The stronger citizens feel that their place is overheard, the more they trust local relative to national institutions. (7/9)

This dynamic is largely confined to individuals who live in rural places and contexts where local autonomy is higher. (6/9)

Relying on original, nationally representative survey data from nine European countries, I document that individuals who feel that their place is cheated in one or another way significantly trust local over national institutions. (5/9)