Chapter 8 considers Stage 4 of the feedback loop: Determination. We examine how individuals anticipate relationships changing after political conversations and how discussion behavior is correlated with social distancing and social polarization. We use nationally representative survey data to capture individuals’ reflections on their own social distancing behaviors as well as their projections of such behavior onto hypothetical characters in vignette experiments. We uncover that about a quarter of Americans have distanced themselves socially from a friend because of politics. Americans have done so in a variety of ways, including stopping all political discussion, forbidding their children from playing together, and severing all social ties completely. Vignette experiments revealed that individuals are more likely to avoid future political and social interactions with others who disagree with them. Using data from the 2018 Cooperative Congressional Elections Project, we find that strong partisans in the most like-minded discussion networks were more likely to be socially polarized, compared to strong partisans who were in disagreeable discussion networks.

The final empirical chapter explores how individual differences affect the way people navigate the 4D Framework. After exploring the role of gender, race, political interest, and partisanship strength, we explore how variation in social anxiety, conflict avoidance, and willingness to self-censor are associated with our ability and desire to detect others’ views (Stage 1), the decision to engage in a discussion (Stage 2), the discussion itself (Stage 3) and the aftermath of a discussion (Stage 4). Gender was most influential at the Decision stage, with women being more likely to avoid political discussion. Those most interested in politics and strong partisans were more likely to try to detect others’ political views, engage in a discussion, express their true opinions, and distance themselves from others because of politics. Those who were more socially anxious, willing to self-censor, and conflict avoidant were less likely to directly ask others about their political views at the Detection stage, more likely to avoid political discussions, less likely to express their true opinions, more likely to conform to a group, and more likely to distance from others because of politics.