Recent research suggests that political polarization has spilled over into otherwise mundane areas of social life. And yet, the size, shape, and depth of that spillage into popular culture are generally unknown. Relying on a sample of 135 widely known movies, TV shows, musicians, sports, and leisure activities, we investigate these issues. We find the “oil spill” of polarization into popular culture is large but loosely organized into multiple fairly shallow pools. Cultural polarization is also asymmetric. Liberals like a wide variety of popular culture, do not dislike conservative popular culture, and their tastes are more rooted in their sociodemographics. Conservatives, on the other hand, like a much narrower range of popular culture, dislike the culture created and liked by Black and urban liberals, and their tastes seem to be more directly rooted in their political ideology. Potential implications of an asymmetric culture war, and ideas for future research, are discussed.

中文翻译：

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流行文化的两极分化：追踪“漏油事件”的规模、形状和深度

最近的研究表明，政治两极分化已经蔓延到社会生活的其他平凡领域。然而，这种影响流行文化的规模、形式和深度却普遍未知。我们以 135 部广为人知的电影、电视节目、音乐家、体育和休闲活动为样本，调查了这些问题。我们发现流行文化两极分化的“石油泄漏”规模很大，但松散地组织成多个相当浅的池子。文化两极分化也是不对称的。自由主义者喜欢各种各样的流行文化，并不讨厌保守的流行文化，他们的品味更多地植根于他们的社会人口统计数据。另一方面，保守派喜欢范围更窄的流行文化，不喜欢黑人和城市自由主义者创造和喜欢的文化，他们的品味似乎更直接植根于他们的政治意识形态。讨论了不对称文化战争的潜在影响以及未来研究的想法。