Rebecka Persson

This research demonstrates that people distance themselves not just from out-group partisans or policies but also from completely neutral and apolitical consumer products that have been "contaminated" simply by being preferred by the political out-group. Using large representative samples of Swedish adults, we investigated how aesthetic judgments of clothes (Study 1), evaluations of chocolate bars (Study 2), and allocations to charitable organizations (Study 3) were influenced by a randomly assigned association between these products and the leader or supporters of the participant's least- or most-liked political party. Products liked by the least-liked party became less attractive in all studies; the results were mixed for products liked by the most-liked party. Study 4 found that the presence of in-group-observers increased distancing from products liked by the least-liked party, indicating that self-presentational concerns bolster political distancing. These results suggest that affective political polarization influences our lives more subtly and profoundly than previously known.This research demonstrates that people distance themselves not just from out-group partisans or policies but also from completely neutral and apolitical consumer products that have been "contaminated" simply by being preferred by the political out-group. Using large representative samples of Swedish adults, we investigated how aesthetic judgments of clothes (Study 1), evaluations of chocolate bars (Study 2), and allocations to charitable organizations (Study 3) were influenced by a randomly assigned association between these products and the leader or supporters of the participant's least- or most-liked political party. Products liked by the least-liked party became less attractive in all studies; the results were mixed for products liked by the most-liked party. Study 4 found that the presence of in-group-observers increased distancing from products liked by the least-liked party, indicating that self-presentational concerns bolster political distancing. These results suggest that affective political polarization influences our lives more subtly and profoundly than previously known.

We study the effects of principal instructional leadership on pupil educational achievement using longitudinal data of 120,394 teacher responses across 1919 schools in Sweden over 9 years. Through multilevel structural equation modelling, we test how teacher ratings of principal leadership influence indicators of educational achievement and the extent to which this effect is channelled through a collaborative teacher culture in schools. Findings suggest that teacher collaboration partly mediates the relationship between principal instructional leadership and pupil educational achievement in terms of final year grade point average. However, concerning final year standardised test scores, principal instructional leadership alone has a stronger relationship to school performance than teacher collaboration. The longitudinal analysis suggests these patterns are driven by relatively stable differences between schools rather than dynamic changes in schools over time, indicating that variation in school contexts such as culture, organisational structure, and leadership practices persist over time. We discuss implications for research, practice, and policy on school leadership and teacher collaboration.