Polarization is threatening the stability of democratic societies. Until now, polarization research has focused on opinion extremeness, overlooking the correlation between di erent policy issues. In this paper, we explain the emergence of hyperpolarization, i.e., the combination of extremeness and correlation between issues, by developing a new theory of opinion formation called “WeightedBalance Theory (WBT)”.WBT extends Heider’s cognitive balance theory to encompass multiple weighted attitudes. We validated WBT on empirical data from the 2016 National Election Survey. Furthermore, we developed an opinion dynamics model based onWBT, which, for the first time, is able to generate hyperpolarization and to explain the link between a ective and opinion polarization. Finally, our theory encompasses other phenomena of opinion dynamics, including mono-polarization and backfire e ects.

中文翻译：

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意见超极化的加权平衡模型

两极分化正在威胁民主社会的稳定。迄今为止，两极分化的研究主要集中在舆论的极端性上，而忽略了不同政策问题之间的相关性。在本文中，我们通过发展一种称为“加权平衡理论（WBT）”的新观点形成理论来解释超极化的出现，即问题之间极端性和相关性的结合。WBT 将海德的认知平衡理论扩展到包含多种加权态度. 我们根据 2016 年全国选举调查的经验数据验证了 WBT。此外，我们开发了基于 WBT 的意见动态模型，该模型首次能够产生超极化并解释有效和意见极化之间的联系。最后，我们的理论包含了其他的意见动态现象，