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"Democratic systems rely heavily on compromise, negotiation and coalition building, and moderates are often seen as the 'glue' that helps bridge ideological divides," said lead researcher Giulia Maimone, Ph.D., a postdoctoral scholar in marketing at the University of Florida. "If moderates are rejected by both sides, compromise itself may begin to look suspicious or disloyal."

The study included five online experiments with more than 3,200 participants in the United States. Participants were asked about the strength of their liberal or conservative beliefs on politically divisive issues, including abortion, Israel and Palestine, and voting choices for Donald Trump or Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.

In one experiment, participants were asked to consider moderate policies that allowed abortions during the first trimester of pregnancy. Both pro-life and pro-choice participants viewed the moderate policies as supporting the opposing side.

In another experiment, conducted five days before the 2024 presidential election, participants were asked to consider the beliefs of a hypothetical individual who equally supported both Trump and Harris.

Participants also were asked whether they considered voting for one candidate over the other to be a moral issue and whether they would feel threatened personally, whether someone they knew would be threatened or whether society at large would be threatened if the opposing party's candidate was elected.

When the middle looks suspect

Across the experiments, participants viewed moderate policies or beliefs as supporting the opposing side, especially when they held more extreme political beliefs, felt threatened by the opposing side and viewed political issues through a moral lens. This "moderate as out-group effect" is driven by perceptions that moderates fail to repudiate or condemn the opposing side, Maimone said.

"Our findings suggest that polarization can become self-perpetuating because distrust spreads not only toward extremists on opposing sides but also toward people attempting to bridge divides in the middle," Maimone said.

Pressure to choose a camp

Another danger of viewing moderates as belonging to the opposing side is that they may realize they are rejected by all sides and become incentivized to pick a side, further deepening polarization. However, there is still some hope for reducing polarization and rebuilding the middle ground, Maimone said.

"Reducing the moralized language around some political debates and not demonizing political opponents so they seem less threatening could help make political cooperation feel more socially acceptable," Maimone said.

"Over time, this may help create the conditions for real dialogue across political parties where nuance and compromise are valued rather than punished, potentially reducing polarization."

Publication details

Giulia Maimone, et al. Whoever Is Not With Me Is Against Me: The 'Moderate as Out-Group' Effect, Journal of Experimental Psychology (2026). DOI: 10.1037/xge0001957

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Citation: Political moderates may be perceived as disloyal by both sides (2026, July 27) retrieved 27 July 2026 from https://phys.org/news/2026-07-political-moderates-disloyal-sides.html

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The report arrives as the tokenized equity market approaches $2 billion in onchain value with more than 471,000 onchain holders, reflecting growing investor demand for blockchain-based access to traditional financial assets. As tokenized stocks become more widely available across crypto exchanges, CryptoRank examined how differences in product structure, liquidity models and execution infrastructure influence the trading experience beyond simple price exposure.

The study compared tokenized stock offerings across major exchanges and found that products tracking the same underlying equities can differ significantly in investor rights, liquidity mechanisms, redemption models and execution quality. The report evaluated NVIDIA, Microsoft, Meta and Tesla, the only four assets that maintained valid two-sided order books across all venues tested. In this comparable set, Bitget's Reality rTokens consistently produced the strongest execution results for larger trades.

The report found that Bitget delivered the lowest simulated slippage across all four comparable assets for both $10,000 and $50,000 orders, while Reality rTokens recorded the highest balanced displayed liquidity within 50 basis points. CryptoRank attributed these results to Bitget's liquidity architecture, which combines exchange liquidity with NYSE and NASDAQ-linked underlying market liquidity, enabling deeper liquidity and more efficient execution for larger trades. CryptoRank also examined the legal and operational structures behind tokenized equity products, noting that similar stock tickers can represent different forms of investor claims depending on how each product is issued and settled.

“Tokenization is moving beyond access and into infrastructure," said Gracy Chen, CEO at Bitget. “If even 10% of global financial assets become tokenized by 2030, we’ll witness one of the most significant transformations in modern capital markets. The next phase of tokenization will be defined by quality of execution liquidity and market infrastructure supporting those assets. Independent research like this helps establish the benchmarks the industry needs as tokenzied markets continue to mature.”

The findings build on Bitget's continued expansion of its Stock+ ecosystem, which gives eligible users access to more than 500 tokenized stocks, ETFs, commodities and other traditional financial assets alongside cryptocurrencies through a single unified account. By combining 24/7 market access, fractional investing and NYSE and NASDAQ-linked liquidity, Bitget is building the infrastructure needed to support the next generation of tokenized capital markets.

Read the CryptoRank report here.

About Bitget

Bitget is the world's largest Universal Exchange (UEX), serving over 125 million users and offering access to over 2M crypto tokens, 500+ tokenized stocks, ETFs, commodities, FX, and precious metals such as gold. The ecosystem is committed to helping users trade smarter with its AI agent, which co-pilots trade execution. Bitget is driving crypto adoption through strategic partnerships such as MotoGP™. Aligned with its global impact strategy, Bitget has joined hands with UNICEF to support blockchain education for 1.1 million people by 2027. Bitget currently leads in the tokenized TradFi market, providing the industry's lowest fees and highest liquidity across 150 regions worldwide.

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Founded by Hussien Skaiky, Mayflower Venture Partners has built a reputation among regional investors for fast term sheets, hands-on underwriting, and a streamlined draw process for ground-up construction and renovation projects. The acquisition brings Mayflower's local market expertise and client relationships together with New Silver's national lending platform, technology, and capital base.

The acquisition allows New Silver to deepen its presence in New England, while giving Mayflower's clients access to a broader suite of loan products, including DSCR rental loans, and greater capital capacity to fund larger and more complex deals.

"We are looking forward to strengthening our presence in New England through this acquisition and to working with Hussien and continuing the excellent service he has been providing to his clients for many years. We believe the combined team will bring additional value through stronger relationships, additional technology like New Silver’s AI-assisted underwriting, and even more competitive pricing," said Kirill Bensonoff, CEO of New Silver.

"This decision was made with our clients at the forefront. We're proud of the loan performance and relationships we've built, and joining New Silver gives our borrowers better pricing, more capital, and access to some of the best technology in the business to help them succeed and grow," said Hussien Skaiky, Founder of Mayflower Venture Partners.

Following the transaction, Mayflower Venture Partners' team will continue to serve existing and new clients under the New Silver platform. Learn more about the acquisition here.

About New Silver:
New Silver is a fintech company with a mission -- helping to improve local communities by providing fast, convenient and flexible capital to real estate investors across the United States. New Silver uses data and technology to provide their clients with fast approvals and certainty of execution while maintaining high-touch customer service to wow them across the entirety of their journey. For more information please visit www.newsilver.com

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Smart Shelf is fully embedded into Spreetail’s live retail and fulfillment operations. It measures and optimizes pricing, listings, advertising, delivery promises and performance data in real time. Its five integrated capabilities – Listing Doctor, Price Pulse, Promise Pro, True Ads, and Brand Experience Portal – work together and come at no additional cost to brand partners. Smart Shelf has helped Spreetail deliver 40%+ average sales growth for partners within their first 12 months and has helped the company surpass $1 billion in GMV in a single year.

"Smart Shelf is something our team has been building and refining for a while now – seeing it recognized validates the value we’re creating," said Josh Ketter, Global CEO at Spreetail. "Our technology is built into how we price, advertise, and ship every day. The result we're chasing is simple: help our brands grow without adding to their bill."

The Stevie Awards judges praised the nomination:

• “An exceptional innovation that transforms traditional e-commerce acceleration by embedding a robust, real-time AI operating system directly into live fulfillment and retail infrastructure, proven by massive GMV scale in the industry’s most challenging logistically complex product categories.”
• “Spreetail’s Smart Shelf Suite is a standout nomination. The five integrated capabilities and the no-additional-cost model represent a compelling, differentiated approach to e-commerce technology innovation.”
• “I love the team’s novel approach with its Smart Shelf solution. Combining AI with deep domain expertise makes this a strong contender, especially given the operational savings achieved. I’d also like to see how this technology could be adapted to other industries, where similar challenges and opportunities exist.”

Spreetail was purpose-built to solve one of ecommerce’s hardest problems: big-and-bulky products like appliances or outdoor equipment that most logistics providers struggle to move efficiently. Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, the company is now a top-5 seller on Amazon, Walmart and Target and operates across 20+ channels. Through its 12 fulfillment centers globally it offers same-day shipping on 99.8% of products.

The Stevie Awards for Technology Excellence honor exceptional accomplishments by individuals, teams, and organizations advancing innovation and shaping the future of technology. This year’s program drew more than 700 nominations from organizations of all sizes in 37 nations and territories. Winners will be celebrated at a red carpet ceremony on October 28 in Paris, France.

About Spreetail

Spreetail accelerates ecommerce growth for brands by combining marketplace expertise, operational infrastructure, and proprietary technology. Brands expand market share across 20+ channels globally including Amazon, Walmart, Target+, TikTok Shop, and more while simplifying the operational complexity behind ecommerce growth. Through integrated fulfillment, real-time performance intelligence, and full-funnel marketplace execution, Spreetail enables brands to scale faster and operate more efficiently – partners average 40% sales growth in year one, backed by a 97% in-stock rate, 99.8% same-day ship confirmation, and next-day delivery reach to 85% of the U.S. population. Learn how Spreetail can accelerate your marketplace growth: spreetail.com.

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An avid reader since childhood, Pradershika's idea of extreme sports is staying up to read “just one more chapter.” She lives in India.

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A good OLED gaming monitor still costs more than most mid-range GPUs, which is why this Acer Predator X27U deal stands out. At $314.99, down from $549.99, this is the lowest price the monitor has hit so far, according to price-trackers.

For PC gamers, the Predator X27U gets most things right—the 240Hz refresh rate and 0.03ms response time make fast shooters and racing games feel incredibly smooth, especially if you are coming from a standard 144Hz LCD panel. Motion blur is minimal, and its FreeSync Premium compatibility helps reduce tearing without much setup hassle. The 1440p resolution also feels like a good balance for most people. You get sharper visuals than 1080p without needing the kind of graphics card power that 4K gaming still demands. Plus, its stand adjusts for height, tilt, swivel, and pivot, which sounds minor until you spend eight hours staring at a screen positioned slightly wrong.

The OLED panel makes a bigger difference than spec sheets usually explain. Dark scenes in games stop looking washed out, HDR content has more depth, and colors look richer without feeling oversaturated. Meaning, horror games, space games, and anything with nighttime scenes benefit from the perfect black levels and strong contrast in ways IPS panels still struggle to match. It also helps that Acer included features that make it easier to use outside of gaming, including USB-C connectivity and a built-in KVM switch (which lets you swap between a desktop and a laptop with the same keyboard and mouse).

What do you think so far?

That said, despite having HDMI 2.1 ports, the monitor does not fully support variable refresh rate on the PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X, so console players will not get the same experience PC users do. Input lag also rises at lower refresh rates, though most PC players running games at higher frame rates probably will not notice it much. Still, if you're focused mainly on PC gaming, this deal makes a lot of sense. You are getting a fast 1440p OLED display with excellent motion handling and strong image quality at a price that used to buy a midrange LCD monitor just a couple of years ago.

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