The anionic polymerization of 1,4-divinylbenzene (1) and its ortho (2) and meta isomers (3) were studied under a variety of conditions. One of the two vinyl groups of 1 was selectively and exclusively polymerized in a living manner by the addition of a suitable additive under the conditions of -78 degrees C for 1 mm and -95 degrees C for 30 min. Under such conditions, the unwanted addition reaction of the chain-end anion to the pendant vinyl group was almost suppressed and soluble polymers with predictable molecular weights of up to 60 500 g/mol and narrow molecular weight distributions (M-w/M-n < 1.05) were quantitatively obtained. The amount of dimerized chain produced by the addition reaction was negligible or very small (<5%). The effective additives in the polymerization involve potassium alkoxides and phenoxides, derived from tert-butyl alcohol, sec-butyl alcohol, 2,4-dimethyl-3-pentanol, 1-methylcyclohexanol, 1:2,5:6-di-O-isopropylidene-alpha-D-glucofuranose, phenol, 1-naphthol, and 2,6-di(tert-butyl)-4-methylphenol, and potassium carboxylate derived from pivalic acid. The living polymer of 1 was not stable at -78 degrees C after S mm or longer times, but very stable at -95 degrees C even for 30 min. The chain-end anion could be stabilized by end-capping with tert-butyl methacrylate and 1,1-diphenylethylene, and the resulting anions remained unchanged at -78 degrees C even after several hours.