TY - JOUR
T1 - When Disagreement Becomes Uncivil on Social Media
T2 - The Role of Passive Receiving and Active Expression of Incivility in Influencing Political Polarization
AU - Chen, Hsuan Ting
AU - Song, Yunya
AU - Guo, Jing
N1 - This study was supported by a General Research Fund (HKBU 12605520) of the Research Grant Council of Hong Kong, and the Initiation Grant for Faculty Niche Research Areas (RC-FNRA-IG/21-22/COMF/01) of Hong Kong Baptist University.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2024.
PY - 2024/10/20
Y1 - 2024/10/20
N2 - Exposure to cross-cutting viewpoints may not always play the deliberative role it is supposed to. This study uses both panel survey and social media data to examine how disagreement can trigger incivility, including exposure to and expression of incivility, and further elicit emotions and influence polarization. Results from the two-wave panel survey indicate that cross-cutting exposure has a polarizing effect first through promoting exposure to uncivil messages and expression of uncivil opinions, then through negative emotions. Notably, cross-cutting exposure can indirectly reduce polarization by first encouraging expression of uncivil opinions and then eliciting positive emotions, highlighting the importance of active expression. Analysis of data from the Hong Kong-based discussion forum HKDisc demonstrates that cross-cutting exposure is positively related to exposure to uncivil messages, and exposure to and expression of incivility predict polarization regardless of whether positive or negative emotions are detected in the uncivil content. This study provides empirical evidence of the effects of cross-cutting exposure and incivility on polarization at the individual and collective levels.
AB - Exposure to cross-cutting viewpoints may not always play the deliberative role it is supposed to. This study uses both panel survey and social media data to examine how disagreement can trigger incivility, including exposure to and expression of incivility, and further elicit emotions and influence polarization. Results from the two-wave panel survey indicate that cross-cutting exposure has a polarizing effect first through promoting exposure to uncivil messages and expression of uncivil opinions, then through negative emotions. Notably, cross-cutting exposure can indirectly reduce polarization by first encouraging expression of uncivil opinions and then eliciting positive emotions, highlighting the importance of active expression. Analysis of data from the Hong Kong-based discussion forum HKDisc demonstrates that cross-cutting exposure is positively related to exposure to uncivil messages, and exposure to and expression of incivility predict polarization regardless of whether positive or negative emotions are detected in the uncivil content. This study provides empirical evidence of the effects of cross-cutting exposure and incivility on polarization at the individual and collective levels.
KW - cross-cutting exposure
KW - emotions
KW - expression
KW - online incivility
KW - political polarization
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85207288539&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00936502241285069
U2 - 10.1177/00936502241285069
DO - 10.1177/00936502241285069
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85207288539
SN - 0093-6502
JO - Communication Research
JF - Communication Research
ER -