The Psychology of Online Political Hostility: A Comprehensive, Cross-National Test of the Mismatch Hypothesis

Why are online discussions about politics more hostile than offline discussions? A popular answer argues that human psychology is tailored for face-to-face interaction and people’s behavior therefore changes for the worse in impersonal online discussions. We provide a theoretical formalization and empirical test of this explanation: the mismatch hypothesis. We argue that mismatches between human psychology and novel features of online environments could (a) change people’s behavior, (b) create adverse selection effects, and (c) bias people’s perceptions. Across eight studies, leveraging cross-national surveys and behavioral experiments (total N = 8,434), we test the mismatch hypothesis but only find evidence for limited selection effects. Instead, hostile political discussions are the result of status-driven individuals who are drawn to politics and are equally hostile both online and offline. Finally, we offer initial evidence that online discussions feel more hostile, in part, because the behavior of such individuals is more visible online than offline.

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The Psychology of Online Political Hostility: A Comprehensive, Cross-National Test of the Mismatch Hypothesis

10.31234/osf.io/hwb83 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Alexander Bor ◽

Michael Bang Petersen

Keyword(s):

Empirical Test ◽

Online Communication ◽

Online Discussions ◽

Behavioral Experiments ◽

Total N ◽

Human Psychology ◽

Face To Face ◽

Communication Environments ◽

Mismatch Hypothesis ◽

Cross National

Why are online discussions about politics experienced as more hostile than offline discussions? A popular answer builds on the argument that human psychology is tailored for face-to-face interaction and, accordingly, people’s behavior changes for the worse in impersonal online discussions. We provide the first theoretical formalization and empirical test of this explanation: the mismatch hypothesis. We argue that mismatches between human psychology and novel features of online communication environments could (a) change people’s behavior, (b) bias their perceptions and (c) create adverse selection effects. We leverage five cross-national representative surveys and online behavioral experiments (total N=7510) to test the mismatch hypothesis but find little to no evidence. Rather, we find that online political hostility reflects the behavior of individuals predisposed to be hostile in all (including offline) contexts. Yet, because their behavior is more likely to be witnessed on public online platforms, these are perceived to induce more hostility.

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Student Perceptions of Face-to-Face and Online Discussions: The Advantage Goes To . . .

Online Learning ◽

10.24059/olj.v11i4.10 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 11 (4) ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Katrina A. Meyer

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Affirmative Action ◽

Student Perceptions ◽

Online Discussions ◽

Political Tolerance ◽

Self Assessment ◽

Face To Face ◽

The Face ◽

Online Setting ◽

And Gender

Thirteen students in a graduate-level course on Historical and Policy Perspectives in Higher Education held face-to-face and online discussions on five controversial topics: Diversity, Academic Freedom, Political Tolerance, Affirmative Action, and Gender. Students read materials on each topic and generated questions for discussion that were categorized by Bloom’s taxonomy so that the level of questions in the two discussion settings would be closely parallel. Upon completion of each discussion, they answered questions that addressed depth and length of the discussion, ability to remember, and a self-assessment of how the student learned. Students’ assessments show a consistent preference for the face-to-face discussion but a small number of students preferred the online setting. However, what is perhaps more interesting is a minority of approximately one-third of the students who perceived no difference between the settings, or that the two settings were perhaps complementary.

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Party Responsiveness to Public Opinion in Young Democracies

Political Studies ◽

10.1177/0032321721993635 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 003232172199363

Author(s):

Raimondas Ibenskas ◽

Jonathan Polk

Keyword(s):

Public Opinion ◽

Political Parties ◽

Strong Support ◽

Policy Positions ◽

The Public ◽

National Surveys ◽

The Mean ◽

Established Democracies ◽

Expert Surveys ◽

Cross National

Are political parties in young democracies responsive to the policy preferences of the public? Compared to extensive scholarship on party responsiveness in established democracies, research on party responsiveness in young democracies is limited. We argue that weaker programmatic party–voter linkages in post-communist democracies create incentives for parties to respond to their supporters rather than the more general electorate. Such responsiveness occurs in two ways. First, parties follow shifts in the mean position of their supporters. Second, drawing on the research on party–voter congruence, we argue that parties adjust their policy positions to eliminate previous incongruence between themselves and their supporters. Analyses based on a comprehensive dataset that uses expert surveys, parties’ manifestoes and election surveys to measure parties’ positions, and several cross-national and national surveys to measure voters’ preferences provide strong support for this argument.

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A Cross-National Test of Propositions from the Neo-Pluralist Perspective on Social Security Expenditures

Journal of Aging & Social Policy ◽

10.1300/j031v10n02_04 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

pp. 49-66

Author(s):

Roger Clark ◽

Rachel Filinson

Keyword(s):

Social Security ◽

National Test ◽

Cross National

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Lockdown Lives: A longitudinal study of inter-relationships amongst feelings of loneliness, social contacts and solidarity during the COVID-19 lockdown in early 2020.

10.31234/osf.io/hx5kt ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Jolien van Breen ◽

Maja Kutlaca ◽

Yasin Koc ◽

Bertus F. Jeronimus ◽

Anne Margit Reitsema ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Longitudinal Study ◽

Public Debate ◽

Public Understanding ◽

National Data ◽

Social Contacts ◽

Face To Face ◽

The Public ◽

Time Points ◽

The Impact ◽

Cross National

In this work, we study how social contacts and feelings of solidarity shape experiences of loneliness during the COVID-19 lockdown in early 2020. We draw on cross-national data, collected across four time points between mid-March until early May 2020. We situate our work within the public debate on these issues and discuss to what extent the public understanding of the impact of lockdown is borne out in the data. Results show, first, that although online contacts are beneficial in combating feelings of loneliness, people who feel more lonely are less likely to make use of this strategy. Second, online contacts do not function as a substitute to face-to-face contacts - in fact, more frequent online contacts in earlier weeks predicted an increase in face-to-face contacts in later weeks. Finally, solidarity played only a small role in shaping people’s feelings of loneliness during lockdown. In sum, our findings suggest that we must look beyond the current focus on online contact and solidarity, if we want to help people address their feelings of loneliness. We hope that this work will be instrumental not only in understanding the impact of the lockdown in early 2020, but also in preparing for possible future lockdown periods.

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THE INFLUENCE OF PERSONALITY AND LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY ON ESL LEARNERS' WORD CONTRIBUTIONS IN FACE-TO-FACE AND SYNCHRONOUS ONLINE FORUMS

Journal of Nusantara Studies (JONUS) ◽

10.24200/jonus.vol6iss1pp199-221 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

pp. 199-221

Author(s):

Shin Yi Chew ◽

Lee Luan Ng

Keyword(s):

High School ◽

High School Students ◽

Language Proficiency ◽

Online Discussions ◽

Online Forums ◽

School Students ◽

Face To Face ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Esl Learners ◽

Synchronous Online

Background and Purpose: Recent technological advancements and Covid-19 pandemic have prompted more opportunities for online learning. However, there is a dearth of empirical research that is focused on high school students. Therefore, this study aims to obtain a more comprehensive view of ESL learners’ involvement or word contributions in a ‘normal’ face-to-face situation and in a synchronous online text-based environment by relating it to their personality and language proficiency. Methodology: In this study, a quasi-experiment was carried out over four weeks. It involved eight sessions of face-to-face and online discussions with 48 Malaysian high school students who were divided into two matched-sample groups. The participants' feedback was used to support and provide insights on the findings. The quantitative data were analysed using using IBM SPSS statistics 26 software while the participants’ responses to the online feedback session were analysed using open coding and axial coding strategies. Findings: Statistically significant difference was found in learners’ word contributions during face-to-face and online discussions. Apart from the extroverts with high-intermediate language proficiency, the other groups of learners who are either introverts or having lower level language proficiency were found to produce significantly more words in synchronous online text-based discussions. The non-face-to-face context of online forums might have lowered the learners’ level of anxiety and increased their confidence to interact with their peers. Contributions: Learners’ personalities and language proficiency levels should be considered when choosing a discussion setting and when facilitating discussion activities. More support should be provided for the less proficient or introverted learners to express themselves in a face-to-face discussion. Keywords: Personality, Language proficiency, Computer-mediated communication, Synchronous text-based online discussions, Word contributions Cite as: Chew, S. Y., & Ng, L. L. (2021). The influence of personality and language proficiency on ESL learners' word contributions in face-to-face and synchronous online forums. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 6(1), 199-221. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol6iss1pp199-221

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Gynocentric communication among nuclear kin in the USA and Spain

10.7287/peerj.preprints.647v1 ◽

2014 ◽

Author(s):

Devon D Brewer

Keyword(s):

Mobile Telephone ◽

Face To Face ◽

National Surveys ◽

Group Settings ◽

Paternity Uncertainty ◽

Dyadic Communication ◽

Communication Modes ◽

The Usa ◽

Boston Marathon ◽

Mobile Phone Communication

Paternity uncertainty seems to have shaped humans' differential investment in kin. I examined sex differences in communication among nuclear kin to expand inquiry on this matter and address some methodological limitations in prior work. I analyzed data from national surveys in the USA and Spain and a study of mobile phone communication in the immediate aftermath of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings. Respondents communicated mildly to moderately more with mother than father and more with sister than brother. The differences in communication with mother and father appeared in both subjective survey data and objective mobile telephone records. Across communication modes and studies, women and men did not differ consistently in overall frequency of communication. Matricentric and sororicentric tendencies were larger for the modes likely to involve dyadic communication (such as telelphone calling and texting) than modes which often involve communication in group settings (face-to-face). The tendency to communicate more with female than male kin also appeared to be stronger in women respondents than in men. These results are consistent with paternity uncertainty as an ultimate evolutionary cause of differential investment in kin.

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