From Tweets to Tensions: Exploring the Impact of Moralized Political Content on Affective Polarization

Vani, A. (2024) From Tweets to Tensions: Exploring the Impact of Moralized Political Content on Affective Polarization. Bachelor thesis, Psychology.

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Abstract

Affective polarization, defined as the tendency to attribute positive characteristics to political ingroup members and negative characteristics to outgroup members, has become a significant barrier over the past decade, complicating cooperation between political party members due to growing mutual disdain (Iyengar et al., 2019). Research indicates that strong moral convictions associated with political beliefs can heighten intolerance and increase social distance between political groups (Skitka et al., 2005). Recently, the rise of social media as a news source and platform for political discourse has linked the moral evaluation of political content to online virality (Brady et al., 2020). This study aimed to assess the impact of moralized political content on social media on affective polarization. To examine these effects, 322 politically left-leaning participants were randomly assigned to either moralized or neutral tweet conditions. It was hypothesized that participants exposed to moralized political tweets would exhibit greater affective polarization towards conservatives compared to those exposed to politically neutral tweets. Affective polarization was measured using four scales: Feelings Thermometer, Social Distance, Personality Ratings, and Other-Focused Trust, through an online questionnaire. Statistical analysis revealed no significant differences in affective polarization measures between participants in the moralized and neutral tweet conditions. However, exploratory analyses indicated that participants' age was a statistically significant predictor of affective polarization scores. Keywords: Affective Polarization, Moralized Political Content, Age

Item Type:	Thesis (Bachelor)
Supervisor name:	Baldina, L.
Degree programme:	Psychology
Differentiation route:	None [Bachelor Psychology]
Date Deposited:	15 Jul 2024 07:07
Last Modified:	15 Jul 2024 07:07
URI:	http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/3859

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