Sternsdorff, Emily (2024) Digital Divisions and Affective Polarization: An Exploration of the Impact of Internalized Stereotypes About Political Outgroups on Affective Polarization in Online Settings. Bachelor thesis, Psychology.
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Abstract
Affective polarization is the growing emotional divide between opposing political groups, leading to decreased and more hostile intergroup interactions in offline and online settings. While social media has become a primary source of news consumption and political discourse over the past decades, its influence on affective polarization remains a subject of debate. This emphasizes the need to investigate the cognitive bias in underlying information processes. In the past, negative outgroup stereotyping has been identified as especially relevant in political intergroup dynamics, as well as in online discussions, leading to increasing levels of intergroup hostility, isolation, and affective polarization. Building on these findings and through the integration of SIT and the SIDE model, we hypothesized that stereotypes are positively related to affective polarization in an online setting. We conducted an experiment (N = 360), that presented left-leaning participants with one of three generated social media profiles: either 1) a profile with no information 2) a non-stereotypical profile, or 3) a stereotypical conservative outgroup profile. In line with previous research, we conceptualized affective polarization in terms of other-focused trust, a feelings thermometer, a personality rating, and a social distance scale. While the main analysis does not suggest significant findings for our hypothesized relationship, further analyses revealed significant effects that provide some evidence that links strong group identity and stereotypical profiles to higher affective polarization scores. Future research should build on these findings, and reinvestigate our hypothesized relationship in a more diverse sample, specifically address individual stereotypes and include behavioral measurements. Keywords: affective polarization, social media, stereotypes, social identity theory, social identity model of deindividuation effects
| Item Type: | Thesis (Bachelor) |
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| Supervisor name: | Baldina, L. |
| Degree programme: | Psychology |
| Differentiation route: | None [Bachelor Psychology] |
| Date Deposited: | 15 Jul 2024 07:00 |
| Last Modified: | 15 Jul 2024 07:00 |
| URI: | http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/3874 |
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