Search results

Civil interaction is a core practice of democratic participation. However, this condition is undermined by a contemporary landscape of online political discourse rife with incivility. Given the seemingly dismal state of American politics, a remedy to this problem is needed. We test the effects of a self-regulation intervention, mental contrasting with implementation intentions (MCII), on the expression of political incivility in a social media discussion setting. Data from two online experiments show that participants in the MCII condition expressed more civility and selected civil responses in response to uncivil communication cues. Implications are discussed.

This study investigates how exposure to uncivil and reasoned online political comments is related to off-line and online political participation. Data from two online surveys reveal that exposure to uncivil online political comments is negatively related to perceived civility in society, which in turn is positively related to off-line and online political participation. Data also indicate that exposure to reasoned online political comments is positively associated with off-line and online political participation both directly and indirectly through perceived civility. Implications are discussed for political deliberation and uncivil political discourse.

The 2016 US presidential election was highly contentious, as both candidates, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, received strong polarizing support and opposition with controversial campaigns, name-calling, and violence at campaign rallies. This may have contributed to an opinion climate where citizens were reluctant to express support for a candidate. This study tests the spiral of silence theory in the context of this election. We examine the interplay among opinion congruency, fear of isolation, and willingness to express support for a candidate. Data from an online survey show that opinion congruency for Clinton in society at large, and for Trump on Facebook, had indirect associations with willingness to express support for a candidate face-to-face, on Facebook, and in anonymous online settings through fear of isolation.

AbstractUsing the case of Guam, the present study examines the politically demobilizing potential of conflict avoidance in the Pacific. An analysis of data from a probability-based mail survey of registered voters (N = 319) in Guam revealed that conflict avoidance is inversely associated with political participation, civic engagement, and attention to interpersonal sources of information on a political issue. An inverse relationship between conflict avoidance and attention to the Internet as a source of information on a political issue was also approaching statistical significance. However, conflict avoidance was not associated with neighborliness. Implications are discussed.

This study extends understanding of conflict avoidance's (CA) potential of inhibiting online political participation. Specifically, the authors examine whether CA has a direct negative relationship with traditional online political participation and online political expression, and an indirect negative relationship with these two forms of participation as mediated by political interest and internal political efficacy. A survey of young adult college students living in a U.S. Midwestern battleground state was conducted weeks prior to the 2012 U.S. presidential election. Results showed that CA has a direct negative relationship with both traditional online political participation and online political expression. Also, CA is negatively associated with political interest and internal political efficacy, which in turn, are positively associated with traditional online political participation and online political expression. Implications are discussed.

A web survey of college students was conducted to examine whether online political expression moderates the effects of political media use on political participation. Results showed that online political expression enhanced the effects of political mobile apps, traditional offline and online media, and social media on political participation. Implications are discussed for a mobilizing role of online media in the democratic process for young adults.

This study examined the relationships between video game play motivations identified by Yee (2006), social capital (measured by social trust and neighborliness), political participation, and civic engagement. Results of a survey of 465 college students in the United States showed that the Social motivation for video game play was positively associated with neighborliness. A factor consisting of Discovery/Role-playing/Customization, subcomponents of the Immersion motivation, was positively associated with civic engagement. Also, two marginally significant associations were found: a positive one between the Achievement motivation and civic engagement, and a negative one between Escapism, a subcomponent of the Immersion motivation, and trust. Implications were discussed.

Creativity plays an important role in politics in both online and offline spaces. Creative forms of political participation have long been tools of disenfranchised groups in their efforts to influence the government. Further, the rise of online creative participatory cultures has afforded new opportunities for civic and political involvement. Creative forms of participatory politics have the potential to facilitate exposure to ideas, foster dialogues, influence agendas and serve as ways to back talk authority. While many avenues for political involvement are creative, the role creativity may play in citizens' political engagement is not well understood. This study examined the role of creative self-efficacy in political engagement and civic outcomes. Creative self-efficacy represents a belief in one's ability to produce creative outcomes. A survey of participants living in Australia, South Korea, the Philippines and the USA (USA, Hawaii and Guam) ( N = 807) was conducted. Findings suggest that creative self-efficacy was positively associated with political efficacy and scepticism and not associated with apathy. Creative self-efficacy was indirectly associated with offline and online political participation through political efficacy. The implications of these findings are discussed in context of the role creative self-efficacy may play in impacting political outcomes.