Negativity Bias or Backlash: Interaction With Civil and Uncivil Online Political News Content
In: Communication research, Band 47, Heft 6, S. 815-837
ISSN: 1552-3810
Researchers condemn the effects of news but have only recently turned their attention to determining the extent to which individuals engage with news. Within the context of online uncivil news, the current project investigates whether negativity always increases engagement with news. The results of two experiments demonstrate that civility in the news increased news engagement, especially compared to news with the most incivility. News articles that included multiple types of incivility and news articles that prompted individuals to perceive that an out-group political party was behaving uncivilly discouraged people from engaging with online news. The studies contribute theoretically to negativity bias and incivility research and signal that negativity does not always attract clicks.