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The Nature of Online Talk: Incivility of Opposing Views and Affective Polarization.

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Title: The Nature of Online Talk: Incivility of Opposing Views and Affective Polarization.
Authors: Goel, Natasha (AUTHOR), Merkley, Eric (AUTHOR)
Source: Political Behavior. Dec2025, Vol. 47 Issue 4, p1483-1500. 18p.
Subjects: Polarization (Social sciences), Social media, Internet forums, Political communication, Partisanship, Gender differences (Sociology), Offensive behavior, Reciprocity (Psychology)
Abstract: Affective polarization is on the rise. Increasing polarization is often attributed to the nature of political discussion on social media platforms, but little is known about the affective consequences of the incivility of online discussion. This study adopts a trust game to consider whether people punish the incivility of both out-partisans and co-partisans and whether there are gender-related differences in punishment. It also examines whether incivility can have spillover effects on broader out-party hostility. Five pre-registered hypotheses are tested using a pair of survey experiments fielded to a sample (N = 974) of adult Canadian partisans. We find that participants punish the incivility of co-partisans but not out-partisans. However, incivility may spill over and heighten hostility towards out-parties more generally. Finally, we do not find evidence that women are more likely to be punished for incivility. Our findings highlight significant nuance with respect to the effects of incivility on trust and affective polarization, as well as the expectations of civility people hold for individuals online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Political Behavior is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
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  Data: The Nature of Online Talk: Incivility of Opposing Views and Affective Polarization.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Goel%2C+Natasha%22">Goel, Natasha</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Merkley%2C+Eric%22">Merkley, Eric</searchLink> (AUTHOR)
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Political+Behavior%22">Political Behavior</searchLink>. Dec2025, Vol. 47 Issue 4, p1483-1500. 18p.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Polarization+%28Social+sciences%29%22">Polarization (Social sciences)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Social+media%22">Social media</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Internet+forums%22">Internet forums</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Political+communication%22">Political communication</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Partisanship%22">Partisanship</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Gender+differences+%28Sociology%29%22">Gender differences (Sociology)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Offensive+behavior%22">Offensive behavior</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Reciprocity+%28Psychology%29%22">Reciprocity (Psychology)</searchLink>
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  Data: Affective polarization is on the rise. Increasing polarization is often attributed to the nature of political discussion on social media platforms, but little is known about the affective consequences of the incivility of online discussion. This study adopts a trust game to consider whether people punish the incivility of both out-partisans and co-partisans and whether there are gender-related differences in punishment. It also examines whether incivility can have spillover effects on broader out-party hostility. Five pre-registered hypotheses are tested using a pair of survey experiments fielded to a sample (N = 974) of adult Canadian partisans. We find that participants punish the incivility of co-partisans but not out-partisans. However, incivility may spill over and heighten hostility towards out-parties more generally. Finally, we do not find evidence that women are more likely to be punished for incivility. Our findings highlight significant nuance with respect to the effects of incivility on trust and affective polarization, as well as the expectations of civility people hold for individuals online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Political Behavior is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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        Text: English
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        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Social media
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      – SubjectFull: Internet forums
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      – SubjectFull: Political communication
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      – SubjectFull: Partisanship
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      – SubjectFull: Gender differences (Sociology)
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      – SubjectFull: Offensive behavior
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              M: 12
              Text: Dec2025
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