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The Effects of Partisan Elites' Violent Rhetoric on Support for Political Violence.

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Title: The Effects of Partisan Elites' Violent Rhetoric on Support for Political Violence.
Authors: Kim, Taegyoon (AUTHOR)
Source: Political Behavior. Mar2026, Vol. 48 Issue 1, p119-184. 66p.
Subjects: Political violence, Rhetoric, Social influence, Political party leadership, Intergroup relations, Political attitudes, Political elites, Manipulative behavior
Abstract: Violent partisan hostility is a growing concern for American democracy, yet the role of partisan elites in driving support for political violence remains underexplored. This is especially problematic given their significant influence over public opinion. How does partisan elites' rhetoric threatening violence affect support for violence against opposing partisans? Focusing on social media, where violent messages by partisan elites from both sides can reach a wide audience with potentially devastating effects, I explore how such messages influence support for violence against opposing partisans. Drawing insights from theories of partisan opinion leadership and inter-group conflict, I conduct a two-by-two (violent rhetoric vs. non-violent rhetoric; co-party elites vs. opposing party elites), pre-registered survey experiment on a sample reflecting the national population. I demonstrate that co-party (but not opposing party) elites' violent rhetoric increases support for political violence and that partisans fail to counteract elites' violent rhetoric. Furthermore, I show that fear mediates the impact of violent rhetoric, highlighting its role in fostering support for political violence through fearmongering. This paper is among the first to examine the effects of partisan elites' violent rhetoric on support for political violence, advancing our knowledge in partisanship, emotion and politics, and political communication. [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 Effects of Partisan Elites' Violent Rhetoric on Support for Political Violence.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Political+Behavior%22">Political Behavior</searchLink>. Mar2026, Vol. 48 Issue 1, p119-184. 66p.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Political+violence%22">Political violence</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Rhetoric%22">Rhetoric</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Social+influence%22">Social influence</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Political+party+leadership%22">Political party leadership</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Intergroup+relations%22">Intergroup relations</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Political+attitudes%22">Political attitudes</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Political+elites%22">Political elites</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Manipulative+behavior%22">Manipulative behavior</searchLink>
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  Data: Violent partisan hostility is a growing concern for American democracy, yet the role of partisan elites in driving support for political violence remains underexplored. This is especially problematic given their significant influence over public opinion. How does partisan elites' rhetoric threatening violence affect support for violence against opposing partisans? Focusing on social media, where violent messages by partisan elites from both sides can reach a wide audience with potentially devastating effects, I explore how such messages influence support for violence against opposing partisans. Drawing insights from theories of partisan opinion leadership and inter-group conflict, I conduct a two-by-two (violent rhetoric vs. non-violent rhetoric; co-party elites vs. opposing party elites), pre-registered survey experiment on a sample reflecting the national population. I demonstrate that co-party (but not opposing party) elites' violent rhetoric increases support for political violence and that partisans fail to counteract elites' violent rhetoric. Furthermore, I show that fear mediates the impact of violent rhetoric, highlighting its role in fostering support for political violence through fearmongering. This paper is among the first to examine the effects of partisan elites' violent rhetoric on support for political violence, advancing our knowledge in partisanship, emotion and politics, and political communication. [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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        Value: 10.1007/s11109-025-10025-7
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        Text: English
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      – SubjectFull: Political violence
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Rhetoric
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      – SubjectFull: Social influence
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      – SubjectFull: Political elites
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      – SubjectFull: Manipulative behavior
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              Text: Mar2026
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