Commitment to the Team: Perceived Conflict and Political Polarization

IF 1.7 4区心理学 Q2 COMMUNICATION

Journal of Media Psychology-Theories Methods and Applications Pub Date : 2018-01-01 DOI:10.1027/1864-1105/a000176

Bryan Mclaughlin

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引用次数: 9

Abstract

Scholars have increasingly employed social identity theory to explain how and why political polarization occurs. This study aims to build off of this work by proposing that perception of intergroup conflict serves as a mechanism that mediates the effect of news media coverage on political polarization. Specifically, I argue that the news media’s emphasis on political animosity can cultivate partisans’ perception that the parties are in conflict, which provides a context that makes partisan identity salient and, ultimately, leads to higher levels of affective and ideological polarization. This hypothesis is tested with an experiment using an American national sample of Democrats and Republicans (N = 300). Participants read a news story in which the public believes the parties are in a state of either high or low conflict (or they did not receive a news story). Using mediation analysis, the results of the study provide evidence that news media coverage of political conflict leads to increased perception of intergroup conflict, which then leads to higher levels of (a) partisan identification, (b) affective polarization, and (c) ideological polarization.

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对团队的承诺:感知冲突和政治两极分化

学者们越来越多地运用社会认同理论来解释政治两极分化的发生方式和原因。本研究旨在以此为基础，提出群体间冲突的感知作为一种机制，调解新闻媒体报道对政治两极分化的影响。具体来说，我认为新闻媒体对政治敌意的强调可以培养党派人士对党派冲突的看法，这提供了一个使党派身份突出的背景，并最终导致更高程度的情感和意识形态两极分化。这个假设是通过一个实验来验证的，这个实验使用了美国民主党和共和党的全国样本(N = 300)。参与者阅读了一篇新闻报道，其中公众认为双方处于高度冲突或低冲突状态(或者他们没有收到新闻报道)。通过中介分析，研究结果证明，新闻媒体对政治冲突的报道导致对群体间冲突的感知增加，从而导致更高水平的(a)党派认同，(b)情感两极分化，(c)意识形态两极分化。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Media Psychology-Theories Methods and Applications Multiple-

CiteScore

3.20

自引率

11.80%

发文量

期刊介绍： Journal of Media Psychology (JMP) is committed to publishing original, high-quality papers which cover the broad range of media psychological research. This peer-reviewed journal focuses on how human beings select, use, and experience various media as well as how media (use) can affect their cognitions, emotions, and behaviors. Submissions must substantially advance the current state-of the art on a theoretical and/or an empirical level. To name just a few typical fields and domains of inquiry, the Journal of Media Psychology considers manuscripts dealing with research on entertainment, computer-mediated communication (including social media), human-computer interaction, e-learning, computer and video games, virtual environments, or advertising. The journal is also open to research from neighboring disciplines as far as this work ties in with psychological concepts of the uses and effects of the media. Submissions of comparative work, e.g., crossmedia, cross-gender, or cross-cultural, are encouraged. Moreover, submissions including alternative analysis procedures such as the Bayesian approach are welcome. Starting in 2015, the pre-registration of research plans will also be possible. To ensure short turn-around cycles for manuscript review and fast publication, the Journal of Media Psychology relies heavily upon electronic communication and information exchange, starting from electronic submission and continuing throughout the entire review and production process.