“Be Nice or Leave Me Alone”: An Intergroup Perspective on Affective Polarization in Online Political Discussions

Nahema Marchal

doi:10.1177/00936502211042516

Abstract

Affective polarization—growing animosity and hostility between political rivals—has become increasingly characteristic of Western politics. While this phenomenon is well-documented through surveys, few studies investigate whether and how it manifests in the digital context, and what mechanisms underpin it. Drawing on social identity and intergroup theories, this study employs computational methods to explore to what extent political discussions on Reddit’s r/politics are affectively polarized, and what communicative factors shape these affective biases. Results show that interactions between ideologically opposed users were significantly more negative than like-minded ones. These interactions were also more likely to be cut short than sustained if one user referred negatively to the other’s political in-group. Conversely, crosscutting interactions in which one of the users expressed positive sentiment toward the out-group were more likely to attract a positive than a negative response, thus mitigating intergroup affective bias. Implications for the study of online political communication dynamics are discussed.

Highlights

Affective polarization—growing animosity and hostility between political rivals— has become increasingly characteristic of Western politics
Using data from Reddit’s r/politics—one of the largest and most active political discussion forums online—in this paper, I leverage computational methods to show that ideological rivals are more affectively biased toward one another than they are toward like-minded peers
The contributions of this research are twofold. It makes an important methodological contribution by proposing a way to identify the ideological leanings of Reddit users based on their prior engagement with other political groups on the site. These findings expand the current literature on affective polarization by showing that crosscutting online political discussions are characterized by affective biases—with users treating members of their political in-group more favorably than the out-group—and that these are significantly mediated by the direction and the sentiment of the messages exchanged between them

Summary

Introduction

Affective polarization—growing animosity and hostility between political rivals— has become increasingly characteristic of Western politics. Results further indicate that interactions between opposed users are more likely to end than be followed up by another exchange if they refer negatively to the other’s political in-group.

Results

Conclusion