Who creates the bandwagon? The dynamics of fear of isolation, opinion congruency and anonymity-preference on social media in the 2017 South Korean presidential election

Abstract

This paper proposes a new approach to study fear of isolation (FOI), with special attention to psychological motivations/gratifications sought in the online sphere (opinion congruency-seeking and anonymity-preference), which may lead to political expression via social media. We posit that individuals with FOI will display a tendency to want to match their opinions with the majority and will also actively utilize online platforms as they offer anonymity. This empirical study collected data from a random sample of 1107 participants in South Korea, a frontrunner in terms of political expression on social media. The results demonstrated that FOI is associated with opinion congruency as well as anonymity-preference and further, political use of social media which prompts offline political engagement. Findings of this paper goes beyond conventional paradigms on political psychology (selective exposure based on partisanship or ideology) and contribute to a better understanding of how anonymous, online behaviors generate political engagement.