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A Social Safety Net? Incentives for sharing political information online

Fredén, Annika LU ; Gustafsson, Nils LU orcid ; Bäck, Emma LU and Bäck, Hanna LU orcid (2017) SWEPSA Swedish Political Science Association Annual Conference
Abstract
This paper explores the relationship between sensitivity to rejection and using social media for political activity. We hypothesize that individuals who are afraid of being rejected behave differently when using social media than the ones who are less sensitive to rejection. We argue that “rejection sensitive” individuals are less likely to share political information in social media, since the recipient is more anonymous than in real-life communication. Starting from theories on social influence on political participation, we elaborate the relationship between age, rejection sensitivity, and political opinion-making. Combining a unique survey on psychological characteristics and political activities with focus groups interviews with... (More)
This paper explores the relationship between sensitivity to rejection and using social media for political activity. We hypothesize that individuals who are afraid of being rejected behave differently when using social media than the ones who are less sensitive to rejection. We argue that “rejection sensitive” individuals are less likely to share political information in social media, since the recipient is more anonymous than in real-life communication. Starting from theories on social influence on political participation, we elaborate the relationship between age, rejection sensitivity, and political opinion-making. Combining a unique survey on psychological characteristics and political activities with focus groups interviews with Swedish youth lends credence to the central idea. Younger citizens are in general more sensitive to social rejection, and less inclined to influence others politically in social media. On the other hand, younger citizens are more politically active in social media.
This research was financially supported by the Marianne och Marcus Wallenberg Foundation (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to conference
publication status
published
subject
keywords
social media, social network sites, political participation, political psychology, Personality traits
pages
25 pages
conference name
SWEPSA Swedish Political Science Association Annual Conference
conference location
Karlstad, Sweden
conference dates
2017-10-04 - 2017-10-06
project
Political participation among young people – from party democrats to social media activists?
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
6ac07008-85eb-48e4-8c9d-4b4012176480
date added to LUP
2017-09-28 13:18:02
date last changed
2024-03-22 02:18:09
@misc{6ac07008-85eb-48e4-8c9d-4b4012176480,
  abstract     = {{This paper explores the relationship between sensitivity to rejection and using social media for political activity. We hypothesize that individuals who are afraid of being rejected behave differently when using social media than the ones who are less sensitive to rejection. We argue that “rejection sensitive” individuals are less likely to share political information in social media, since the recipient is more anonymous than in real-life communication. Starting from theories on social influence on political participation, we elaborate the relationship between age, rejection sensitivity, and political opinion-making. Combining a unique survey on psychological characteristics and political activities with focus groups interviews with Swedish youth lends credence to the central idea. Younger citizens are in general more sensitive to social rejection, and less inclined to influence others politically in social media. On the other hand, younger citizens are more politically active in social media.<br/>This research was financially supported by the Marianne och Marcus Wallenberg Foundation}},
  author       = {{Fredén, Annika and Gustafsson, Nils and Bäck, Emma and Bäck, Hanna}},
  keywords     = {{social media; social network sites; political participation; political psychology; Personality traits}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{10}},
  title        = {{A Social Safety Net? Incentives for sharing political information online}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/31890505/SocialSafetyNetSWEPSA_FredenGustafssonBack2017.pdf}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}