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Abstract
An experiment (N = 272) demonstrated that disagreement—either civil or uncivil—may have a chilling effect on the public discourse vital to a deliberative democracy. Both forms of disagreement—in comments posted on a news story about abortion—caused negative emotion and aggressive intentions. However, only uncivil disagreement led people to respond back uncivilly and indirectly led to greater intention to participate politically, if it aroused aggressive feelings. Findings support extending face and politeness theories to the computer-mediated space of online commenting. Results are discussed in relation to the impact on the public discourse.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Paromita Pain, Shannon Price, Paige Turner, and Taylor Weese for collecting the comments that became the stimuli for this project and Peter and Ian Chen for assistance with coding comments.
Funding
This research was supported by a grant from the Student Enrichment Fund, School of Journalism, The University of Texas at Austin.
Notes
1. Excluded items for aggressive intentions were: “I am an even-tempered person;” I would tell someone openly that I disagree with him or her;” and “If people annoy me, I may tell them what I think of them.”
2. One subject had indicated wanting to send 9.99999999999999E+103 ticking bombs, but the number was too large compared to the other values for reliable analyses. So it was converted to 100,000 (the next highest number of bombs sent). Similarly, one subject indicated wanting to send 3,000,000,000,000 smiles, but the number was too large compared to the other values for reliable analyses. So it was converted to 1,000,000 (the next highest number of smiles sent.)
Additional information
Funding
Notes on contributors
Gina Masullo Chen
Gina Masullo Chen (Ph.D., Syracuse University) is an assistant professor in the School of Journalism at The University of Texas at Austin. Her research focuses on online interaction and how it influences social, civic, and political engagement.
Shuning Lu
Shuning Lu (M.A., Fudan University, China) is a doctoral candidate in the School of Journalism at The University of Texas at Austin. Her research interests revolve around political communication, journalism studies, and new information and communication technologies.