There must be a villain: political threats, narrative thought, and political violence

ABSTRACT

This study examined the role political villains play in individuals’ political imagination, which can then lead to political violence. When there is a threatening villain, partisans should become more likely to construct elaborate narratives about the political world, which can lead them to believe the violence against the opposition is justified. Study 1 uses a survey to provide evidence that exposure to partisan news sources cultivates the perception that opposing candidate pose a grave danger to America, which leads to more narrative thought. In Study 2, an experiment demonstrates that imagining threatening villains creates more narrative thought, which is then related to support for political violence.

KEYWORDS:

• Political narratives
• threats
• negativity bias
• partisan media
• political violence

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Bryan McLaughlin

Bryan McLaughlin is an assistant professor in the Department of Advertising at Texas Tech University. His research interests are centered on (1) how identities are socially constructed, communicated, and interpreted; and (2) the conditions under which mediated messages either exacerbate or attenuate intergroup conflict and divisions.

Joshua A. Dunn

Joshua A. Dunn (Ph.D., Texas Tech University) is a Assistant Director of the McNair Scholars Program at St. Mary’s University. His research interests focus on the influence of media characters on attitudes toward out-groups and identity exploration.

John A. Velez

John A. Velez (Ph.D., Ohio State University) is an Assistant Professor in The Media School at Indiana University-Bloomington. His research examines the benefits of video games not only as an entertainment medium but as tools that help solve common issues in the areas of education, healthcare, social movements, and workplace environments.

Jeffrey Hunter

Jeff Hunter (M.A., Texas Tech University) is a doctoral student in Media & Communication at Texas Tech University. His research interests include political campaigns and rural politics.