Meme Wars: Online Provocation, Political Tolerance, and Dehumanization

• In Event: Conversations with the Enemy

Abstract

To many, American politics seems to be in a state of volatility, characterized by what scholars refer to as negative partisanship and affective polarization. In recent years, social networks have become increasingly politically homogenous and beset with political conflict, potentially exacerbating the situation. We examine the effects of online provocation through offensive memes on political tolerance in order to shed light on how exposure to politically offensive material online shapes subsequent evaluations of political groups. We argue that online provocation yields decreased political tolerance. However, we propose a dual-process model in which the severity and form of the consequences of this provocation should depend on the characteristics of the offense. We build on several intergroup emotions theories to suggest that the effects of provocation should depend on the perceived formidability of the political outgroup. Specifically, we expect provocations depicting the political outgroup as strong to trigger avoidance mechanisms and increase support for separation from the outgroup, and provocations depicting the political outgroup as weak to trigger approach mechanisms and increase support for violence against the outgroup. Further, there is a burgeoning interest among some scholars in the tendency for individuals to dehumanize members of political outgroups. We expect this tendency to predict approach-based forms of political intolerance such as support for violence against political opponents, and critically, we expect this to be constrained to when the outgroup is perceived as weak. To test our hypotheses, we run an online survey experiment in which participants are shown pre-tested provocative “memes” that either attack or support their political ingroup. We then have participants complete various measures of political tolerance including measures that gauge avoidance- as well as approach-based intolerance. We also measure various forms of dehumanization of political outgroups, including overt dehumanization, which involves directly indicating that one group is less human than the other, and subtle dehumanization, which involves attributing different types of emotions to groups reflecting human nature and human uniqueness. Results are discussed in terms of implications for understanding political tolerance, affective polarization, online political behavior, and the consequences of dehumanization of political outgroups.

Authors

• Frank John Gonzalez, University of Arizona

• Stephen Schneider, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Joshua Ridenour, University of Arizona