Search

Scholars have recently sought to explain why some voters remain loyal to "their" parties or candidates "no matter what they do" – an attitude that has been labeled as obstinate partisanship (OP) and limits electoral accountability. We argue that the development of OP may have to do, at least partly, with people's (in)ability to critically evaluate political information and their tendency to isolate themselves in online bubbles of congenial information and interactions. Building on this framework, we use two-wave panel survey data (NW1 = 1,259; NW2 = 982) to explore direct and indirect associations between information evaluation – a key component of information literacy – and OP. We find that information evaluation is negatively associated with OP in cross-sectional and autoregressive regression models. Analyses also support an indirect relationship between information evaluation and OP through political homophily in social media and online. We discuss possible implications for democracy and information literacy initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing number of people use mobile instant messaging (MIM) apps for a variety of purposes—most commonly related to social interaction, but also to coordinate work-related activities, fulfill informational needs, and discuss politics and public affairs. Despite its convenience for daily life, MIM may also act as an environmental antecedent of technostress due to users' inability to cope with the demands of the app in a healthy manner. We conducted two qualitative studies (N1 = 26; N2 = 147) to examine why people use MIM apps in their daily life and if diverse uses relate to MIM stress differently. This research (1) develops a general catalogue of MIM uses; (2) suggests a four-dimensional construct of MIM technostress consisting of overload, ambiguity, invasion, and urgency; (3) outlines several differences across age groups and between genders; and (4) describes possible relationships between MIM uses and stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Communicative applications of artificial intelligence (AI) have burst into the lives of millions of people through products such as ChatGPT, Midjourney, or Replika, with the ability to generate texts and images and even understand natural language and socialize with humans. This study addresses attitudes toward communicative AI, as well as the sociodemographic and personality factors that are related to its positive perception and usage. For this purpose, we use data from a survey conducted at the end of February 2023 among adult residents in Spain (N = 821). Our results suggest that there is a slight predominance of negative attitudes toward communicative AI, which include cognitive and affective elements such as the perception of dehumanizing aspects and job-related threats, caution, or fear. However, a relevant portion of our respondents is not familiar with communicative AI or generalizes their answers toward other applications of AI. Individuals with higher educational level, greater openness to experience, and lower level of futurephobia show more positive attitudes toward these technologies. In terms of adoption, men, younger people, and those with more favorable attitudes toward AI are more likely to decide to use it, while those scoring higher in agreeableness tend to use it less frequently once they have decided to use it. We discuss these results under the premise that early adopters may play a central role in the attitudes of late majority and laggards, as well as in the future development of communicative AI and its regulatory framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ordinary citizens are increasingly using mobile instant messaging apps such as WhatsApp for politically-related activities. Compared to other 'semi-public' online platforms, WhatsApp provides a more intimate and controlled environment in which users can almost simultaneously gather and share news, discuss politics, and mobilize others. Relying on two-wave panel data collected in Spain, USA, and New Zealand, this study examines the mediating role of WhatsApp political discussion in the relationships between different types of news use and various forms of political participation. First, our findings reveal WhatsApp discussion has a positive influence on activism, and a more nuanced effect on conventional participation. Second, results are partially supportive of a fully mediated set of influences between news media and social media news uses and both types of participation via WhatsApp. Finally, the study examines age differential effects between younger (Gen Xers and Millennials) and older (Boomers) age groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholarly work has placed political discussion at the center of a healthier democracy. However, this might not always be the case considering the vast amount of different discussion attributes and their effects. This study extends existing research on the influence of different discussion attributes (cognitive elaboration, network size, exposure to disagreement, and online/offline discussion) on political attitude change. To do so, we introduce the concept of obstinate partisanship and explore different discussion attributes as its antecedents. Obstinate partisans remain loyal to their political party irrespective of its performance, just as staunch sports fans do with their team. Results from a survey conducted in three democracies show that discussion network size, discussion disagreement, and offline discussion are all negative predictors of obstinate partisanship. Conversely, online discussion fosters this negative orientation. We finally examine the moderating role of discussion disagreement and network size on some of these relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internal political efficacy has long been associated with news use and political discussion. Yet, as more people are inadvertently exposed to news and political discussion online, it remains unclear whether incidental news exposure also has a discursive effect on political efficacy. In a two-wave panel study, we applied the O-S-R-O-R model of communication effects to test these relationships. We found that political discussion with weak ties, but not strong ties, is a mediator between incidental news exposure and internal political efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social trust has long attracted the interest of researchers across different disciplines. Most of previous studies rely on singlecountry data and consider only one dimension of social trust at a time (e.g., trust in science, the media or political institutions). This research extends a framework developed by the Global Trust Inventory (GTI) by discussing several dimensions of social trust, while simultaneously analyzing how trust in institutions varies across societies. Drawing on an online panel survey collected in 22 countries (N = 22,033), we examine cross-country differences in social trust--including government trust, trust in governing bodies, security, and knowledge producers. Additionally, this paper fills a gap in current literature by including a measure of trust in the media. Findings are discussed in the context of comparing emerging and developed countries based on the Human Development Index. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the role of trust in professional and alternative media as (a) antecedents of citizen news production, and (b) moderators of the effect of citizen news production on political participation. Using two-wave panel survey data collected in the United States between December 2013 and March 2014, results show that trust in citizen media predicts people’s tendency to create news. In turn, citizen news production is a positive predictor of both offline and online participation. More importantly, trust in the media moderates the effect of citizen news production over online political participation. Overall, this article highlights the importance of trust in the media with respect to citizen news production and how it matters for democracy. Thus, this study casts a much-needed light on how media trust and citizen journalism intertwine in explaining a more engaged and participatory citizenry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One thriving area of research on participatory media revolves around political expression and the creation of political content. This study analyzes the connections between these behaviors, heterogeneous information networks, and ideological extremity while accounting for the role of emotional intelligence. Results from a two-wave-panel survey of US adults show that people who engage in content-expressive behavior are embedded in heterogeneous information networks and that emotional intelligence moderates the relationship between content-expressive behavior and ideological extremity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twitter has become the leading social media platform for journalists to break news, build a following, and interact with the public. Social media offer journalists and citizens a communication space, where they can discuss issues, provide context for the news, and foster community values. This study examines how expectations about journalistic practices on social media influence audience engagement with journalists, and in turn, perceptions of editorial bias. Drawing on a two-wave panel survey from the United States, we first find that expectations about the practice of "good journalism" on social media predict engagement with journalists on Twitter. Second, these personal interactions lead to lower levels of perceived bias in the news media. Finally, expectations of journalists' performance on social media are explored as a moderator of perceived editorial bias. This study adds to the growing literature analyzing the causes and outcomes of audience engagement with journalists on social media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Internacional de Sociología is the property of Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Citizens' levels of mistrust toward the media, as well as their perception of media bias, have increased in past years in most Western democracies. This study explores how these negative observations on journalism may influence their use of traditional, citizen, and social media for news. Drawing on two-wave U.S. panel data, results suggest that media trust and perceived bias relate to media consumption differently. Trust in social and citizen media positively predicts use of news via social media, but has no effect on traditional or citizen news use. By contrast, perceived media bias is associated with decreased news use overall. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although much attention has been paid to how media use and interpersonal discussion motivate people to engage in political persuasion, and despite recent efforts to study the role of digital media technologies, less is known about the creation of news and public affairs content online. This study sheds light on how online content creation works alongside other communicative behaviors, such as news use and political discussion, to affect attempted political persuasion. Using two-wave panel survey data, we find that political discussion and citizen news creation mediate the relationships between online and traditional news use, on one hand, and attempted persuasion, on the other. Furthermore, strength of partisanship moderates the relationship between content creation and attempted persuasion. Findings are discussed in light of their implications for the political communication and public sphere processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The media are important actors in humanitarian crisis management and resolution, both in the countries facing the crises and in the rest of the world. Based on an inductive approach to a news sample from four Spanish newspapers, this study analyses the news frames used in the coverage of countries facing humanitarian crises. Results show that, with certain differences between countries, the Spanish press frames these countries as being theatres of war and violence, Islamic terrorism, and crime. From a theoretical perspective, results also suggest that news frames should not be classified either as "generic" or "specific," but that they should instead be placed on a continuous scale ranging from "generic" through to "specific". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]