Cognitively motivated or emotionally charged? Issue-switching mechanism of second screening-facilitated political participation during the 2022 COVID-19 waves in China

This study examines the effects of mass media and mobile media on civil behaviors in China during COVID-19 outbreaks. It explores the media practices of the Chinese public and the psychological mechanisms that led to their protests and boycotts against the government's COVID policies. Chinese official media has a reputation for depoliticizing natural disasters and censoring the online mobilization of collective actions. Based on previous research and theories regarding media multitasking and political communication, this study demonstrates the psychological mechanism by which a special type of media multitasking—second screening—contributed to political participation in a politically restrictive environment. This study contributes to existing research on media multitasking by proposing a unique theoretical framework that entails an issue-based typology of second screening. The framework expands knowledge by highlighting the importance of issue-switching and investigating its psychological influence on political participation. Previous studies have primarily focused on device-switching and its effects, so this study offers fresh insights in this field. Drawing on a nationwide online survey (N = 1180) conducted during the late-2022 wave of COVID-19 in China, this study reveals that second screening on official televised COVID-19 news can elicit simultaneous issue-switching among Chinese audiences: from the de-politicalized COVID-19 propaganda toward politics. Further, second screening on different issues (i.e., politics vs. health sciences) may instigate political participation through cognitive and emotion channels differently. That is, both political efficacy (cognitive) and negative emotions (emotion) facilitate the process, with the former making a greater contribution.