While it seems that all of us have become more hostile online, research shows that it may be a special group of people who provide the negativity.
  • anamethatisnt@sopuli.xyzEnglish
    24·
    15 hours ago

    “Why are online discussions about politics more hostile than offline discussions?
    A popular answer argues that human psychology is tailored for face-to-face interaction and people’s behavior therefore changes for the worse in impersonal online discussions…
    Across eight studies, leveraging cross-national surveys and behavioral experiments (total N = 8,434), we test the mismatch hypothesis but only find evidence for limited selection effects.
    Instead, hostile political discussions are the result of status-driven individuals who are drawn to politics and are equally hostile both online and offline.
    Finally, we offer initial evidence that online discussions feel more hostile, in part, because the behavior of such individuals is more visible online than offline.”

    This fits with our understanding of personality disorders, which is that they are a small percentage of our society—around 10.5 percent, according to the recent DSM-5-TR.3

    I try to avoid all politics online because it’s all raging and it’s honestly depressing that 10.5% can dominate a space like that.

    • taladar@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      191·
      15 hours ago

      Then you probably won’t like the thought that an even smaller percentage of people who think they need to get ever richer and control ever more aspects of ever more people’s lives are basically ruining our offline world.