Negative Influence of the Internet on Psychological Polarization

Research Article
Open access

Negative Influence of the Internet on Psychological Polarization

Xintong Song 1*
  • 1 Virginia Episcopal School, Lynchburg, Virginia, 24503, United States of America    
  • *corresponding author song01@hotmail.com
LNEP Vol.4
ISSN (Print): 2753-7056
ISSN (Online): 2753-7048
ISBN (Print): 978-1-915371-33-1
ISBN (Online): 978-1-915371-34-8

Abstract

People’s lives have changed so much by the technologies created. As human fast forward towards the future, the use of these technologies gives people more convenience as well as more possibilities. The information age, with the establishment of signals and WIFI’s, has turned the little computing device into a whole wide world. Relationships can be built, families can be connected, words can be communicated without the limit of space. However, in the meantime, while technology is changing the physical lives of human, how is it impacting people’s psychological life? This paper discusses the psychological change, focusing on polarization, with people’s increased usage of the internet and social media. A number of research studies of what causes the polarization of people online is gathered and analyzed, including the formation of echo chambers, group polarization, identity attack, anonymity, etc. Along with the research on the prior studies, a research survey is sent in order to collect information and data from people on the topic. The result of the survey gathered from participants shows that online experiences are indeed impacted negatively by polarization of internet users, and that people are consciously noticing their increasing irritability.

Keywords:

information age, internet, human behavior, polarization, transformation

Song,X. (2023). Negative Influence of the Internet on Psychological Polarization. Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media,4,1001-1005.
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References

[1]. Brownlee, C. (2022, May 27). Gun violence in 2021, by the numbers. The Trace. Retrieved June 30, 2022, from https://www.thetrace.org/2021/12/gun-violence-data-stats-2021/.

[2]. Sasahara K, Chen W, Peng H, Ciampaglia GL, Flammini A, Menczer F (2019) On the inevitability of online echo chambers. arXiv preprint arXiv:1905.03919.

[3]. Bessi, Alessandro (2016). Personality traits and echo chambers on facebook. Computers in Human Behavior, 65(), 319–324. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2016.08.016.

[4]. Sunstein, C. R. (1999). The Law of Group Polarization. SSRN Electronic Journal . doi:10.2139/ssrn.199668.

[5]. Iyengar, Shanto; Westwood, Sean J. (2015). Fear and Loathing across Party Lines: New Evidence on Group Polarization. American Journal of Political Science, 59(3), 690–707. doi:10.1111/ajps.12152.

[6]. Hewstone, Miles; Rubin, Mark; Willis, Hazel (2002). Intergroup Bias. Annual Review of Psychology, 53(1), 575–604. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.53.100901.135109.

[7]. De Dreu, Carsten K. W.; Gross, Jörg; Méder, Zsombor; Giffin, Michael; Prochazkova, Eliska; Krikeb, Jonathan; Columbus, Simon (2016). In-group defense, out-group aggression, and coordination failures in intergroup conflict. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, (), 201605115–. doi:10.1073/pnas.1605115113.

[8]. Bail, C. (2021). Breaking the social media prism: How to make our platforms less polarizing. Princeton University Press.

[9]. Flaxman, S., Goel, S., Rao, J. M. (2022). Filter bubbles, Echo Chambers, and online news consumption. Retrieved June 30, 2022, from https://5harad.com/papers/bubbles.pdf

[10]. Murtagh, N., Gatersleben, B., & Uzzell, D. (2012). Self-identity threat and resistance to change: Evidence from regular travel behaviour. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 32(4), 318–326. doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2012.05.00.

[11]. Aquino, K., Douglas, S. (2003). Identity threat and antisocial behavior in organizations: The moderating effects of individual differences, aggressive modeling, and hierarchical status. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 90(1), 195–208. doi:10.1016/s0749-5978(02)00517-4.

[12]. Zajonc, R. B. (1968). Attitudinal effects of mere exposure. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 9(2, Pt.2), 1–27. doi:10.1037/h0025848.

[13]. Zajonc, R.B. (2001). Mere Exposure: A Gateway to the Subliminal. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 10(6), 224–228. doi:10.1111/1467-8721.00154.

[14]. Kim, Hyunjung; (2021). The mere exposure effect of tweets on vote choice . Journal of Information Technology & Politics, (), –. doi:10.1080/19331681.2021.1900979.

[15]. Pariser, Eli. 2012. The Filter Bubble: What the Internet is Hiding from You.

[16]. Cho, Yeok-il; DioGuardi, Sherri (2019). Strain, Negative Emotion, and Cyber Violence among South Korean Juveniles: A Mediation Analysis. Children and Youth Services Review, (), 104601–. doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2019.104601.

[17]. Anderson, Craig A.; Bushman, Brad J. (2018). Media Violence and the General Aggression Model. Journal of Social Issues, 74(2), 386–413. doi:10.1111/josi.12275.

[18]. Huesmann, L. Rowell; Taylor, Laramie D. (2006). THE ROLE OF MEDIA VIOLENCE IN VIOLENT BEHAVIOR. Annual Review of Public Health, 27(1), 393–415. doi:10.1146/annurev.publhealth.26.021304.1446.

[19]. Silke, Andrew (2003). Deindividuation, Anonymity, and Violence: Findings From Northern Ireland. The Journal of Social Psychology, 143(4), 493–499. doi:10.1080/00224540309598458.

[20]. Wright, Michelle F. (2013). The Relationship Between Young Adults' Beliefs About Anonymity and Subsequent Cyber Aggression. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 16(12), 858–862. doi:10.1089/cyber.2013.0009.

[21]. Vail, E. (2022, February 18). Yik Yak has returned - and so have reports of cyberbullying, students say. The Record by Recorded Future. Retrieved June 30, 2022, from https://therecord.media/yik-yak-has-returned-and-so-have-reports-of-cyberbullying-students-say/.

[22]. Rogers, Ronald W.; Ketchen, Charles M. (1979). Effects of Anonymity and Arousal on Aggression. The Journal of Psychology, 102(1), 13–19. doi:10.1080/00223980.1979.9915089.

Cite this article

Song,X. (2023). Negative Influence of the Internet on Psychological Polarization. Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media,4,1001-1005.

Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.

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About volume

Volume title: Proceedings of the International Conference on Interdisciplinary Humanities and Communication Studies (ICIHCS 2022), Part 3

ISBN：978-1-915371-33-1(Print) / 978-1-915371-34-8(Online)
Editor：Muhammad Idrees, Matilde Lafuente-Lechuga
Conference website: https://www.icihcs.org/
Conference date: 18 December 2022
Series: Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media
Volume number: Vol.4
ISSN：2753-7048(Print) / 2753-7056(Online)

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References

[1]. Brownlee, C. (2022, May 27). Gun violence in 2021, by the numbers. The Trace. Retrieved June 30, 2022, from https://www.thetrace.org/2021/12/gun-violence-data-stats-2021/.

[2]. Sasahara K, Chen W, Peng H, Ciampaglia GL, Flammini A, Menczer F (2019) On the inevitability of online echo chambers. arXiv preprint arXiv:1905.03919.

[3]. Bessi, Alessandro (2016). Personality traits and echo chambers on facebook. Computers in Human Behavior, 65(), 319–324. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2016.08.016.

[4]. Sunstein, C. R. (1999). The Law of Group Polarization. SSRN Electronic Journal . doi:10.2139/ssrn.199668.

[5]. Iyengar, Shanto; Westwood, Sean J. (2015). Fear and Loathing across Party Lines: New Evidence on Group Polarization. American Journal of Political Science, 59(3), 690–707. doi:10.1111/ajps.12152.

[6]. Hewstone, Miles; Rubin, Mark; Willis, Hazel (2002). Intergroup Bias. Annual Review of Psychology, 53(1), 575–604. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.53.100901.135109.

[7]. De Dreu, Carsten K. W.; Gross, Jörg; Méder, Zsombor; Giffin, Michael; Prochazkova, Eliska; Krikeb, Jonathan; Columbus, Simon (2016). In-group defense, out-group aggression, and coordination failures in intergroup conflict. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, (), 201605115–. doi:10.1073/pnas.1605115113.

[8]. Bail, C. (2021). Breaking the social media prism: How to make our platforms less polarizing. Princeton University Press.

[9]. Flaxman, S., Goel, S., Rao, J. M. (2022). Filter bubbles, Echo Chambers, and online news consumption. Retrieved June 30, 2022, from https://5harad.com/papers/bubbles.pdf

[10]. Murtagh, N., Gatersleben, B., & Uzzell, D. (2012). Self-identity threat and resistance to change: Evidence from regular travel behaviour. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 32(4), 318–326. doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2012.05.00.

[11]. Aquino, K., Douglas, S. (2003). Identity threat and antisocial behavior in organizations: The moderating effects of individual differences, aggressive modeling, and hierarchical status. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 90(1), 195–208. doi:10.1016/s0749-5978(02)00517-4.

[12]. Zajonc, R. B. (1968). Attitudinal effects of mere exposure. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 9(2, Pt.2), 1–27. doi:10.1037/h0025848.

[13]. Zajonc, R.B. (2001). Mere Exposure: A Gateway to the Subliminal. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 10(6), 224–228. doi:10.1111/1467-8721.00154.

[14]. Kim, Hyunjung; (2021). The mere exposure effect of tweets on vote choice . Journal of Information Technology & Politics, (), –. doi:10.1080/19331681.2021.1900979.

[15]. Pariser, Eli. 2012. The Filter Bubble: What the Internet is Hiding from You.

[16]. Cho, Yeok-il; DioGuardi, Sherri (2019). Strain, Negative Emotion, and Cyber Violence among South Korean Juveniles: A Mediation Analysis. Children and Youth Services Review, (), 104601–. doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2019.104601.

[17]. Anderson, Craig A.; Bushman, Brad J. (2018). Media Violence and the General Aggression Model. Journal of Social Issues, 74(2), 386–413. doi:10.1111/josi.12275.

[18]. Huesmann, L. Rowell; Taylor, Laramie D. (2006). THE ROLE OF MEDIA VIOLENCE IN VIOLENT BEHAVIOR. Annual Review of Public Health, 27(1), 393–415. doi:10.1146/annurev.publhealth.26.021304.1446.

[19]. Silke, Andrew (2003). Deindividuation, Anonymity, and Violence: Findings From Northern Ireland. The Journal of Social Psychology, 143(4), 493–499. doi:10.1080/00224540309598458.

[20]. Wright, Michelle F. (2013). The Relationship Between Young Adults' Beliefs About Anonymity and Subsequent Cyber Aggression. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 16(12), 858–862. doi:10.1089/cyber.2013.0009.

[21]. Vail, E. (2022, February 18). Yik Yak has returned - and so have reports of cyberbullying, students say. The Record by Recorded Future. Retrieved June 30, 2022, from https://therecord.media/yik-yak-has-returned-and-so-have-reports-of-cyberbullying-students-say/.

[22]. Rogers, Ronald W.; Ketchen, Charles M. (1979). Effects of Anonymity and Arousal on Aggression. The Journal of Psychology, 102(1), 13–19. doi:10.1080/00223980.1979.9915089.

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