Selective online exposure and political polarization during Swedish election campaigns: a longitudinal analysis using four waves of panel data

• Internet has made it possible for individuals to increasingly select political news that match their political attitudes. This selective exposure also has the potential to mutually reinforce existing attitudes. However, very little is known about the long-term consequences, especially during election periods. We draw upon the reinforcing spirals model to study the mutual reinforcements between selective exposure and political ideology, by using a four-wave panel during five months with a representative random sample (n=2,281) from Sweden during the 2014 European parliamentary election and Swedish national election. Results suggests that individuals are not becoming more extreme in their political ideology during the election period, regardless of whether they are exposed to attitude-consistent or attitude-inconsistent news content.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap -- Kommunikationsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Media and Communications -- Communication Studies (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap -- Medievetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Media and Communications -- Media Studies (hsv//eng)

Keyword

selective exposure

confirmation bias

longitudinal

panel survey

Publication and Content Type

vet (subject category)

kon (subject category)