Incivility in public discourse has become a central concern. This research develops an approach based on citizens' perceptions of incivility to assess predictors of such perceptions. Starting from a definition of the concept in a multidimensional sense, we identified different types of incivility that can be easily translated into operational terms (using vulgar/insulting language, referring to another politician with racist/sexist/religious epithets, lying/inventing facts to attack political opponents, resorting to violence against political opponents). Through a survey of a representative sample of the Italian population, we found that citizens' perception of incivility is not uniform but varies depending on the context and individual characteristics (socio-demographic variables, news consumption and relationship with politics). Overall, the importance of disentangling the concept into different types has emerged, because continuing to speak of “incivility” in a broad sense does not help to clarify the phenomenon nor to identify the consequences for citizens' relationship with politics.
Bentivegna, S., Rega, R. (2024). What are the predictors of political incivility perceptions?. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION, 1-20 [10.1177/02673231241271008].
What are the predictors of political incivility perceptions?
Rega, Rossella
2024-01-01
Abstract
Incivility in public discourse has become a central concern. This research develops an approach based on citizens' perceptions of incivility to assess predictors of such perceptions. Starting from a definition of the concept in a multidimensional sense, we identified different types of incivility that can be easily translated into operational terms (using vulgar/insulting language, referring to another politician with racist/sexist/religious epithets, lying/inventing facts to attack political opponents, resorting to violence against political opponents). Through a survey of a representative sample of the Italian population, we found that citizens' perception of incivility is not uniform but varies depending on the context and individual characteristics (socio-demographic variables, news consumption and relationship with politics). Overall, the importance of disentangling the concept into different types has emerged, because continuing to speak of “incivility” in a broad sense does not help to clarify the phenomenon nor to identify the consequences for citizens' relationship with politics.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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https://hdl.handle.net/11365/1264435