Civility in digital discourse : an experimental approach to the contagion of thoughtful and hurtful responses

Civility is a concept still not well understood or systematically defined by scholars of communication and political science. As such, many in the public sphere have echoed that certain linguistic behaviors characterized by civility and incivility set the tone and can affect downstream or peripheral conversation. This study measures if civility or incivility is contagious, especially as it relates to political disagreement on social media. In an experimental study (n=585), mTurk participants were randomly presented with short vignettes similar in length and framework to a social media post. These posts conveyed opinions in direct opposition to participants’ views on gun control and either contained language classified as informational (Control), civil (Treatment 1), or uncivil (Treatment 2). After reviewing a vignette, participants were then asked about their willingness to respond to the vignette as if the words were directly spoken to them on social media. Participants then were asked their if response to the vignette would be characterized by civility. The findings are mixed, but indicate that when a respondent received an uncivil social media message, they were less likely to respond civilly. In addition, when a respondent received a civil message, they were more likely to respond civilly. In this way, some preliminary evidence exists for the contagion of civility and incivility in social media.Governmen