Prevalence of Online Political Incivility: Mediation Effects of Cognitive and Affective Involvement

Abstract

The aim of this study is to explore the impact of political news posts, interactive discussion factors, and uncivil comments on participants’ online incivility. The moderating effects of cognitive and affective involvement have also been considered. The data have been gathered using self-administered questionnaires from 458 respondents. The results indicate that political news posts having interactive discussion factors positively impacts the online uncivil behaviour of the participants. The uncivil comments initiated by other users also significantly impact the participants’ incivility. The data have also been analysed for the mediation effects. The construct of affective involvement emerged as an effective mediator as compared to cognitive involvement. This study posits several theoretical implications for the literature. The combination of the variables used is also rare in the literature. The findings of this study are useful for behavioural scientists, as the outcomes have a potential to predict the online behaviour of Pakistani users.