Monday, March 11, 2019

The Role of Motivation, Attention and Design in the Spread of Moralized Content Online

Brady, William J., Molly Crockett, and Jay J. Van Bavel. 2019. “The MAD Model of Moral Contagion: The Role of Motivation, Attention and Design in the Spread of Moralized Content Online.” PsyArXiv. March 11. doi:10.31234/osf.io/pz9g6

Abstract: With over 2 billion active users, online social networks represent an important venue for moral and political discourse and have been used to organize political revolutions, sway elections, and raise awareness of social issues. These examples rely on a common process in order to be effective: the ability to engage users and spread moralized content through online networks. Here, we review evidence that expressions of moral emotion play a key role in the spread of moralized content (a phenomenon we call ‘moral contagion’). Next, we propose a psychological model to explain moral contagion. The ‘MAD’ model of moral contagion argues that people are motivated to share moral-emotional content; that such content is especially likely to capture attention; and that the design of social media platforms facilitates its spread. We review each component of the model and raise several novel, testable hypotheses that can spark progress on the scientific investigation of civic engagement and activism, political polarization, propaganda and disinformation, and moralized consumer behavior in the digital age.

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