Angry tweets: How uncivil and intolerant elite communication affects political distrust and political participation intentions

Hostile speech by politicians is increasingly prevalent on social media, especially for regular social media users. However, studies that compare the effects of political incivility versus intolerance on recipients’ emotions, political distrust, and political participation intentions are lacking. Findings of an experimental study (N = 297) indicated that uncivil speech had no significant effect on young recipients’ negative emotions. In contrast, intolerant speech elicited negative emotions, which increased political distrust and political participation intentions. Further, we assumed that a female politician using incivility/intolerance elicits stronger emotional reactions than a male politician. However, effects appeared independent of the gender of the communicator. Implications are discussed.