Jiwon Kim, Journal of Internet Computing and Services, Vol. 21, No. 1, pp. 119-125, Feb. 2020
10.7472/jksii.2020.21.1.119, Full Text:
Keywords: Online Comment, Incivility, Social Recommendation, Shame, Coping Strategies

Abstract

Based on an online experiment, this research examined how uncivil expressions made by participants from the same political partisan group (in-group) influenced the emotional and behavioral intentions of other in-group members, especially when the incivility was supported by social recommendations such as “recommendations.” As predicted, results showed that a higher level of vicarious shame was felt when participants perceived higher levels of incivility. However, no significant effects of social recommendations were found regarding levels of vicarious shame. That is, the level of shame was not significantly different between participants who were exposed to an in-group uncivil comment that received recommendations and participants who were exposed to in-group uncivil comment without recommendations. Findings further found two types of coping strategies –situation-reparation and situation-avoidance – among participants exposed to in-group uncivil comments. Yet no significant effects were found regarding coping strategies in response to the presence of social recommendations. Participants’ feelings of shame were positively correlated with both types of coping strategies, supporting findings of previous studies. Implications of this study are further discussed.

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