ABSTRACT

Based on dissonance theory, we predicted that individuals who supported a political figure (Donald Trump), were exposed to information about his wrongdoings, and believed the veracity of this information would be most likely to share social media that points to incidents in which opponents also engaged in wrongdoing. Participants (N = 409) varying in their support for Trump were exposed to information concerning his alleged wrongdoings (or a neutral article). They viewed a meme of a political rival (Hilary Clinton) that alluded to her alleged wrongdoings, and reported how likely they would be to share the meme (and indicated how accurate they believed the Trump article was). Results supported the prediction, suggesting that dissonance may cause individuals to emphasize the wrongdoings of opponents.

摘要

基于不和谐理论，我们预测支持政治人物（唐纳德·特朗普）的人会接触到有关他的不法行为的信息，并认为此信息的准确性很可能会共享社交媒体，这些社交媒体指向了反对者从事不法行为。与会者（N = 409）对特朗普的支持各不相同，他们都了解到有关他所谓的不法行为（或中立条款）的信息。他们查看了一个政治竞争对手（希拉里·克林顿（Hilary Clinton））的模因，该模因暗示了她所谓的不法行为，并报告了他们分享该模因的可能性（并表明他们相信特朗普的文章有多准确）。结果支持了这一预测，表明不和谐可能导致个人强调对手的不法行为。