Political Incivility of Leaders: Public Perception, Political Trust and Civic Participation
Abstract
Abstract Views: 0
Political incivility has become an important phenomenon in recent ages. Political leaders’ incivility is related to their tone and language, or in other words, to their style of interaction rather than their opinions. This study intends to examine the perception of incivility amongst the public and explore what personal and demographic characteristics are associated with the perception of incivility. Furthermore, it observes the effects of political incivility on public behavior, especially political trust and political participation. For this purpose, cross sectional research design employed, and a survey (n=200) was carried out. Results suggest that demographically, men are likely to engage in uncivil conduct or observe political speech as being more uncivil than women. Moreover, certain personality traits alignwith the sense of incivility and others are not affected by it at all. Likewise, the result shows inversely proportional relationship between political incivility and political trust indicating individuals repeatedly exposed to uncivil behavior may become de-sensitized to its effects
Downloads
References
Anderson, A. A., Brossard, D., Scheufele, D. A., Xenos, M. A., & Ladwig, P. (2014). The ‘‘nasty effect:’’ Online incivility and risk perceptions of emerging technologies. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 19(3), 373–387. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcc4.12009
Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Prentice Hall.
Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Prentice-Hall.
Bentivegna, S., Rega, R., & Artieri, G. B. (2022). Evaluations and Perceptions of political incivility. APSA Preprints. https://doi.org/10.33774/apsa-2022-38mvc
Bøggild, T., & Jensen, C. (2024). When politicians behave badly: Political, democratic, and social consequences of political incivility. American Journal of Political Science. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12897
Braun, D., &Hutter, S. (2016). Political trust, participation, and democratic discontent: A comparative study. Journal of Trust Research, 50(2), 267–282. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6765.2010.01930.x
Brooks, D. J., & Geer, J. G. (2007). Beyond negativity: The effects of incivility on the electorate. American Journal of Political Science, 51(1), 1–16.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5907.2007.00233.x
Brown, J., & Garcia, R. (2022). The impact of social media on political discourse. Journal of Communication, 55(1), 12–18.
Caprara, G. V., Schwartz, S., Capanna, C., Vecchione, M., & Barbaranelli, C. (2006). Personality and politics: Values, traits, and political choice. Political Psychology, 27(1), 1–28.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9221.2006.00447.x
Carpini, M. X. D., &Keeter, S. (1996). What Americans know about politics and why it matters. Yale University Press.
Druckman, J. N., Levendusky, M. S., & McLain, A. C. (2018). No need to watch: How the effects of partisan media can spread via inter‐personal discussions. The Journal of Politics, 80(1), 324–336. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12325
Gervais, B. T. (2019). Rousing the partisan combatant: Elite incivility, anger, and antideliberative attitudes. Political Psychology, 40(3), 637–655. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12532
Gervais, B. T. (2014). Following the news? Reception of uncivil partisan media and the use of incivility in political expression. Political Communication, 31(4), 564–583. https://doi.org/10.1080/10584609.2013.852640
Gervais, B. T. (2013, August 29–September 1). Incivility in online political discourse and anti-deliberative attitudes: An experimental analysis [Paper presentation]. Proceedings of Annual Meeting of American Political Science Association. Chicago, Illinois.
Goovaerts, I., &Turkenburg, E. (2021, May 27–31). It’s the context, stupid! investigating patterns and determinants of political incivility in televised debates over time [Paper presentation]. Proceedings of 71st Annual International Communication Association Conference. Online.
Gosling, S. D., Rentfrow, P. J., & Swann Jr, W. B. (2003). A very brief measure of the big-five personality domains. Journal of Research in Personality, 37(6), 504–528. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0092-6566(03)00046-1
Hetherington, M. J. (2005). Why trust matters: Declining political trust and the demise of American liberalism. Princeton University Press.
Hooghe, M., &Marien, S. (2013). Political trust, participation and democracy: Understanding democratic engagement. Political Studies Review, 11(4), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9248.2012.00967.x
Iyengar, S., & Westwood, S. J. (2015). Fear and loathing across party lines: New evidence on group polarization. American Journal of Political Science, 59(3), 690–707.https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12152
Jamieson, K. H., & Capella, J. N. (2008). Echo chamber: Rush Limbaugh and the conservative media establishment. Oxford University Press.
Jungherr, A. (2016). Twitter use in election campaigns: A systematic literature review. Journal of Information Technology & Politics, 13(1), 72–91. https://doi.org/10.1080/19331681.2015.1132401
Kenski, K., Coe, K., & Rains, S. A. (2020). Perceptions of uncivil discourse online: An examination of types and predictors. Communication Research, 47(6), 795–814. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650217699933
Koban, K., Stein, J. P., Eckhardt, V., & Ohler, P. (2018). Quid pro quo in web 2.0. connecting personality traits and Facebook usage intensity to uncivil commenting intentions in public online discussions. Computers in Human Behavior, 79, 9–18.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.10.015
Koivula, A., Malinen, S., & Saarinen, A. (2021). The voice of distrust? The relationship between political trust, online political participation, and media use. Journal of Trust Research, 11(1), 57–78. https://doi.org/10.1080/21515581.2022.2026781
Lee, S., Choi, J., & Ahn, C. (2025). Hate prompts participation: Examining the dynamic relationship between affective polarization and political participation. New Media & Society, 27(1), 443–461. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448231177301
Levitsky, S., & Ziblatt, D. (2018). How democracies die. Crown
Maisel, L. S. (2012). American political parties and elections: A very short introduction. Oxford University Press.
Mungall, L. R., Pruysers, S., & Blais, J. (2025). Online and unkind: Examining the personality correlates of online political incivility. Social Science Computer Review, 43(1), 3–26. https://doi.org/10.1177/08944393241249725
Mishler, W., & Rose, R. (2001). What are the origins of political trust? Testing institutional and cultural theories in post-communist societies. Comparative Political Studies, 34(1), 30–62. https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414001034001002
Moss-Racusin, C. A., Handley, I. M. & Brown, E. R., (2015). Quality of evidence revealing subtle gender biases in science is in the eye of the beholder. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(43), 13201–13206. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1510649112
Mudde, C. (2019). The far right today. John Wiley & Sons.
Muddiman, A. R. (2013). The instability of incivility: How news frames and citizen perceptions shape conflict in American politics [Doctoral dissertation, University of Texas]. Texas ScholarWorks. https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/items/d459823e-241f-4624-9f4e-206f3fabbcf3
Mutz, D. C. (2018). Status threat, not economic hardship, explains the 2016 presidential vote. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115(19), E4330–E4339. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1718155115
Mutz, D. C., & Reeves, B. (2005). The new videomalaise: Effects of televised incivility on political trust. American Political Science Review, 99(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055405051452
Montiel, C. J., Uyheng, J., & de Leon, N. (2022). Presidential profanity in duterte's Philippines: How swearing discursively constructs a populist regime. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 41(4), 428–449. https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927X211065780
Papacharissi, Z. (2004). Democracy online: Civility, politeness, and the democratic potential of online political discussion groups. New Media & Society, 6(2), 259–283. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444804041444
Putnam, R. D. (2000). Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American community. Simon and Schuster.
Razaq, H. R., Atta, A., & Aslam, S. (2023). Unveiling impoliteness strategies in political discourse: A case study of online press conferences and media platforms during the political crisis in Pakistan. Pakistan Languages and Humanities Review, 7(4), 340–350. https://doi.org/10.47205/plhr.2023(7-IV)29
Rains, S. A., Kenski, K., Coe, K., & Harwood, J. (2017). Incivility and political identity on the Internet: Intergroup factors as predictors of incivility in discussions of news online. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 22(4), 163–178.
Rainie, L., Anderson, J., & Albright, J. (2017). The future of free speech, trolls, anonymity and fake news online. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2017/03/29/the-future-of-free-speech-trolls-anonymity-and-fake-news-online/
Sobieraj, S., & Berry, J. M. (2011). From incivility to outrage: Political discourse in blogs, talk radio, and cable news. Political Communication, 28(1), 19–41. https://doi.org/10.1080/10584609.2010.542360
Smith, L. G., Blackwood, L., & Thomas, E. F. (2020). The need to refocus on the group as the site of radicalization. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 15(2), 327–352. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691619885870
The Guardian. (2018, December 4). The Guardian view on Brexit: The beginning of the end. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/dec/04/the-guardian-view-on-brexit-the-beginning-of-the-end
The Washington Post. (2018, October 9). 'Too dangerous to govern': Trump paints a dark picture of Democratic control. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/too-dangerous-to-govern-trump-paints-a-dark-picture-of-democratic-control/2018/10/09/91e69b1c-cbe7-11e8-920f-dd52e1ae4570_story.html
Van ’t Riet, J., & Van Stekelenburg, A. (2021). The effects of political incivility on political trust and political participation: A meta-analysis of experimental research. Human Communication Research, 48(2), 203–220. https://doi.org/10.1093/hcr/hqab022
Zaheer, L. (2016). Use of social media and political participation among university students. Pakistan Vision, 17(1), 278–299.
Copyright (c) 2025 Lubna Zaheer
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
