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Social Sciences
Special Issues
Political Communication and Emotions
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Political Communication and Emotions

A special issue of Social Sciences (ISSN 2076-0760).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2023) | Viewed by 12109

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Jose Manuel Rivera Otero

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Political Science and Sociology, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago, Spain
Interests: electoral behavior; leadership; political communication; democracy; emotions

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Political communication has undergone important transformations in recent decades. The irruption of the technologies of digital society has substantially modified citizens' consumption of media, establishing a series of distinctive characteristics, including the consumption of multiscreen political information, accelerated by the explosion in the use of social networks; “à la carte” consumption, which coexists with the incidental acquisition of information; and the formation of digital communities. The increase in the consumption of political information and political participation in social networks has generated suitable spaces for the use of emotions in political messages, emotional messages that are fed by the responses of the digital communities to the candidates or their opponents.

This greater emotional charge of political messages occurs simultaneously with the overcoming of the exclusively structural components in the explanation of political phenomena. We begin to pay attention to perceptual, cognitive, and affective elements, leading us to an analysis of the role of communication as a channel and aggregator of our preferences. The generalization of information and communication has provided opportunities for the construction of perceptions, so that citizens perceive selectively, because our perceptions are constructed individually and in community. That perception, which in turn builds individual preference, is conditioned by emotions. Emotions and communication are erected, in this way, as agents for the construction of preferences, both singular preferences and collective preferences, because without communication there could be no collective construction of emotions.

The aim of this Special Issue is to analyze some of the most relevant aspects of the emotional dimension of political communication, paying special attention to the emotional charge of politicians' messages and the responses of their voters, as well as the effects of this emotionality in voting behavior.

We seek to receive papers that employ a wide range of methodologies (i.e., quantitative and qualitative methods). Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the following: 

  • Emotional messages in social media;
  • The use of emotions in political campaign;
  • Emotions and engagement;
  • Emotions and construction of political communities;
  • Government, discourse, and emotions;
  • Emotions and electoral behavior;
  • Values, democracy, and emotions;
  • The emotional polarization of political messages;
  • The use of emotions in the discourse of the extreme right.

Prof. Dr. Jose Manuel Rivera Otero
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Social Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • emotions
  • political communication
  • social media
  • engagement
  • democracy
  • electoral behavior
  • political discourse
  • affective polarization

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 2378 KiB  
Article
Semantic Networks of Election Fraud: Comparing the Twitter Discourses of the U.S. and Korean Presidential Elections
by Jongmyung Lee, Chung Joo Chung and Daesik Kim
Soc. Sci. 2024, 13(2), 94; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci13020094 - 1 Feb 2024
Viewed by 2106
Abstract
Traditional news outlets, such as newspapers and television, are no longer major sources of news. These media channels have been replaced by social platforms, which have increased in value as information distributors. This change in communication is an underlying reason for the election [...] Read more.
Traditional news outlets, such as newspapers and television, are no longer major sources of news. These media channels have been replaced by social platforms, which have increased in value as information distributors. This change in communication is an underlying reason for the election fraud controversies that occurred in the United States and South Korea, which hold high standards of democracy, during similar periods. This study investigates a model for sharing political disputes over social networks, especially Twitter, and illustrates the influence of political polarization. This study examines Twitter content around the presidential elections in the United States and South Korea in 2020 and 2022, respectively. It applies semantic network analysis and structural topic modeling to describe and compare the dynamics of online discourse on the issue of election fraud. The results show that online spaces such as Twitter serve as public spheres for discussion among active political participants. Social networks are key settings for forming and spreading election fraud controversies in the United States and South Korea, with differences in content. In addition, the study applies large-volume text data and new analytical methods such as the structural topic model to examine the in-depth relationships among political issues in cyberspace. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Political Communication and Emotions)
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13 pages, 635 KiB  
Article
“The Only Thing We Have to Fear Is Fear Itself”: Predicting College Students’ Voting Behavior Using the Extended Parallel Process Model
by Anthony J. Roberto, L. D. Mattson, Paige A. Von Feldt and Xin Zhou
Soc. Sci. 2023, 12(11), 628; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12110628 - 10 Nov 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1945
Abstract
This longitudinal study examines how well the EPPM predicts and explains college students’ voting behavior. One-hundred-and-seventy-eight undergraduate students filled out a survey at two points in time: (1) four weeks before and (2) one week after the 2022 midterm election. As hypothesized, the [...] Read more.
This longitudinal study examines how well the EPPM predicts and explains college students’ voting behavior. One-hundred-and-seventy-eight undergraduate students filled out a survey at two points in time: (1) four weeks before and (2) one week after the 2022 midterm election. As hypothesized, the EPPM accurately predicted danger control outcomes (i.e., severity, susceptibility, self-efficacy, and response efficacy predicted voting intentions, and voting intentions predicted voting behavior). The EPPM also predicted one fear control outcome (though only the path between severity and fear was significant). More specifically, the EPPM explained 45.7% of the variance in intention, 81.7% of the variance in behavior, 77% of the variance in contesting, and 33.6% of the variance in suppression. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Political Communication and Emotions)
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19 pages, 1742 KiB  
Article
Emotions of Candidates on Twitter in the 2023 Seville City Council Election: A Second-Order Campaign?
by David García-García and José Manuel Trujillo
Soc. Sci. 2023, 12(11), 590; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12110590 - 25 Oct 2023
Viewed by 1538
Abstract
This paper analyses the messages that candidates emitted on the social network Twitter (now called “X”) during the campaign for the 2023 municipal elections in the city of Seville and the emotions they used. This type of electoral process has usually been deemed [...] Read more.
This paper analyses the messages that candidates emitted on the social network Twitter (now called “X”) during the campaign for the 2023 municipal elections in the city of Seville and the emotions they used. This type of electoral process has usually been deemed as second-order elections within multilevel governance political systems, implying that the national arena may affect local dynamics to some degree. Thus, the main research objective is to determine the extent to which elements of nationalisation were used in candidates’ rhetoric, along with the emotional components associated with each political formation during a local campaign somewhat relevant on the state level. A total of 960 tweets were retrieved through R Statistics and the Application Programming Interface of the social network itself. They were then analysed drawing upon the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count programme. The results show that certain elements of nationalisation were indeed used by candidates, in addition to emotional-level differences present in their messages. This accentuates the evident need for further research on municipal elections and campaigns, as well as on their potential distinctive features regarding political jurisdiction. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Political Communication and Emotions)
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18 pages, 2449 KiB  
Article
Direct and Indirect Effects of Emotions towards Party Leaders on Voting: Evidence from the 2018 Andalusian Regional Election
by Ángel Cazorla Martín, Carmen Ortega and Juan Montabes
Soc. Sci. 2023, 12(10), 568; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12100568 - 12 Oct 2023
Viewed by 2026
Abstract
Party leaders are increasingly relevant to voters’ choices in parliamentary systems. However, most studies addressing the electoral impact of leaders have largely ignored voters’ emotional responses to party leaders. Additionally, little is known about the effect of party leaders in subnational or regional [...] Read more.
Party leaders are increasingly relevant to voters’ choices in parliamentary systems. However, most studies addressing the electoral impact of leaders have largely ignored voters’ emotional responses to party leaders. Additionally, little is known about the effect of party leaders in subnational or regional elections. Using data from a specific election survey, this article examines the effect of emotions towards party leaders on regional voting. It assesses whether emotional responses to party leaders not only have direct effects, but whether they also have indirect effects through partisanship on voting. We found evidence that emotions towards party leaders have both direct and indirect effects through partisanship on vote choice. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Political Communication and Emotions)
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28 pages, 422 KiB  
Article
Emotions and Media: Emotional Regime and Emotional Factors of Selective Exposure
by Jose Manuel Rivera Otero, Diego Mo-Groba and Gemma Vicente Iglesias
Soc. Sci. 2023, 12(10), 554; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12100554 - 3 Oct 2023
Viewed by 1679
Abstract
The central objective of this research is to describe the role of emotions in their interaction with the media. It examines how selective exposure to the media is linked to how political emotions influence this process. The research reveals an emotional fracture in [...] Read more.
The central objective of this research is to describe the role of emotions in their interaction with the media. It examines how selective exposure to the media is linked to how political emotions influence this process. The research reveals an emotional fracture in media consumers through anger. It is also observed that positive emotions towards leaders and political parties are activated in like-minded media consumers, whereas negative emotions arise when interacting with oppositely oriented media. The importance of positive emotions such as hope and their contrast with negative aversive emotions is highlighted. This study shows how political emotions influence the interaction between citizens and the media. The findings highlight the relevance of emotions in the formation of political attitudes and the configuration of media preferences, contributing to the discussion on the relationship between the media and emotions in contemporary society. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Political Communication and Emotions)
16 pages, 1419 KiB  
Article
Once More, with Feeling! Digital Campaigns and Emotional Candidacies in X in Andalusia and Castilla y León
by Sergio Pérez-Castaños and Juana María Ruiloba-Núñez
Soc. Sci. 2023, 12(9), 504; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12090504 - 7 Sep 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1212
Abstract
In 2022, two regional elections were held that initiated a new electoral cycle in Spain. The first, in February, took place in Castilla y León where, for the first time, the extreme right-wing party, VOX, formed a coalition in a regional government with [...] Read more.
In 2022, two regional elections were held that initiated a new electoral cycle in Spain. The first, in February, took place in Castilla y León where, for the first time, the extreme right-wing party, VOX, formed a coalition in a regional government with the right-wing Partido Popular, while, simultaneously, the extreme left-wing party Podemos was barely left with parliamentary representation. The second, in June in Andalusia, led to VOX increasing its representation by two seats and beginning its national level electoral growth; the far-left that was split in two parties, finding that the dynamic that began in Castilla y León also affected them as they lost 10 representatives. This article seeks to compare the emotional strategies of these extremist parties in the 2022 regional elections, focusing especially on leaders’ and parties’ communication strategies on X, formerly Twitter, during the electoral campaign. We expect to find differences between political parties but also between regions. To test this, we carried out an ‘X account content analysis’. We selected those accounts representing the candidates to the regional President and also the main political party accounts in the regions: namely VOX in both regions, Podemos in Castilla y León, and Adelante Andalucía and Por Andalucía in Andalusia. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Political Communication and Emotions)
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