Partisan media effect in new context: considering influences of multi-party system, cultural and social factors, and national identity on affective polarization in South Korea
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The main goal of this study is to examine partisan media and its effects on affective polarization in a new cultural and political context, specifically incorporating the case of South Korea as a comparison to the U.S. This comparative study considers political, cultural, social, and racial factors that may influence affective polarization and examine how these factors interact with partisans' media consumption, further enhancing affective polarization. That is, this study investigates how polarizing effects of partisan media vary depending on political (e.g., political party system: two-party vs. multi-party), cultural (e.g., collectivism vs. individualism), and social (e.g., social and racial homogeneity vs. diversity) factors. The current study allows political scholars to better understand circumstances necessary for partisan media to generate affective polarization. Lastly, the study examines the effects of national identity salience on reducing out-group hostility and determine if this type of intervention has differential effects depending upon cultural differences between South Korea and the U.S. Two experimental surveys were conducted in South Korea and the U.S., respectively, to examine the causes and potential remedies to affective political polarization. This study found that polarizing effects of partisan media were observed in both countries, but depolarizing effects of mainstream media was found only in the U.S. In terms of cultural, institutional, and social factors, this study did not find interaction effects of culture and multi-party systems with pro-partisan media use on polarization. However, results demonstrate that both collectivist culture and major party support are related to increased affective polarization by intensifying ingroup affection. In addition, this study found that out-group hostility was heightened in multi-racial contexts. Specifically, compared to racial minorities, in-group media use among racial majority members raised hostile evaluations of out-party supporters in the U.S. Lastly, this study did not find a direct effect of national identity primes on reducing outgroup hostility, but the national identity prime indirectly reduced intergroup tension by intensifying national pride. In addition, the effect of the national identity prime on national pride was stronger for those higher on collectivism and patriotism.
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Ph. D.