Digital Emotion Contagion

Goldenberg, Amit; Gross, James J.

doi:10.1016/j.tics.2020.01.009

Cited by 194 publications

(138 citation statements)

References 98 publications

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“…This result is in contrast to established theories of polarization which typically find an individual's social environment to be responsible for polarization effects, whether it is persuasive arguments theory (Vinokur & Burnstein, 1974), emotion contagion (Goldenberg & Gross, 2020), or the echo chamber hypothesis (Sunstein, 2007). However, the result is consistent with literature indicating that attitudes are also shaped by the private thoughts and public utterances that a person makes.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

“…Second, attitude polarization of a user could be determined by the contributions that other NETWORK NEGATIVITY 9 people in one's communication network make (partner control). The idea that polarization is mainly driven by others in one's network is consistent with identity-based accounts of group polarization and radicalization (Mackie, 1986;Smith et al, 2020), and also with research on digital emotion contagion (Goldenberg & Gross, 2020). Third, polarization of a user could be determined by the degree to which the sentiment of one's own contributions and the sentiment of others in a network are matched (joint control).…”

Section: Network Negativitymentioning

confidence: 56%

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Does negatively toned language use on social media lead to attitude polarization?

Buder

Rabl

Feiks

et al. 2021

Computers in Human Behavior

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Section: Network Negativitymentioning

confidence: 56%

Does negatively toned language use on social media lead to attitude polarization?

Buder

Rabl

Feiks

et al. 2021

Computers in Human Behavior

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“…That means the way that technology contributes to the way that emotions are shared and distributed. Compared to offline emotion contagion, digital emotion contagion describes the phenomenon that the receivers' emotions become more like the emotions of the people that posted emotional messages (Goldenberg and Gross 2020). Again, emotional contagion explains how the transmitted emotions of individuals can grow into digital group emotions.…”

Section: Social Media and Emotional Contagionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Corona and value change. The role of social media and emotional contagion

Steinert

2020

Ethics Inf Technol

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People share their emotions on social media and evidence suggests that in times of crisis people are especially motivated to post emotional content. The current Coronavirus pandemic is such a crisis. The online sharing of emotional content during the Coronavirus crisis may contribute to societal value change. Emotion sharing via social media could lead to emotional contagion which in turn could facilitate an emotional climate in a society. In turn, the emotional climate of a society can influence society's value structure. The emotions that spread in the current Coronavirus crisis are predominantly negative, which could result in a negative emotional climate. Based on the dynamic relations of values to each other and the way that emotions relate to values, a negative emotional climate can contribute to societal value change towards values related to security preservation and threat avoidance. As a consequence, a negative emotional climate and the shift in values could lead to a change in political attitudes that has implications for rights, freedom, privacy and moral progress. Considering the impact of social media in terms of emotional contagion and a longer-lasting value change is an important perspective in thinking about the ethical long-term impact of social media technology.

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“…Whereas the majority of work on emotion contagion has focused on personal interactions, recent work has determined that emotions can be transmitted digitally (Coviello et al, 2014;Goldenberg and Gross, 2020). This is particularly important given that social media is ubiquitous in the present moment and many adults get their news through social media.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is Fear of COVID-19 Contagious? The Effects of Emotion Contagion and Social Media Use on Anxiety in Response to the Coronavirus Pandemic

2021

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The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has become a global pandemic, causing substantial anxiety. One potential factor in the spread of anxiety in response to a pandemic threat is emotion contagion, the finding that emotional experiences can be socially spread through conscious and unconscious pathways. Some individuals are more susceptible to social contagion effects and may be more likely to experience anxiety and other mental health symptoms in response to a pandemic threat. Therefore, we studied the relationship between emotion contagion and mental health symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. We administered the Emotion Contagion Scale (ESC) along with a measure of anxiety in response to COVID-19 (modified from a previous scale designed to quantify fear of the Swine Flu outbreak) and secondary outcome measures of depression, anxiety, stress, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms. These measures were completed by a large (n = 603) student sample in the United States. Data were collected in the months of April and May of 2020 when the fear of COVID-19 was widespread. Results revealed that greater susceptibility to emotion contagion was associated with greater concern about the spread of COVID-19, more depression, anxiety, stress, and OCD symptoms. Consumption of media about COVID-19 also predicted anxiety about COVID-19, though results were not moderated by emotion contagion. However, emotion contagion did moderate the relationship between COVID-19-related media consumption and elevated OCD symptoms. Although limited by a cross-sectional design that precludes causal inferences, the present results highlight the need for study of how illness fears may be transmitted socially during a pandemic.

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Digital Emotion Contagion

Cited by 194 publications

References 98 publications

Does negatively toned language use on social media lead to attitude polarization?

Does negatively toned language use on social media lead to attitude polarization?

Corona and value change. The role of social media and emotional contagion

Is Fear of COVID-19 Contagious? The Effects of Emotion Contagion and Social Media Use on Anxiety in Response to the Coronavirus Pandemic

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