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The Paradox of Viral Outrage.
Takuya Sawaoka1, Benoît Monin1,2
11 Department of Psychology.
Psychological Science
|August 10, 2018
Summary
Online moral outrage can backfire, making individuals seem like bullies. Viral outrage online increases sympathy for the original offender, leading to harsher judgments of the commenter.
Area of Science:
- Social Psychology
- Online Behavior
- Moral Psychology
Background:
- Moral outrage traditionally reinforces group norms and deters deviance.
- Internet dynamics can amplify individual outrage, leading to perceptions of excess and injustice.
- Online group condemnation can transform individual outrage into perceived bullying.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how the viral nature of online outrage affects perceptions of commenters.
- To examine the underlying psychological mechanisms driving these effects.
- To understand the impact of amplified online reactions on social judgment.
Main Methods:
- Surveyed 3,377 participants exposed to online posts (racist, sexist, unpatriotic) with varying levels of accompanying outrage.
- Assessed participants' impressions of a single commenter in both viral and non-viral outrage conditions.
- Conducted six studies to explore the effect and its processes.
Main Results:
- Commenters were judged more negatively when outrage was viral compared to non-viral.
- Viral outrage increased sympathy for the original offender.
- The amplification of outrage online altered social judgments of individual behavior.
Conclusions:
- The dynamics of online communication can invert the social function of moral outrage.
- Increased online condemnation leads to greater sympathy for the target, not the commenters.
- Understanding viral outrage is crucial for navigating online social interactions and judgments.
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