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Finding uncommon ground: Extremist online forum engagement predicts integrative complexity
Andrew L Gregory1, Paul K Piff1
1Department of Psychological Science, University of California Irvine, Irvine, California, United States of America.
Engagement in extreme online communities, like neo-Nazi forums, is linked to simplistic thinking. Longer membership and more posts correlate with less complex language, suggesting these groups may worsen polarized views.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Sociology
- Computational Social Science
Background:
- Online communities can shape user cognition and beliefs.
- Ideologically extreme groups may foster rigid thinking patterns.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the cognitive effects of engaging with an online neo-Nazi forum.
- To determine if forum interaction correlates with "black and white" thinking, measured by integrative complexity.
Main Methods:
- Utilized naturalistic language data from 1,891 participants via web scraping.
- Employed hierarchical regression modeling to analyze language complexity and group cohesion (Language Style Matching).
- Measured integrative complexity as an indicator of cognitive balance and ability to reconcile conflicting ideas.
Main Results:
- Increased forum membership duration and posting frequency were associated with lower integrative complexity.
- These cognitive effects were distinct from group cohesion, which decreased with engagement.
- Effect sizes were small but statistically significant.
Conclusions:
- Interaction within ideologically extreme online communities may contribute to cognitive polarization.
- Such platforms might exacerbate members' existing views, leading to less nuanced thinking.
- Findings highlight potential psychological impacts of online radicalization environments.
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