Changes in Online Moral Discourse About Public Figures During #MeToo

Area of Science:

• Social Psychology
• Computational Linguistics
• Media Studies

Background:

• The #MeToo movement brought public figures' moral standing under scrutiny following sexual assault allegations.
• Public perception of morality is influenced by various factors, including the nature of allegations and the individual's public image.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how perceived severity of sexual assault allegations and public figures' likeability/familiarity influence perceptions of their morality.
• To analyze the long-term persistence of these moral perceptions.

Main Methods:

• Utilized natural language processing (NLP) to analyze 1.4 million tweets concerning 50 male public figures accused of sexual assault.
• Quantified perceived morality through the analysis of (im)moral language in tweets.
• Examined the relationship between allegation severity, public figure likeability, and persistence of moral perceptions over one year.

Main Results:

• Public liking mitigated perceived immorality for less severe allegations, but had minimal impact on more severe ones.
• The persistence of negative moral perceptions after one year was associated with the public figure's likeability and familiarity, not the severity of the allegations.
• Findings indicate a nuanced public response to allegations, differentiating based on action severity and personal connection.

Conclusions:

• Public forgiveness is more attainable for less severe actions when the individual is well-liked.
• Over time, likeability plays a significant role in the endurance of negative moral judgments, irrespective of initial allegation severity.
• These findings offer insights into the complex dynamics of public moral judgment in the digital age.