Are We Political Chameleons?

 November 8^th  2016 is fast approaching and as Canadians we are patiently awaiting to see whose hands the fate of our southern neighbours will fall into. Although we cannot partake in the vote for the 45th president of the United States of America, it is safe to say that up north we are feeling the heat from the political fire that has been lit beneath us.

Politics as a topic is commonly shied away from, especially in social situations as political opinions are often considered a sensitive and a fairly taboo subject. This year’s American presidential election in particular, is one of the most polarized and controversial debates to take place in American history thus far. There has been an overwhelming amount of attention and media coverage on all aspects of the electoral process leading up to the final vote. The overwhelming media attention has subsequently seeped into our northern boarders, influencing political discourse among Canadians. Since we are a fellow democratic nation, we are not unfamiliar with the privilege and the civic duty to cast a vote for our nation’s leader.

The electoral process for president is one that allows citizens to understand the stance that each candidate has on national concerns. This process too generates an increase in political conversations among and between citizens, including an increased pressure to have an opinion and stand by it in the face of others. Revealing political attitudes can become uneasy when the political climate is highly polarized and toxic, such as the current political conditions in the USA. This atmosphere of firmly divided opinions is one that influences how inclined we are to voice our genuine political opinions to others. In fact, 1/3 of a university sample reported that even a political conversation of agreement both face-to-face and online would cause them some form of stress.

This hesitation to engage in political conversations due to the fear of confrontation is what leads us to stand indifferent or simply take on the other person’s political views that we are engaging with. This phenomenon is also known as political conformity, the notion that we will temporarily abandon our true political opinions as a response to our social setting, such as when conversing with a strong opinion holder.

Whether it is in front of your in-laws, your boss or a fellow coworker, it is not uncommon to choose indifference over a heated political conversation. Consider the following scenario; Jennifer is a good Canadian she always votes, is in tune with current political issues and feels strongly towards a certain political party. From previous exposure she is aware that a group of her colleagues vote the opposite way she does. One day at the office she hears her coworkers engaging in a one sided conversation about the upcoming election, when one asks “ Jennifer I know you’re with us on this aren’t you?” How would you expect Jennifer to respond in this situation?

 A similar scenario was given to participants in a recent study on political conformity and likely agreed with you that the individual in the scenario would mask their true political stance in front of a group of others holding differing opinions. The subsequent portion of this political conformity study placed the same participants in a face-to-face situation with people who pretended to hold opposing political views. The focus groups resulted in two thirds of the participants changing their political stance to align with their political counterparts in at least one instance during the focus groups. Results that are similar to longstanding social conformity research by Soloman Asch from the 1950’s. These results may seem ironic considering it is characteristic of Western societies to emphasize individuality and uniqueness… yet when we are placed in a position where our opinions are of the minority we act in ways to save face by political conformity.

So, at this point here is what you’re probably wondering… how is this going to affect the polls come November 8^th? The truth of the matter is that these study results are only looking at political conformity in situations where political opinions are openly discussed. When it comes to voting day and privately casting a ballot to elect president, it is hoped that one’s true opinions will withstand any political conformity that may have taken place prior. These results should serve as a friendly reminder to us all this election season, that our own and other’s publicly stated political views may indeed not be as authentic as we take them to be. 

References

Carlson, T.N., & Settle, J.E. (2016). Political chameleons: An exploration in political discussions. Political Behavior, 38(4), 817-859. 

- Katharine Constable 

Digital Pathways to the Keg: Is your drinking being influenced by social media?

You’ve likely seen it before. The photo of that guy at a party, beer in hand, floor covered in the remains of last nights’ party. Or the girl in the group photo, red solo cup in hand, eyes glossy and fighting to remain open. These are just a couple of the classic photos seen on social media every day. But rarely do we think about how this photo affects our thoughts, emotions or even our behaviour. A photo of a fluffy creature rolling around, well that probably sparks happy thoughts. But what about the group of individuals playing a drinking game at a house party, what does that evoke?

15 years ago Facebook didn’t exist, Snapchat and Instagram weren’t even ideas, and alcohol was consumed at a much lower rate than it is today. Specifically, one study found that 94% of first year undergraduate students were using at least one social media site, with 85% of Facebook profiles making at least one reference to alcohol. With advances in technology adolescents and young adults are being exposed to a wide range of media that was never available before, and with this comes potential unintended consequences. With the newer additions, of Snapchat and Instagram platforms to social media, recent research has been looking at the potential effects this content can have on its followers. More so because the former, Snapchat, allows users to send media that disappears after the receiver views it. Meaning that individuals are more likely to send media of risky behaviour or illegal acts. And while some have found evidence of the possible beneficial effects social media on well-being, others have found that social media may be linked to an increase in alcohol use.

Boyle and Colleagues at Loyola Marymount University in California have been doing research on how exposure to alcohol related social media content of peers, may influence the viewer’s future alcohol consumption. Their studies have revealed interesting findings that have sparked further research in this domain, creating a new perspective on the use of social media sites. One of the notable findings of Boyle’s paper was that exposure to alcohol related social media content was predictive of alcohol consumption 6 months later.

Why might they have found these results? Other researchers have noted a connection between exposure to advertisements and subsequent alcohol consumption. Boyle suggests that the theory behind social media being a predictor of future alcohol consumption works in a similar manner. Whereby individuals who are repeatedly exposed to their peers’ social media posts of alcohol related content, will then be influenced to consume more alcohol themselves. This type of effect is called mere exposure, which occurs when individuals are repeatedly exposed to an object or image and then afterwards feel a stronger emotion towards that object. Note that this effect cannot change attitudes, but only heighten them.

Boyle's research also found that although females spent more time on social media, males were more susceptible to the influences of alcohol related content in social media. Researchers explained this may have occurred because males are more task/information oriented when it comes to their online behavior, meaning that they tend to use social media to gather general information, possibly about the culture of their social environment. From this, university and college males in particular, may infer that alcohol is an important part of the college experience and thus value it more. Which then in turn, makes males think about alcohol related content more frequently, increasing their likelihood to consume alcohol more frequently.

 

What does this mean for the future of social media users? Fortunately, there is hope. Although the findings of this study are convincing, the researchers were looking at how predictive social media is on future alcohol consumption – meaning that we cannot infer that social media is the sole cause of alcohol use. And since this is still a relatively new topic, further research must be done to confirm these findings. Also, research done thus far has only focused on college and university students, meaning that, we know little on how other individuals are affected by the use of social media and whether this phenomena only occurs in university/college students. Hopefully this research and more in the future will give us a better understanding of the effects of using social media, and to what role it has on alcohol use. But for now, you can feel guilt free scrolling through your newsfeed!

References 

Boyle, S. C., LaBrie, J. W., Froidevaux, N. M., & Witkovic, Y. D. (2016). Different digital paths to the keg? how exposure to peers' alcohol-related social media content influences drinking among male and female first-year college students. Addictive Behaviors, 57, 21. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2016.01.011

Egan, K. G., & Moreno, M. A. (2011). Alcohol references on undergraduate males’ facebook profiles. American Journal of Men's Health, 5(5), 413-420. doi:10.1177/1557988310394341

- Maya Ingrao