Hate Speech Epidemic. The Dynamic Effects of Derogatory Language on Intergroup Relations and Political Radicalization

Abstract

Exposure to derogatory language about immigrants and minority groups leads to political radicalization and deteriorates intergroup relations. This article addresses the psychological processes responsible for these effects as well as those involved in hate‐speech proliferation in contemporary societies and discusses the factors that constrain its growth. We propose that frequent exposure to hate speech has severe effects on emotional, behavioral, and normative levels. Exposure to hate speech results in empathy being replaced by intergroup contempt as a dominant response to others—it is both a motivator and a consequence of derogatory language. The increased presence of hate speech in one's environment creates a sense of a descriptive norm that allows outgroup derogation. This leads to the erosion of existing antidiscriminatory norms. Finally, through a process of desensitization, hate speech reduces people's ability to recognize the offensive character of such language. Based on empirical evidence from the fields of social psychology and psychology of emotion and aggression, we propose a model that explains the described processes, and we trace the dynamics of this model using an agent‐based modeling approach. We show that the mechanisms potentially effective in constraining hate‐speech proliferation (empathy, norms) are eroded by hate speech itself. We argue that through basic psychological dynamics, societies become more accepting of derogatory language and less accepting of immigrants, as well as religious, ethnic, and sexual minorities.

The Language of Derogation and Hate: Functions, Consequences, and Reappropriation

“…The accessibility and anonymity that digital media enable has made spreading hate an epidemic that is rapidly changing social norms about the open and public expression of blatant and hostile prejudice (Bilewicz & Soral, 2020). Compared to off-line communication (e.g., face-to-face interactions, leaflets, political speeches), social-media content can be produced instantaneously, can reach large numbers of people (see reposting or retweeting), and leaves traces over time.…”

Bots and online hate during the COVID-19 pandemic: case studies in the United States and the Philippines

“…Highlighting the multidisciplinary nature of social cybersecurity and computational social science more broadly, our work points to promising avenues for future work in this area. More specifically, psychological processes of responding to hate in the community-level context of inauthentic bot activity [ 17 , 50 ] may be further probed in more controlled settings. Pivoting to the societal level of analysis, more macrosocial explanations regarding the differences in racially charged versus politically contentious hate in the US and the Philippines may also be explored [ 26 , 54 , 61 ].…”

“…Probing the psychological processes underlying these relationships, scholars have also found that repeated exposure to hate speech may increase levels of prejudice by making individuals desensitized to derogatory and exclusionary narratives about certain groups [50,70]. These processes consequently lead to broader strains on intergroup relations and heightened political polarization [17].…”

“…To determine the targets of hate speech, we employed an identity-based approach [17,50]. Past research had developed a comprehensive lexicon of identity terms which have also been made available on the Netmapper software [23,45].…”

“…In the context of a global pandemic, we ask to what extent the spread of online hate speech may be linked to bot-driven activities. We also probe what ends such information maneuvers may be instrumentalized toward, with consequences which extend beyond the digital sphere [5,17,70,86].…”