Does social media increase racist behavior? An examination of confirmation bias theory

Abdallah Alsaad, Abdallah Taamneh and Mohamad Noor Al-Jedaiah

Technology in Society, 2018, vol. 55, issue C, 41-46

Abstract: With the increased rate of hate crimes and racist behavior around the world, a growing school of thought draws a connection between social media use and the rise in racist and hateful behavior. A number of psychologists and theorists have attempted to explain this connection. They argue that the deliberate design of social media websites, which uses algorithms to conform to users' currently held thoughts and beliefs, creates polarization and bias among users, pushing them towards preexisting views. While racist behavior is primarily motivated by bias, social media has the potential to foster such bias. However, although under the theory of confirmation bias this assertion appears theoretically sound and justifiable; few studies have attempted to validate it empirically. In this study, we developed a conceptual framework to examine the effect of social media on bias among its users, with a specific focus on religious beliefs. We then examined the influence of religious bias on racist behavior. We tested the proposed model using data from secondary sources. In conclusion, the findings of our regression analysis did not support the proposed hypothesis. In this paper, we present and discuss our findings, along with their implications for research and policy.

Keywords: Social media; Racism; Confirmation bias; Religious bias; The dark side of the internet (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:teinso:v:55:y:2018:i:c:p:41-46

DOI: 10.1016/j.techsoc.2018.06.002

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