Part of the Job? The Effect of Exposure to the Online Intimidation of Politicians on Political Ambition
| Published date | 01 November 2024 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/14789299241258099 |
| Author | Jade Vrielink,Daphne Joanna van der Pas |
| Date | 01 November 2024 |
https://doi.org/10.1177/14789299241258099
Political Studies Review
2024, Vol. 22(4) 1022 –1041
© The Author(s) 2024
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DOI: 10.1177/14789299241258099
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Part of the Job? The Effect
of Exposure to the Online
Intimidation of Politicians on
Political Ambition
Jade Vrielink1 and Daphne Joanna van der Pas2
Abstract
It is increasingly common for politicians to experience online harassment. Even though numerous
studies show the prevalence and impact of online abuse towards politicians, the broader societal
impact of this phenomenon is understudied. This study focuses on the deterring effect that
witnessing online abuse towards politicians could have on bystanders, testing to what extent online
intimidation influences the appeal of political office. This pre-registered project examines whether
exposure to abusive or sexist Twitter comments towards politicians weakens the interest of UK
citizens, women especially, in pursuing political office. We hypothesized that seeing intimidating
Twitter comments addressed to politicians leads to less political ambition in bystanders, especially
if their gender identity aligns with that of the targeted politician. Sexist abusive comments were
expected to have a greater impact on women participants than non-gendered abusive comments.
The findings show that citizens are generally not easily deterred by exposure to abuse. However,
we find differential effects that are concerning for political participation and female representation.
There is evidence that sexist comments do discourage women observers. Respondents also
generally espouse very negative expectations about the online experience of political aspirants.
Keywords
political ambition, gender, online intimidation, social media, violence against women in politics
Accepted: 14 May 2024
Introduction
Online abuse towards politicians in the UK is on the rise (Gorrell et al., 2020). There is a
growing concern among political parties and scholars that the rampant online intimida-
tion will scare off potential candidates who do not relish the prospect of having to put up
1Strategic Communication Group, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands
2Department of Political Science, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Corresponding author:
Jade Vrielink, Strategic Communication Group, Wageningen University & Research, Hollandseweg 1,
Wageningen 6706 KN, The Netherlands.
Email: jade.vrielink@wur.nl
1258099PSW0010.1177/14789299241258099Political Studies ReviewVrielink and van der Pas
research-article2024
The Null Hypothesis
Vrielink and van der Pas 1023
with hate and aggression online (Harmer and Southern, 2021; Saris and van de Ven,
2021). While numerous studies show the prevalence of online abuse and the effects it has
on officeholders and candidates, the broader societal impacts are understudied. This study
tests whether witnessing online abuse towards politicians indeed deters bystanders from
aspiring to pursue political office themselves. If witnessing abuse presents an obstacle to
entry into politics, this would hurt democratic ideals of open political participation.
Even though most politicians receive abuse regardless of their gender, the content of the
abuse that women politicians receive is often based on their gender (Harmer and Southern,
2021; Ward and McLoughlin, 2020). As Rossini (2022) argues, this type of incivility can
best be defined as intolerance which poses a threat to pluralist democracy as it can dispro-
portionally undermine and silence specific groups. Women MPs report higher levels of
fear than their men counterparts as a result of their experiences with harassment and intim-
idation (Collignon et al., 2022: 37; Collignon and Rüdig, 2020: 427). Research has docu-
mented that this has direct detrimental effects for women’s representation, as women
candidates modify their campaign activities in response to harassment, diminishing their
chances of winning office (Collignon and Rüdig, 2021). Here, we study whether there are
also more indirect negative consequences for equal representation. To this end, we test
whether women are particularly turned off from politics by seeing a woman MP receiving
abuse (as opposed to a man), and by abuse that is sexist in nature. Thus, we contribute both
to our understanding of the impact of online toxicity on political participation broadly and
on the gender gap in political ambition (e.g. Schneider et al., 2016).
To study the impact of witnessing online abuse towards politicians on the political
ambitions of ordinary citizens, we conducted a survey experiment in the UK in 2022. The
prevalence of online abuse is well-documented in the UK relative to other countries and
the phenomenon has been on the political and societal agenda for some time. MPs from
both sides of the political spectrum have spoken out strongly against the harassment they
receive while fulfilling office and the effect this has on themselves and their relatives
(BBC, 2021). In our experiment, participants were exposed to fictional politicians receiv-
ing abusive or sexist comments on Twitter/X,1 after which they were asked about their
interest in ever pursuing political office in the future. The research design, hypotheses,
sampling plan and analysis plan were pre-registered before the data collection took place
(https://osf.io/8yx9v/?view_only=49d811250d4249daa2882af374a0c2da).
The results show that citizens are not as easily deterred from pursuing political office as
might be expected. Both men and women in our sample did not lower their nascent political
ambition in response to seeing a politician getting abusive comments on Twitter, even if
they shared their gender. Still, differential effects give reason for concern. Women bystand-
ers appear to be deterred by sexist abuse specifically. This could ultimately affect gender
balance in political office. In addition, citizens perceive abuse towards politicians to be
widespread, and large numbers list this as a reason to stay out of politics. We reflect on the
implications of these results and possible avenues for further research are discussed.
Theoretical Framework
The Effect of Online Abuse
It has been a long-standing worry that virtual settings encourage anti-normative and anti-
social behaviour (Christopherson, 2007: 3050). Online anonymity and lack of social cues
can lead to disinhibition, which can result in negative behaviours, such as verbal abuse
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