Social Media and Affective Polarization: The mediating Role of Political Sensitivity

Affective polarization is defined by intense negative emotions between partisan groups and has seen a rapid increase worldwide, posing risks to democratic institutions and crisis management. This study examines the mediating role of political sensitivity in the relationship between social media use and affective polarization. Political sensitivity is conceptualized through four dimensions: political trust, perceived political knowledge, perceived risk, and caste-religious considerations. Using a random sampling method, data were collected from 300 university students using standardized scales of social media use, political sensitivity, and affective polarization. Mediation analysis, conducted using the PROCESS macro (Model 4), reveals that perceived political knowledge, perceived risk, and caste-religious considerations partially mediate the relationship between social media use and affective polarization. In contrast, political trust emerged as a mediator in this association, such that higher social media use was associated with lower political trust, which in turn was associated with higher affective polarization. These findings offer theoretical contributions to the study of social media use in intergroup relations and highlight the risks associated with heightened political sensitivity. The study underscores the need for interventions to mitigate the polarizing effects of social media, particularly by addressing perceived expertise, risk perception, and identity-based considerations in digital discourse. This research advances the understanding of affective polarization by providing empirical evidence of how political sensitivity functions as a mediator, offering new insights into the mechanisms through which social media fosters polarization. Future studies may investigate various variables, including fact-checking interventions and cross-party relationships, to design ways to mitigate the divisive impacts of online political activity in India.