Parents’ political activism on social media: The role of emotional engagement and perceived (in)civility

While political engagement on social media is fairly common, much remains unclear regarding why users politically engage online. This is particularly the case for positive emotions and how parents might engage differently than others. Past research found that parents and non-parents interacted with social media in different ways, namely by responding more to positive content. This study investigated the link between emotional engagement online and online political engagement as well as the role of perceived civility in online political engagement. Data were obtained using an online survey of 400 social media users in Pennsylvania in 2019. All respondents were parents of teens ages 12 to 17. Results of this study indicated that feeling inspired or connected were associated with increased online political engagement, but there were no associations with negative emotional engagement. Perceptions of manipulation online were also associated with greater political engagement. Social media use frequency did not mediate associations between emotional engagement and political engagement.