New study of tweets by U.S. House candidates from 2016 to 2022 finds that female candidates, especially Democratic ones, express more anger on Twitter, defying stereotypes and turning frustration into a political tool.

Read Full Article

#WomenInPolitics #PoliticalCommunication #AngerInPolitics #FemaleCandidates #DemocraticVoices

Political practitioners are extremely bad at predicting which messages persuade the public – Political practitioners, regardless of of their experience and expertise, are as bad as laypeople at predicting persuasive effects.

Read Full Article

#PoliticalCommunication #MessagePersuasion #PublicOpinion #PoliticalStrategy #CommunicationFailure

Trump’s speeches stump AI: Study reveals ChatGPT’s struggle with metaphors 🤖📉 | By analyzing the metaphors embedded in four major speeches, researchers exposed key weaknesses in artificial intelligence systems when it comes to understanding figurative language in political contexts.

Read Full Article

#TrumpSpeeches #AIchatbot #metaphoranalysis #figurativelanguage #politicalcommunication

Research suggests that "playing the victim" does not signal weakness to voters. Instead, politicians who emphasized their own victimhood during a scandal were often evaluated as more competent than those who did not, making it a highly attractive strategy for shielding against reputational damage.

Read Full Article

#VictimhoodStrategy #VoterPerception #PoliticalCommunication #PublicImage #ReputationManagement

Social media users tend to face more political hostility in less democratic and more unequal countries (like the US). People who act hostile online also act hostile in offline face-to-face conversations. Digital aggression is not simply a product of internet anonymity or platform algorithms.

Read Full Article

#DigitalBehavior #OnlineHostility #PoliticalCommunication

When engaging in a political discussion, talking about what you oppose instead of what you support may make others more open to your views. Even subtle shifts in how we talk about our beliefs—support versus oppose—can make a meaningful difference in how others respond.

Read Full Article

#PoliticalCommunication #DialoguesThatMatter #SpeakPositivelyRegardingPolicy

🗣️ New research suggests framing political discussions around what you oppose rather than what you support can make others more receptive to your views.

🤔 Experiments with over 10,000 participants showed that messages highlighting opposition, even with minor wording changes, were more likely to be read and considered by those with differing opinions.

🔬 The study, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology on December 15, 2025, highlights how small shifts in language can have significant implications for bridging ideological divides.

#PoliticalCommunication #Psychology #Research

🗳️ A 2024 U.S. presidential election study analyzed 374 false messages, finding anonymous users (nearly 40%) were the most common source of hoaxes, followed by political candidates and influencers (16% each).

📰 Research published in American Behavioral Scientist revealed political actors used misleading content to twist data, while anonymous users and influencers often relied on false context with real images/videos.

🏛️ Republican actors issued ~73% of hoaxes, with Democratic figures targeted in ~57% of falsehoods. A trend of "constructive disinformation" was also observed, where claims boosted their own party/candidate.

#ElectionIntegrity #Disinformation #PoliticalCommunication