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Network Opinion Homophily and Account Status: How Does Perceived Riskiness Affect Facebook Political Expression?
Parviz, Elnaz
Parviz, Elnaz
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Abstract
Guided by the assumptions of the risk-return framework (Weber, Blais, & Betz, 2002), this study used a 2 (network opinion homophily, account status) by 2 (similar/different, public/private) experimental design to investigate how risky individuals evaluate Facebook political expression to be, and how likely they are to engage in political expression on Facebook. Levels of network opinion homophily and account status were manipulated, and participants were randomly assigned to one of the four hypothetical scenarios. The analysis explored the main and interaction effects of the independent variable conditions and the indirect effects of the conditions on perceived riskiness of Facebook political expression and engagement in political expression on Facebook. Three sets of statistical analyses were conducted including a two-way MANCOVA, Hayes’s (2018) PROCESS model 2, and model 9. Political information efficacy and Facebook efficacy were included as moderators, and the effects of some individual differences including political interest and general risk propensity were controlled for in the moderation and moderated mediation models. Overall, network opinion homophily and account status did not have a significant effect on perceived riskiness and engagement in political expression on Facebook. Regardless of whether the models controlled for the effects of network opinion homophily or account status and all the other moderators and covariates, perceived riskiness remained a significant predictor of engagement in Facebook political expression. Theoretically, this study contributes to political communication studies by demonstrating that even though political expression on Facebook can be perceived as risky, this perception is not caused by network opinion homophily or having a public versus a private account. This study also contributes to the development of the perceived riskiness of political expression scale and expands this construct to digital political communication behavior.
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Date
2022-12-31
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University of Kansas
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Communication,