Incivility Diminishes Interest in What Politicians Have to Say

Incivility is prevalent in society suggesting a potential benefit. Within politics, theorists and strategists often claim incivility grabs attention stokes interest what politician has to say. In contrast, we propose diminishes overall say because people find the morally distasteful. Studies 1a 1b examined relationship between uncivil language followership Twitter feeds of Presidents Donald Trump Joe Biden, finding reduced their following on platform. 2–3, manipulated how number politicians were found that consistently depressed they had These effects are generalized both political allies opponents. Observers’ moral disapproval mediated diminished interest, suppressing attention-grabbing nature incivility. Altogether, our findings indicate public reacts more negatively than previously thought.