Communication Mediation in an Era of Partisan Selectivity: Modeling Effects of Information and Discussion on Participation

Abstract

Abstract The present study applies the communication mediation model (CMM) to the increasingly prevalent patterns of partisan communication in contemporary polarized politics and fragmented partisan media environments. Specifically, we test the CMM considering (a) two types of news consumption (like-minded and cross-cutting) in the place of overall news use and (b) both affective and cognitive responses. We propose a partisan CMM that consists of a two-step mediation linking partisan news consumption to participation through talk and affective polarization. Results from national survey data covering three U.S. presidential election cycles (the 2012, 2016, and 2020 American National Election Studies) generally supported the model, with like-minded and cross-cutting news use having differential mediation processes on participation.