Determinants of Political Content Sharing on Social Media: Impulsiveness, Social Recognition, Risk-taking, and Collective Opinion

This paper examined what role impulsiveness and perceived social recognition played in the way young adults shared political content on social media. Th e study also looked into the mediating role of risk-taking and collective opinion in the relationship between these variables. Th e sample consisted of 554 university students (357 women and 193 men) from six faculties of Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam University. Participants were recruited using convenience sampling. Th e study adopted a predictive correlational design. Data were collected using valid and reliable scales. Th e results showed that participants with high impulsiveness and perceived social recognition were more likely to share political content on social media. Risk-taking was a partial mediator between perceived social recognition and political content sharing, while it was a full mediator between impulsiveness and political sharing. Collective opinion was a partial mediator between perceived social recognition and political content sharing on social media. The results indicate that young adults with high impulsiveness are more likely to share political content on social media because they can take more risks. Moreover, young adults who care about social recognition are more likely to share political content on social media because they can take more risks and care more about collective opinion.