社交媒体时代的认知与情感:当代欧美国家政治极化的心理根源

Cognition and Emotion in the Era of Social Media:The Psychological Roots of Political Polarization in Contemporary EuropeandAmerica

社交媒体是当今欧美社会政治活动的结构化要素。社交媒体独有的传播方式和传播秩序迎合了人类认知的吝啬规律,为偏狭的政治认知的形成提供了契机;行动者更倾向于在社交媒体中暴露或夸大自身感受,敏锐感知他人情绪,从而引发情绪共振与情感叠加。置身社交媒体时代的现代人更容易形成偏执、怀疑、自负等以“偏激”为核心特征的后政治心理,并逐渐以其为行为准则。当偏狭的理性认知和偏执的感性情绪与党派归属、阶级身份、公共形象塑造、公共政策选择等迎头相遇,政治极化的形成和扩张便拥有了动力源和助燃剂。随着民众对特定领导人非理性的追捧或声讨,对党派阵营产生强烈的心理依附与行为追随,对政策制订与颁布采取极端态度,对异己群体愤恨和仇视,政治极化的强度、深度和幅度逐渐加剧。政治极化的愈演愈烈使群体内部同仇敌忾、群体间激烈冲突、社会舆论两极分化,进一步助长了后政治心理的升级和蔓延,使“绝对自负”与“怀疑一切”、“无限恐惧”与“毫无敬畏”、“政治狂热”与“政治冷漠”等情绪和态度弥漫于民主政治的各个角落。从当前情形来看,扭转以偏激为核心的后政治心理是缓解政治极化的可能路径,其中,校准接收和传播信息的心态和方式最为关键。

Social media is a structured element of today's socio-political activities,and humanity has entered the age of social media.The unique communication mode and order of social media cater to the stingy law of human cognition,providing an opportunity for the formation of biased political cognition;Actors tend to expose or exaggerate their own feelings in social media,perceive others'emotions acutely,and trigger emotional resonance and emotional superimposition.In the era of social media,modern people are more likely to form post-political psychology with"partiality"as the core feature,such as paranoia,suspicion,and conceit,and use it as a code of behavior.When parochial rational cognition and radical emotional emotions come into contact with party affiliation,class identity,public image shaping,and public policy choices,they become the driving force and fuel for the emergence and intensification of political polarization,driving people to form irrational admiration or denunciation of specific leaders,strong psychological attachment and behavioral following party camps,extreme attitudes toward policy formulation and promulgation,and resentment and hatred toward dissident groups,thus intensifying the degree and trend of political polarization.The intensification of political polarization has led to intra-group enmity,inter-group conflict and polarization of overall public opinion,further contributing to the escalation and spread of the post-political psychology,so that political psychologies such as"absolute conceit"and"doubt everything","unlimited fear"and"no fear","political fanaticism"and"political indifference"coexist in paraliel and are widespread in democratic politics.In the current situation,reversing the bias-centered post-political psychology is a possible path to alleviating political polarization,of which calibrating the mindset and manner of receiving and disseminating information is most crucial.