Exhibit 720

Emotion shapes the diffusion of moralized content in social networks

Exhibit 720 · Peer-reviewed study

Emotion shapes the diffusion of moralized content in social networks

the presence of moral-emotional language in political messages substantially increases their diffusion within (and less so between) ideological group boundaries.

Twitter study on gun control, same-sex marriage and climate change messages.

Source: Brady, Wills, Jost, Tucker, Van Bavel (PNAS)
Date: 26 June 2017
Quoted from: Significance statement
Grade: Peer-reviewed
Document: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1618923114
Accessed: 2026-11-09
Cited by: Findings citing this exhibit

Cited by

Finding POL-3.5: Peer-reviewed In 2,730,215 Facebook and Twitter posts from news media and members of Congress, posts about the political out-group were shared or retweeted about twice as often as posts about the in-group. Twitter studies find that positive social feedback increases later expressions of moral outrage and that moral-emotional language increases diffusion within ideological groups.