George Smith

September 26, 2012

Beyond Negativity

Do you remember the days of elementary school when you and Timmy the oversized

fourth grader use to go back and forth calling each other silly names? Politicians in todays

society practically do the same thing which is known as incivility. Incivility hinders our electoral

process, which we as citizens observe from time to time during political elections, by means of

drifting the electorate off course of politics in order to be disrespectful and show the other

candidate out. The main eyebrow raising question this issue draws is, how does it affect us as

citizens that vote how we interpret information from politicians and make cognitive decisions?

Research conducted by numerous experts in the field attempts to capture desire data to hold up to

the theory that incivility indeed effects the public.

The research that took place contained three different scenarios (Negative vs. Positive,

Issue vs. Trait, and Civil Negative vs. Uncivil Negative) which analyzed the issue basically from

every angle. The experiment entailed the respondent to read three statements randomly assigned

to them from one of the six categories and then answer three questions regarding what they read.

From the researchers perspective, the hypothesis that if the manipulations worked then

differences should be present among respondents from different scenarios is the main objective

to actually prove. Results in some cases essentially showed positive correlation toward the

hypothesis by a slightly significant amount. In entirety, the combination of result proved the

hypothesis neither true nor false as across the board the variation in differences between

categories was nearly concurrent. This data in turn makes it seem as if citizens do not care

whether the candidates insult each other or not. In reality the citizens do actually care about what

is being said to a certain extent and at the present time of observation, but do not tend to cling on

to it for long.

With the research conducted, there is still mystery to whether or not incivility actually

affects citizens in regards to political involvement. No matter what the talk is, citizens are pretty

resilient despite the harsh comments politicians hurl back and forth and will not alter their trust

or efficacy in a candidate. It is greatly possible that the negativity can impose an effect on

interest in politics and also the chances of someone voting, which is currently an issue in todays

American society. So ultimately, are we as citizens to blame for the negativity in politics since

we merely observe it and shrug it off as a peck of dirt on the table cloth instead of appealing to it

and frowning upon such behavior and tactics?