Perceived party polarization, news attentiveness, and political participation: a mediated moderation model

Abstract

Perception of party polarization has a positive impact on political participation. While past research suggests that such impact depends upon people’s information use, empirical evidence is lacking. We used a mediated moderation model to test the multiplicative effect between polarization perception and media use on political participation. The data for analysis came from a survey of 625 representative Hong Kong residents in 2015. Findings show that the impact of perceived party polarization on political participation is contingent upon one’s news attentiveness, and that internal political efficacy serves as a mediator that partially explains the interaction effect. Narrowed gaps in political knowledge, efficacy, and participation were observed between light and heavy news users as perceived party polarization rises. The implications of the findings with respect to political participation, role of news media use, and the formation of efficacy beliefs in the context of party polarization are discussed.