Increasing Political Engagement with Appeals to Moderate and Cross-Pressured Identity

Individuals who are not attached to Democratic or Republican political ideology may identify as moderates or hold “cross-pressured” attachments – holding positions on issues that go against those typically held by their preferred partisan group. These individuals may therefore opt out of consuming political media or participating in online political spaces. Political scientist Katherine McCabe will examine the extent to which exposure to online political spaces increases the political engagement of politically moderate Reddit users. She will conduct a content analysis, a survey, and a field experiment for her study.