Uncivil Politicians on TV: The Impact of Impolite Behavior on Political Attitudes

There is a widespread concern in Western democracies that political communication increasingly becomes “nasty, negative and uncivil” (Shea & Fiorina 2013). Whereas opinions differ on the question whether a certain level of negativity is “good” or “bad” for democracy (e.g. Ansolabehere & Iyengar 1995; Geer 2006) judgments about incivility are quite clear-cut: incivility – i.e. the violation of norms of politeness by e.g. using a rude language, exaggerations, or interrupting the political opponent – is usually seen as a threat (e.g. Mutz Reeves 2005). Although empirical analyses on the consequences of uncivil political discourse are rare, there is indeed some evidence that uncivil political discourse has a negative impact on candidate evaluation and political trust (e.g. Mutz 2015; Mutz & Reeves 2005). In contrast to this, other studies cannot confirm these results (e.g., Brooks & Geer 2007). Unfortunately, most of the research done on incivility refers to the United States. The aim of the proposed paper is to investigate the impact of uncivil messages in Germany. Based on an experimental study with N=715 subjects we demonstrate the uncivil behavior of a well-known politician (Sigmar Gabriel who is chairman of the Social Democrats, vice chancellor, and minister of economic affairs) on TV has a negative impact on his evaluation. In addition, his uncivil statements also affect the evaluation of parties and politicians in general.