Stefan Leach
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stefanleach.bsky.social
Stefan Leach
@stefanleach.bsky.social
Lecturer in Psychology | University of Southampton
👋Feedback welcome👋
This is a preprint that has yet to be peer reviewed. Any comments, ideas, or suggestions for improvement appreciated!
Thanks to the NYU Social Identity & Morality Lab for their helpful feedback throughout the project!

osf.io/preprints/ps...

🧵 7/7
OSF
osf.io
May 28, 2024 at 6:27 PM
⭐Conclusions⭐
1. Appeals to national identities linked to online engagement and electoral success
2. Expressing exceptionalist and defensive identities particularly beneficial for right-wing politicians
🧵 6/7
May 28, 2024 at 6:25 PM
📈Results II 📈
Democrats who used more defensive rhetoric before an election received a 42% smaller vote share (no effect for Republicans). Politicians from both parties received a 16% greater vote share when using more positive identity rhetoric.
🧵 5/7
May 28, 2024 at 6:25 PM
📈Results I 📈
Expressions of national exceptionalism and entitlement (defensive identity) liked and reposted more when posted by right-wing politicians (but not left-wing). National attachment and pride (positive identity) liked more regardless of who posted.
🧵 4/7
May 28, 2024 at 6:25 PM
✏️Method✏️
Used GPT3.5 to code 750K posts from UK and US politicians for national exceptionalism and entitlement (defensive identity) + attachment and pride (positive identity). GPT’s annotations were comparable to humans’.
🧵 3/7
May 28, 2024 at 6:24 PM
💡Motivation💡
Effective social media strategies rooted in identity politics are thought to play an important role in contemporary politics, but their effectiveness remains unclear.
🧵 2/7
May 28, 2024 at 6:24 PM