VIOLENCE AS AN ASPECT OF POLISH INTERNET POLITICAL CULTURE
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1
adiunkt
w Zakładzie Psychologii i Socjologii Polityki Instytutu Nauk Politycznych
Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
2
absolwentka Uniwersytetu Kardynała
Stefana Wyszyńskiego w Warszawie
Publication date: 2020-01-24
Studia Politologiczne 2011;21
ABSTRACT
Analysis of Internet violence phenomenon in quantitative grasp of a problem is the
main aim of this paper. Analysis is based on data gathered in Computer Assisted
Web Interviews (CAWI) research entitled Polish Political Culture in the Internet
carried out on Internet users. Proper measurement of Internet violence needed
special tool aggregating diverse data – an index. Index construction is described
in the first part of the paper and is the indispensable condition to measure two
important dimensions of Internet violence phenomenon: axionormative and
behavioral. Axionormative dimension measures intensity of Internet violence
acceptance among Internet users and inclination to undertaking actions bound
with violence. Introducing this dimension served to verify of hypothesis on
positive correlation between intensity of Internet using and violent Internet activity acceptation and disposition among Internet users. Behavioral dimension acts as
measure of performing and experiencing violence by individual Internet users.
Behavioral dimension allows to introduce typology of Internet users distinguished
on the ground of violence attitudes. Following types of Internet users is marked
out: gladiators (performing and experiencing of violence), terrorists (only using
violence but not suffer from it), spectators (both not perform and not experience
of violence) and victims (only suffer from it). Analysis pointed out that the main
characteristics of Internet political culture is wide acceptance and willingness
to undertaking verbal violence of low intensity. Simultaneously Internet users
condemned violence of higher intensity. Essential to sketch Internet political
culture is its symmetrical character – the same persons use verbal violence and
equally experience it in consequence. The problem whether the style of behavior in
Internet discourse is eufunctional or dysfunctional for democracy remains unsloved.