Research

What are they thinking? Developing a protocol to measure meta-perspectives in online environments

Prejudice is significantly prevalent in online communities, with 62% of internet users experiencing some sort of online abuse.

This project investigates how meta-perceptions can be used to encourage felt understanding between potential abusers and minority victims online – and thereby help tackle online abuse.

Online abuse is often reflective of prejudicial behaviours we see in physical environments, with minority groups (ingroup) targeted more significantly than their majority (outgroup group) counterparts.

This is especially harmful, for example, to female internet users. The abuse aimed at females tends to be more sexualised than their male counterparts, and as a result women are disproportionally affected.

Some factors can reduce online prejudicial behaviours, such as intergroup contact. However, this can be difficult to implement on scale, and mediating factors influence whether intergroup contact will in practice reduce prejudicial behaviour.  

This project presented a method of encouraging felt understanding without the need for instigating cooperation between the groups, creating a less contact-intensive method of reducing prejudice.

Team

Dr Danielle Kelly, Lecturer in Psychology, University of the West of Scotland

Dr Graham Scott, Reader in Psychology, University of the West of Scotland

Professor Murray Leith, Professor of Political Science, University of the West of Scotland