Selective avoidance as a cognitive response: examining the political use of social media and surveillance anxiety in avoidance behaviours

As the 2020 United State Presidential election presented tense partisan conflicts, we sought to explore whether and how such a social and ideological fissure can lead to large-scale politically motivated avoidance behaviours. Building on prior literature, we examine how social media behaviours (i.e. expressive social media news use and political discussion with weak ties) and social psychological attitudes (i.e. surveillance anxiety) are associated with selective avoidance on social media. Further, we explore cognitive ability's direct and indirect roles in influencing avoidance behaviours. We used online panel survey data collected during the 2020 election to test our assumptions. The findings suggest that those with high levels of expressive social media news use, political discussions with weak ties, and surveillance anxiety engage in more frequent selective avoidance. On the contrary, those with high cognitive ability are less likely to engage in selective avoidance. Furthermore, moderation effects suggest that low cognitive users with greater surveillance anxiety and frequent discussions with weak ties are most accustomed to selective avoidance. Finally, we discuss the theoretical and policy implications of these findings.