This study investigated the mediational role of conviction in the relationship between media use and affective polarization, and the moderating role of age in this mediation. An online survey of 1,026 Korean adults examined ideological and gender issues. Findings supported a moderated mediation model: Media use did not directly predict affective polarization but exerted a strong indirect effect through conviction. Age moderated the influence of media use on conviction. Cognitive elaboration and core belief relevance consistently contributed to the mediation process in both issue domains, while ego-preoccupation mattered only for gender polarization. Across issues, greater media use increased conviction, and younger generations were more susceptible to media influence than older adults. Conviction regarding ideology was stronger among older adults, whereas conviction regarding gender issues was stronger among younger adults. Heavy media users showed smaller generational differences in ideological conviction but larger differences in gender conviction. Reading-oriented media (internet and newspaper articles) played a major role in reinforcing conviction leading to affective polarization in the ideological domain, while relational media (internet communities) showed relatively strong effects in the gender domain.
Eun-Yeong Na (Tue,) studied this question.