Social media users experience more political hostility in less economically equal and less democratic societies

There is widespread concern about the hostility of political discussions on social media, but there is no consensus about the underlying dynamics. In particular, the relationship between online hostility and the broader sociopolitical context has received less attention, in part because of limited research outside Western countries. Here we report results from observational data collected through quota-sampled online surveys in 30 countries across six continents (N = 15,202) about experiences of online hostility. Our findings show that people in less democratic and less economically equal countries experience more hostility online. We also found that, in every country, respondents who are hostile online are also hostile offline and that these people score higher in status-seeking motivations. Exploratory analyses suggest that less democratic societies include more status-motivated individuals and young men—groups showing higher hostility on average. Overall, these findings highlight how online political hostility is intertwined with wider societal tensions.