A computational framework to examine public response of moral language on polarization following vigilantism incident

Introduction:

➢In August 2022, Kyle Rittenhouse fatally shot two men and wounded the third in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

➢Incidents of vigilantism provoke discourses related to moral values and may induce polarizing judgements in social media.

➢Moral foundations entail automatic gut-reactions of like and dislike when certain patterns are perceived in the social world, which in turn guide judgments expressed on social media.

➢The social media users could use moral languages of different vice and virtue. e.g., care (virtue) for the victim, harm (vice) the perpetrator

➢Such extreme judgements or attitude of right or wrong challenge the social cohesion in modern civil societies.

➢ We argue that understanding of polarization is incomplete without accounting for morality because moral foundations can predict attitudes on several social issues such as immigration, same-sex marriage and abortion.

Purpose (or Objective, Goal):

• How do public communicate moral language (virtue/vice) on social media following vigilantism incidents?

• How does public’s vigilantism-related moral language (virtue/vice) on social media affect polarization?