Sociology of Emotion and Affect in the Age of Mis-, Dis-, and Mal-Information

Disinformation, the deliberate spread of falsities, and malinformation (leaks, harassment and hate speech) are designed to carry emotional content that triggers strong emotions in those who access it, and to create harm. Although misinformation involves the unintentional spread of false information, it too can yield strong emotions/affect. The problem of mis/dis/mal-information is not new, but the accelerated spread and the new methods available for dissemination that are provided by digital technologies has led to greater ease of distribution and potentially wider circulation. Throughout this Topic, we will use the term information disorder to represent mis/dis/mal-information (Wardell & Derakhshan, 2018). We acknowledge that this choice is privileging the economy of expression and is not indicative of any effort to conflate the separate ideas of importance to this topic. Given the central role that emotions/affect play in the disinformation problem, the sociology of emotions/affect offers a rich approach to understanding how false information is designed, what impact it has socially, and the macro, meso, and micro level effects it has upon individuals and societies. In this Research Topic, we invite conceptual and empirical contributions from the sociology of emotions/affect that address disinformation including topics such as fake news, post-truth, alternative facts, infodemic, truthiness, information pollution, and information disorder.

Given the prominence of psychology, particularly individual psychology, in conceptualizations of emotions/affect in lay and professional discourse, there is room to understand the role that emotions play in the disinformation problem from the perspective of sociology of emotion/affect. Disinformation, especially when spread online, fuels strong emotional/affective responses from users. There is currently limited research on the role of emotion/affect in users’ interactions with and access to mis/disinformation, the generation of mis/disinformation, and how disinformation shapes larger emotional/affective climates and emotional/affective cultures. Emotional/affective impacts of disinformation on various spheres of social life require exploration.

Sociology of emotion/affect can open new directions for research and develop new understandings about the nature, generation, dissemination, and impacts of disinformation on those who produce and consume it. It can lead to new insights to inform policy and practices designed to address disinformation in various sectors of society including health, environment, politics, and education. Mis/disinformation spreads through various means including social media and traditional media. It affects diverse spheres of social life including politics, policies, health, environment, education, and global markets. The breadth of means of dissemination and spheres of social life impacted are of interest in this Research Topic.

We are seeking contributions that address the mis/disinformation problem across a range of social spheres, bringing perspectives and theories from the sociology of emotion/affect that animate novel insights into the problem. We value articles that offer implications for different social spheres from an analysis of mis/disinformation through sociology of emotions/affect.

Range of Articles and Possible Topics:

In the examples presented below, contributions will address topics through the lenses of sociology of emotion/affect.

• Conceptual or empirical articles;
• Macro, meso, micro perspectives on sociology of emotion;
• Emotional experience in relation to mis/disinformation;
• Emotional rules of mis/disinformation and sources thereof;
• What do emotions do in online spaces where mis/disinformation is spread;
• Collective emotion/emotional climates and mis/disinformation;
• Emotions and digital social networks related to mis/disinformation;
• AI, emotion, and mis/dis/mal-information- e.g., role of chatbots in blurring boundaries between information and mis/dis/mal-information;
• AI and digital fakes/deep fakes (images, art etc.);
• Emerging technologies and potential role in generating and dissemination of mis/dis/mal-information;
• Influencers as mis/dis/mal-information conduits;
• Social technologies of mis/dis/mal-information generation;
• Mis/disinformation networks;
• Disinformation as performance and art;
• Affective intensity and content consumption;
• Participatory culture and mis/dis/mal-information;
• Disinformation as playfulness;
• Humour and information disorder;
• Emotion/affect in filter bubbles/echo chambers;
• The relationship between emotional/affective response to mal/disinformation and mal/disinformation campaign goal(s).

Sample Research Questions:

Questions are provided as scaffolds and prompts for contributors. We welcome all questions related to the topic for consideration.

• How can we understand the mis/dis/mal-information problem through the sociology of emotions/affect?
• What are the implications for addressing mis/dis/mal-information across a range of social spheres from the perspective of sociology of emotion/affect?
• What are the emotional/affective impacts of mis/dis/mal-information on creators and consumers?
• How are emotions/affect distributed across networks where mis/dis/mal-information is generated and spread?
• What emotional/affective changes occur as mis/dis/mal-information traverses social levels (macro, meso, micro).
• What are the emotional/affective impacts of mis/dis/mal-information as a technology of power?
• How are emotions/affect distributed across social strata (e.g., gender, class, SES, religious affiliation) in the generation and use of mis/dis/mal-information?
• How do emotions/affect drive the actions of mis/dis/mal-information creators?
• How do emotions/affect drive the actions of mis/dis/mal-information consumers?
• How do social collectives in different social spheres respond emotionally/affectively to mis/dis/mal-information?
• How do social collectives in different social spheres use emotions/affect when dealing with mis/dis/mal-information?

Reference:
Wardle, C., & Derakhshan, H. (2018). Information disorder: toward an interdisciplinary framework for research and policy making. Strassbourg Cedex: Council of Europe.