17 June 2026

On 08.07.2026 (14:15-15:45, Von-Melle-Park 5, 4018)  Viola Pucci (Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences) will give a lecture on "Can we read between group lines? How social identity shapes communication (mis)attributions and affective polarisation online".

Abstract: Does communication across group divides lessen polarisation in online spaces? Despite the communicators’ social identities being critically implicated in this, it remains unclear how these influence what people share and how messages areinterpreted when social identities are ambiguous. In this talk, I will present evidence from two studies investigating communication processes between senders and receivers. In Study 1 (N = 326), participants acted as senders, choosing which statementsto share and reasons for doing so in fictitious ingroup and outgroup forums. In Study 2 (N = 307), participants received these statements and reported their impressions of the sender as well as of their ingroup and outgroup. Despite senders primarily seekingto create common ground with individuals across both forums, receivers were reluctant to label senders as outgroup members unless negative intentions were inferred. Notably, we also find that most interactions intensified ingroup liking and outgroup dislike,regardless of what was shared and who was believed to have shared it. Implications for these results will be discussed.