Exhibit 721

How social learning amplifies moral outrage expression in online social networks

Exhibit 721 · Peer-reviewed study

How social learning amplifies moral outrage expression in online social networks

positive social feedback for outrage expressions increases the likelihood of future outrage expressions, consistent with principles of reinforcement learning.

Two preregistered observational Twitter studies (7,331 users, 12.7 million tweets) and two behavioral experiments (N = 240). Authors state the observational studies cannot support causal inference.

Source: Brady, McLoughlin, Doan, Crockett (Science Advances)
Date: 13 August 2021
Quoted from: Abstract
Grade: Peer-reviewed
Document: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abe5641
Accessed: 2026-11-09
Cited by: Findings citing this exhibit

Cited by

Finding POL-3.5: Peer-reviewed In 2,730,215 Facebook and Twitter posts from news media and members of Congress, posts about the political out-group were shared or retweeted about twice as often as posts about the in-group. Twitter studies find that positive social feedback increases later expressions of moral outrage and that moral-emotional language increases diffusion within ideological groups.