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Reconstruction of the Public Sphere in the Socially Mediated Age pp 47–69Cite as

Does the Internet Make People Selfish? Effects of the Internet on Citizens’ Political Attitudes

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Abstract

I examined differences in opinions between an interview survey and an online survey. In sum, the results of my analysis clarified that opinions in interview surveys tend to be more prosocial compared to opinions in online surveys. Discrepancy and confrontation between opinions in face-to-face and online communication will bring about some problems in our society. Then, we need to understand that discrepancy and confrontation do not occur between different people, but among different frameworks of communication.

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Acknowledgements

Parts of an earlier version of this study were presented at the 3rd International Sociological Association Forum. I would like to thank the audience, as their constructive comments helped me greatly in improving my article. Also, I would like to thank the SSP Project for giving me permission to use the SSP-I 2010 and SSP-W 2012 surveys’ data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political Studies, Gakushuin University, Tokyo, Japan

    Naoki Sudo

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  1. Naoki Sudo
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Correspondence to Naoki Sudo .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Gakushuin University , Tokyo, Japan

    Kaoru Endo

  2. The University of Electro-Communications , Tokyo, Japan

    Satoshi Kurihara

  3. Kobe University , Kobe, Japan

    Takashi Kamihigashi

  4. The University of Tokyo , Tokyo, Japan

    Fujio Toriumi

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Sudo, N. (2017). Does the Internet Make People Selfish? Effects of the Internet on Citizens’ Political Attitudes. In: Endo, K., Kurihara, S., Kamihigashi, T., Toriumi, F. (eds) Reconstruction of the Public Sphere in the Socially Mediated Age. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6138-7_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6138-7_4

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-10-6137-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-10-6138-7

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