Role of Informal Social Control in Predicting Racist Hate Speech on Online Platforms: Collective Efficacy and the Theory of Planned Behavior (National Library of Medicine)

Twenty-six measurement items were designed to measure the four TPB constructs of attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control (PBC), and behavioral intention, as well as the two action-oriented variables of social cohesion/trust and informal social control. Partial least-squares structural equation modeling analysis was conducted to test a series of research hypotheses, and the findings were as follows: (a) informal social control partially mediated the relationships between behavioral intention to post online race-related hate speech and both attitude and subjective norm; (b) informal social control fully mediated the influence of PBC on behavioral intention; and (c) social cohesion/trust did not significantly mediate any of the relationships between behavioral intention and attitude, subjective norm, or PBC. The results indicate that the willingness to intervene in informal social control plays an important role in preventing unwelcome online activity.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37267509/