Replication Data for: A Male Hostility Spiral? Polarized Communication among Political Elites on Social Media

Affective polarization is increasing in many parts of the world, and previous research has shown that elite communication may have important consequences for intergroup conflict at the mass level. It has also been suggested that women and men politicians engaging in different communication styles may influence affective polarization in the electorate. However, there is a lack of research that analyzes such gendered patterns of polarizing communication among political elites on social media. We focus on filling this gap in the literature, analyzing how politicians communicate with each other on social media in 24 western countries. Specifically, we use machine learning to measure the tone of more than 200.000 twitter interactions and find that male politicians are more likely to attack political opponents representing 'outgroups' and that male representatives receive more outgroup negativity. We propose that a 'male hostility spiral' explains this pattern, where (male) politicians attack each other online for retribution, creating a negative spiral in which hostility sparks hostility.