ABSTRACT:
The rise of political polarisation in Pakistan has spurred experts to pose the fundamental inquiry: what enduring repercussions will polarised politics have on Pakistan’s democratic framework? The existing evidence provides significant grounds for apprehension. One of the growing issues of political polarisation is its effect on social trust. The present study investigates the relationship between social media political expression, partisanship, and affective and ideological polarisation and social trust. This study gives us understanding about the sentiments of ‘self’ towards proponent’s in-group members and out-group members, referring to a Pakistani sample (n = 413). Further, the scholarship tests the moderating role of media efficacy between affective and ideological polarisation and social trust. Social identity theory and the echo chamber effect provided theoretical support for the research. Six direct and two indirect hypotheses were developed. Partisan identity exhibited positive and significant impact on both affective and ideological polarisation, whereas social media political expression did not exhibit any significant impact on either. However, amongst the two proposed moderating hypotheses, media efficacy moderates only the relationship between ideological polarisation and social trust. The study concludes by discussing its implications in Pakistan’s socio-cultural environment, acknowledging its limitations, and providing recommendations for future scholars.
KEY WORDS:
affective polarisation, ideological polarisation, media efficacy, partisan identity, political expression, social trust
DOI: https://doi.org/10.34135/communicationtoday.2025.Vol.16.No.2.12