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Despite the widespread assumption that online misbehavior can affect outcomes related to political extremism, no extant research has provided empirical evidence to this effect. To redress this gap in the literature, we performed two studies in which we explore the relationship between subversive online activities and proclivity for persuasion by far-right extremist propaganda. Study 1 (N = 404) demonstrates that when individuals are exposed to far-right ‘scientific racism’ propaganda, subversive online activity is significantly associated with feelings of gratification, attribution of credibility to and intention to support the propaganda’s source, as well as decreased resistance to the propaganda itself. To verify these findings across thematic domains, Study 2 (N = 396) focused on far-right propaganda consistent with ‘male supremacy.’ Results in Study 2 replicated those from Study 1. These findings have implications for understanding subversive online activity, vis-à-vis its association with one’s susceptibility to persuasion by far-right extremist propaganda.
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Braddock et al. (2021) studied this question.