Beyond the differential gains model: the effects of authoritarian orientation, social media use, and political discussion on political participation in Taiwan and South Korea

In an attempt to investigate the roles of authoritarian orientation, social media use, and political discussion in shaping political participation in transitional democracies, this study analyzes nationwide surveys (N = 1,637; N = 1,200) from two third-wave democracies: Taiwan and South Korea, within the theoretical framework of the Differential Gains Model (DGM). The hierarchical regression indicated that in both societies, the effects of social media use and political discussion were positively associated with political participation; authoritarian orientation was only negatively associated with political participation in Taiwan. No significant moderation effects of the two communication variables emerged, whereas a significant - moderated moderation effect among the three predictors emerged in South Korea. This study extends the existing literature on DGM in three ways. First, it optimizes the conventional DGM through incorporating a new ideological variable - authoritarian orientation; second, it buttresses previous findings but also reveals results that were at odds with the extant body of knowledge; third, it bridges the gap of single contextualization by extending the DGM research to the non-Western democracies.