Voting Behavior and Political Polarization in the Digital Age: Psychological Mechanisms and Democratic Implications

The proliferation of digital media platforms has profoundly altered how citizens engage with political information, form partisan identities, and ultimately cast their votes. Beyond reshaping communication flows, social media ecosystems now function as environments in which affective polarization deepens, misinformation spreads, and electoral behavior is shaped by algorithmic logics often invisible to the voter.This Research Topic focuses specifically on the psychology of the voter in digital environments, examining how exposure to political content on social media platforms affects voting decisions, fuels ideological sorting, and contributes to the erosion of democratic norms. While related work has examined trust in digital media or political literacy more broadly, this collection centers electoral behavior and partisan polarization as its core units of analysis, with particular attention to real-world democratic outcomes such as turnout, vote switching, abstention, and susceptibility to influence campaigns.We invite original research, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and theoretical perspectives addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:• Psychological pathways from social media exposure to voting behavior and electoral choice• Affective polarization and its consequences for democratic participation and inter-group conflict• Algorithmic curation, filter bubbles, and the cognitive distortion of political reality• The role of political misinformation and disinformation in shaping voter perception and behavior• Identity-based political mobilization and demobilization via digital platforms• Cross-national comparative studies on social media influence across different democratic systems• Psychological resilience, media literacy, and protective factors against digital political manipulation• Behavioral and regulatory interventions to reduce polarization and safeguard democratic integrity• The influence of political influencers, bots, and AI-generated content on electoral psychologyContributions from political psychology, communication science, behavioral science, and social cognition are especially welcome. We encourage interdisciplinary perspectives that connect individual psychological processes to broader democratic outcomes. Topic editors: Victor Renobell Santaren, Raquel Valle Escolano, Alfonso Chaves-Montero, SILVIA FUENTES DE FRUTOS Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/81984/voting-behavior-and-political-polarization-in-the-digital-age-psychological-mechanisms-and-democratic-implications