ABSTRACT
This chapter defines negativity and presents the various effects negativity has on the political process. It considers why scholars have found such conflicting results. The chapter turns to the digital future of negativity and considers whether the increased use of the Internet for campaigning will change the way negativity affects the political process. Negativity may provide individuals with more helpful information, and this increase in helpful information may translate to voting. While the negativity bias is powerful, campaigns may be so highly saturated by various forms of media that people simply pay little attention to ads. The key component of negative ads is that they are, in a word, negative, and it is easy to envision that something negative might have a harmful effect. The idea that negative ads can turn voters away from the polls certainly fits the image of negativity as a "problematic" component of a campaign.
