POLI 100M: Poli-cal Psychology Lecture 5: Media Taylor N. Carlson - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

POLI 100M: Poli-cal Psychology

Lecture 5: Media Taylor N. Carlson ?eenstr@ucsd.edu

Announcements

• A brief note on Short Assignment 1
• Short Assignment 2 is due next -me—any ques-ons?

– You can use one of your connec-ons from Short Assignment 1

• r you can try something new

– If you use a connec-on from SA1, you should consider making revisions based on the feedback you received

• Midterm is a week from today. Study guide posted on

TritonEd.

– 1 hour, 15 minutes to complete midterm (11am-12:15pm) – 15 minute break – Class will resume at 12:30 (12:30-1:50pm)

• Office Hours: Tuesday 2:30-4:30 in SSB 341, or by

appointment

A brief note on thesis statements

• A thesis statement is the sentence that states

the main idea of a wri-ng assignment and helps control the ideas within the paper.

• It oZen reflects an opinion, judgment, or

argument that a writer has made about the topic of the paper

A Strong Thesis Statement

• Gives direc-on to the paper and limits what

you need to write about

• Requires proof—support your statement with

detailed suppor-ng evidence to mo-vate the readers to con-nue reading the paper

• Men-ons your suppor-ng points

Tips for Wri-ng Thesis Statements

• Know the topic (while this is not a research

assignment, you may want to thoroughly study your notes on the topic and you are welcome to do addi-onal research)

• Limit your topic (narrow is beaer for a short paper)
• Brainstorm
• Determine what kind of paper you’re wri-ng:

– Analy-cal: breaks down an issue or idea into component parts, evaluates the issue or idea, and presents this breakdown / evalua-on to the reader – Explanatory: explains something to the reader – Argumenta-ve: makes a claim about a topic and jus-fies this claim with specific evidence.

Example Thesis Statements

• “John Updike’s Trust Me is a valuable novel

for a college syllabus because it allows the reader to become familiar with his wri-ng and provides themes that are easily connected to

• ther works.”
• Source: haps://gustavus.edu/wri-ngcenter/handoutdocs/

thesis_statements.php

Example Thesis Statements

• Analy-cal: “An analysis of the college

admission process reveals one challenge facing counselors: accep-ng students with high test scores or students with strong extracurricular backgrounds.”

• Source: haps://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/545/01/

Example Thesis Statements

• Explanatory: “The life of the typical college

student is characterized by -me spent studying, aaending class, and socializing with peers.”

• Source: haps://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/545/01/

Example Thesis Statements

• Argumenta-ve: “High school graduates should

be required to take a year off to pursue community service projects before entering college in order to increase their maturity and global awareness.”

• Source: haps://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/545/01/

Ques-ons?

Last Time

• How do individuals process poli-cal informa-on?

– Aaribu-on theory, consistency theory, lots of biases! Confirma-on bias, nega-vity bias, fundamental aaribu-on error, etc. – We use cogni-ve tricks to filter informa-on, which can lead to errors in judgment

• Belief in misinforma-on

– Largely driven by mo-vated reasoning – Backfire effects! Really hard to correct misinforma-on

• Do we have enough informa-on to vote ra-onally?

– Heuris-cs! (Party ID, Ideology, endorsements, viability, traits, etc.) – Help a lot, but might mostly help the people who need it the least

What ques-ons do you have?

Today: Driving Ques-ons

• Why do individuals choose informa-on

sources?

• What role does the media play in shaping

public opinion?

• How do individuals process informa-on from

the media?

Today: Learning Outcomes

• Define the following key terms: framing

effects, priming, selec-ve exposure. Explain how these concepts relate to how individuals engage with informa-on from the media.

• Explain the paaerns in media source selec-on
• Evaluate whether the media is able to impact

public opinion

Media Use in the U.S.

Source: American Press Ins-tute, 2014

Source: American Press Ins-tute, 2014

The boaom line

• Overall, we’re lazy
• Overall, we’re not that interested in the news
• Overall, we get more informa-on online, but

there are tons of op-ons out there

• Overall, we trust informa-on from some

sources more than others, especially if they’re perceived to share similar views

How does the media influence poli-cal aotudes?

• Media bias
• Framing
• Priming

Percep-ons of Media Bias

How would you arrange these news

• utlets from liberal to conserva-ve?
• BBC News
• Breitbart News Network
• Chicago Tribune
• CNN News
• Daily Kos
• Fox News
• Huffington Post
• Los Angeles Times
• NBC News
• New York Times
• Reuters
• USA Today
• Wall Street Journal
• Washington Post
• Yahoo News

Source: Budak, Goel, and Rao (2016)

Hos-le Media Effect

• Individuals perceive media counter to their

preferences as more biased than media that supports their preferences

Hos-le Media Effect

• Cogni-ve Factors:

– Selec-ve Recall – Selec-ve Percep-on – Mo-vated Reasoning

• Source Factors
• Individual Factors

– Stronger opinions – Involvement – Stronger iden-ty (social iden-ty theory)

(Rela-ve) Hos-le Media Effect

• Individuals with different aotudes toward the

issue have very different evalua-ons of the same media content—even if that media content is biased

Media Bias

• Gatekeeping: the media outlet decides which

stories will be communicated.

– New perspec-ves or par-cular issues can go unreported à Status Quo Bias

• Examples?

Media Bias

• Coverage Bias: How much -me or space is

devoted to a par-cular story, resul-ng in more/less aaen-on to a story.

• Examples?

Media Bias

• Statement Bias: A member of the media

inserts his or her own views in the repor-ng of a story.

• Examples?

Which biases do you see in the next images?

Framing

• Framing: The process by which people

develop a par-cular conceptualiza-on of an issue or reorient their thinking about an issue

• Framing Effect: When (oZen small) changes in

the presenta-on of an issue or an event produce (some-mes large) changes of opinion

Examples of Framing Effects

Merolla et al. (2013): Immigra-on

• “If we can seal our borders and enforce exis-ng

immigra-on laws, [illegal/undocumented/unauthorized] immigrants should be given [the opportunity to eventually become legal ci-zens/amnesty].”

• “[Illegal/undocumented/unauthorized] immigrants

[none/ who came to the US as young children] should be able to earn legal status if they graduated from a US high school, have stayed out of trouble, and have enrolled in college or the military.”

• “According to [current law/the Cons-tu-on] any child

born in the US is a ci-zen of the US. The [current law/ Cons-tu-on] should be changed so that babies born to [illegal/undocumented/unauthorized] immigrants living in the US do not automa-cally become US ci-zens.”

Iyengar (1987): Poverty

• Na-onal poverty: news story about the increase in

poverty na-onwide and the significant reduc-ons in the scope of federal social welfare programs

• High unemployment: news story that juxtaposed the

na-onal unemployment rate with the size of the federal budget deficit

• Vic-ms of economic hardship

– High cost of heat: two families unable to pay their hea-ng bills – Homeless: two black teenagers living on the streets of NYC and a white couple forced to live in their car in San Diego – Unemployed worker: financial difficul-es facing the family of an unemployed auto worker in Ohio

Source: Lajevardi working paper

How does framing work?

• Accessibility Model: Framing depends on the

individual and aaen-on to the issue. Preexis-ng views are made more accessible.

• Importance Change Model: Frames make

some considera-ons more important than

• thers.

How does framing work?

• In order for a framing effect to occur, a given

considera-on needs to be:

– Stored in memory – Accessible

• Regular or recent exposure
• Passive or unconscious process
• Strong frames

– Availability – Accessibility – Applicability

How does framing work?

• Moderators: variables that condi-on the effects

[of framing]

• Individual Predisposi-ons:

– Strong values, strong prior aotudes = less suscep-ble to framing effects

• Increased resistance to disconfirming informa-on
• Perceived Applicability: frames delivered by

credible sources are more likely to shiZ opinions

• Exposure to Delibera-on or people holding

varying opinions can mute framing effects

Priming

Priming

• Priming: a nonconscious form of human memory

concerned with perceptual iden-fica-on of words and objects. Refers to ac-va-ng par-cular representa-ons or associa-ons in memory just before carrying out an ac-on or task.

• Priming effects: Occur when the men-on of a

specific considera-on in one context (the prime) increases the accessibility of that considera-on, leading to an increase in the use of that trait in later evalua-ons of a social target

How does priming work?

• Individuals sa,sfice: make a decision that is

adequate rather than op-mally based upon full considera-on of all relevant informa-on (Miller & Krosnick 1996)

• Accessibility
• Availability

How does the media prime?

The Priming Hypothesis

• The more aaen-on campaigns and the media

pay to a par-cular aspect of poli-cal life, the more ci-zens will rely on that considera-on in their poli-cal evalua-ons (Iyengar & Kinder 1987)

• Examples?

Examples

• Priming individuals to think about collec-ve

responsibility for climate change causes more dona-ons to climate efforts than priming individuals to think about individual responsibility

• r a control prime (daily rou-ne) (Obradovich &

Guenther 2016)

• Priming Canadians with images of President

Obama instead of President Bush increased posi-ve evalua-ons of the United States (Dragojlovic 2011)

• Issues the media emphasizes are more likely to

be used in evalua-ng candidates (Druckman 2004)

Applying Framing and Priming