Modeling Exposure, Stereotyping and Rationalization Effects on the Evaluation of Political Candidates

本研究的理论和研究设计代表了一种努力 来揭示候选人评估的心理基础。 研究的目的是整合以前的研究结果， 评价纳入一个新的理论框架， 评价是信息处理。 这项研究分为两部分， 相关波：首先，一系列的三项研究将是 致力于发现信息内容中的错误， 政治候选人。 这些初步的、基本的调查结果将 作为研究第二部分的基础-试图 通过具体的心理和政治手段， 为政治候选人设计的框架、评价和形象， 调查 研究项目的第一步需要深入研究 政治信息对个人意味着什么 特别是 研究人员将调查关于 具体的政治问题，以及个人特点， 候选人和相关政治团体。 到什么程度 关于候选人的某些信息“突出”或重要， 人吗 他们会不会很有兴趣知道 一个候选人而不是另一个 接下来，研究人员将 确定这些信息是否具有某些含义， 含义，或超越简单表面的解释， 信息的意义。 例如，一种特定类型的 信息导致人们相信候选人有其他 相关特征？ 因此获得了关于哪些信息往往是重要的数据 和“有意义的丰富”，研究的第二部分涉及如何 信息，其重要性不同， 解释，被合并到候选人评估中。 一个关键 在研究的这个阶段的因素是候选人的顺序， 资料已提交。 结果将显示不同的订单 如何将信息整合到评价中，以及如何“ 对候选人的”持续“评估在多大程度上改变了 后续信息影响最终评价。 总而言之，本研究将理清信息的三种影响 在候选人评估：突出，解释和秩序。 的 研究项目的设计需要两个相关的研究;第一， 确定候选人的重要性和解释 信息，第二个系统地操纵秩序， 个人收到预先测试的信息。 本研究将不会 只说明信息的突显性、解释和顺序 共同影响彼此对候选人评估的影响， 而且还可以改变重要性和解释以“适应” 候选人的事先评价。

The theory and research design for this research represents an effort to uncover the psychological underpinnings of candidate evaluations. The goal of the research is to integrate previous findings on candidate evaluation into a new theoretical framework which treats candidate evaluation as information processing. The research occurs in two, inter-related waves: First, a series of three studies will be undertaken to discover regularities in the content of information about political candidates. These initial, base-line findings will then serve as the basis for the second part of the study - - an attempt at constructing, by way of specific psychological and political frameworks, evaluations and images of political candidates designed for the investigation. The first step of the research project requires an indepth study of what political information means to individuals. In particular, the researchers will investigate various facets of information about specific political issues, as well as that for personal characteristics of the candidate and relevant political groups. To what extent is certain information about a candidate "salient," or important to people? Would they be very much interested in knowing one particular thing about a candidate, but not another? Next, the researchers will ascertain whether this information has certain connotations, implications, or interpretations that reach beyond the simple, surface meaning of the information. For example, does one particular type of information lead people to believe that the candidate has other relevant characteristics? Having thus obtained data about what information tends to be important and "meaningfully rich," the second part of the study deals with how information, which differs in terms of its importance and interpretation, is combined into a candidate evaluation. A crucial factor at this stage of the study is the order in which the candidate information is presented. Results will indicate how different orders of information is integrated into an evaluation, as well as how "on- going" evaluations of the candidate alters the extent to which subsequent information influences a final evaluation. Altogether, this study will disentangle three influences of information upon candidate evaluation: salience, interpretation, and order. The design of the research project requires two related studies; the first to ascertain the importance and interpretations of candidate information, the second to systematically manipulate the order in which individuals receive the pre-tested information. The study will not only indicate how information salience, interpretation and order jointly influence the impact of one another upon candidate evaluations, but also how importance and interpretation can be altered to "fit" a person's prior evaluation of the candidate.