Doctoral Dissertation Research: Rising to the Challenge: Political Responses to Threat and Opportunity Messages

博士论文研究：迎接挑战：对威胁和机遇信息的政治反应

• 批准号: 1647191
• 负责人: Vincent Hutchings
• 金额: $ 2.33万
• 依托单位: Regents of the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2017-04-15 至 2018-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1647191&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Rising; Challenge

General AbstractThis project studies the effectiveness of political strategies. In particular, it evaluates the notion that political strategies that invoke threat serve to increase political participation among the affected audience. Previous work suggests that messages invoking fear lead to a increased attention to politics, thereby increasing the likelihood of participation. In this project, the PI argues that relying on strategies focusing only on fear or threat might actually lead to lower levels of participation by activating feelings of despair. This research investigates the possibility that messages which combine threats along with messages that encourage enthusiasm might be a more effective and encourage increased participation. Given findings that indicate strong public support for policies that deny rights to others, especially in times of crisis, it is important to assess how specific message strategies can influence citizen participation, especially as the electorate becomes more diverse. Technical AbstractConventional wisdom posits that political participation is often facilitated by messages of threats. This research extends that work, arguing that appeals based primarily on crises may actually be counter-productive to political mobilization. Previous work finds that fear appeals were unsuccessful in the absence of an effective alternative to the threat. This research will study the corresponding effect on political mobilization by including alternative positive messages along with threat messages. The PI argues that a message strategy combining threat and opportunity cues can lead to a greater sense of political efficacy among individuals. Focusing on immigration policy, the PI will assess the attitudinal effects of different messaging strategies by administering two survey experiments, and by analyzing Latino-only survey responses from the American National Election Study. The PI expects that a message combining elements of threat and opportunity is a significant catalyst for increased political participation, especially among women. This research provides indicates strong support for the proposition that more balanced political messages are at least as successful at motivating participation among an under-represented group in American politics.

摘要本课题研究政治策略的有效性。它特别评价了这样一种观点，即援引威胁的政治战略有助于增加受影响受众的政治参与。先前的研究表明，引发恐惧的信息会增加对政治的关注，从而增加参与的可能性。在这个项目中，PI认为，依赖于只关注恐惧或威胁的策略实际上可能会激活绝望的感觉，从而导致较低的参与度。这项研究调查了一种可能性，即把威胁和鼓励热情结合起来的信息可能更有效，并鼓励更多的参与。鉴于调查结果表明，公众强烈支持剥夺他人权利的政策，特别是在危机时期，评估具体的信息策略如何影响公民参与是很重要的，特别是在选民变得更加多样化的情况下。传统观点认为，政治参与往往是由威胁信息促成的。这项研究扩展了这项工作，认为主要基于危机的呼吁实际上可能对政治动员起反作用。先前的研究发现，在缺乏有效替代威胁的情况下，恐惧诉求是不成功的。本研究将研究在威胁讯息的同时加入其他正面讯息对政治动员的影响。PI认为，结合威胁和机会线索的信息策略可以在个人中产生更强的政治效能感。以移民政策为重点，PI将通过管理两项调查实验，以及分析美国全国选举研究（American National Election Study）仅针对拉丁裔的调查结果，评估不同信息传递策略对态度的影响。PI期望，结合威胁和机会因素的信息是增加政治参与的重要催化剂，特别是在妇女中。这项研究为以下命题提供了强有力的支持，即更平衡的政治信息至少在激励美国政治中代表性不足的群体参与方面同样成功。