Measuring Populist Attitudes on Three Dimensions Schulz, Anne; Müller, Philipp; Schemer, Christian ...
International journal of public opinion research,
06/2018, Volume:
30, Issue:
2
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Theoretically, populism has been conceptualized as a political ideology with three sub-dimensions: anti-elitism attitudes, a preference for popular sovereignty, and a belief in the homogeneity and ...virtuousness of the people. However, empirical research to date has treated populist attitudes as a unidimensional construct. To address this issue, we propose to conceptualize populist attitudes as a latent higher-order construct with three distinct first-order dimensions. A 12-item inventory was developed using two survey studies conducted in Switzerland in 2014 and 2015. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to test the construct validity of this measure of populist attitudes. The measurement that is proposed allows for a fine-grained study of populist attitudes in the general public.
Previous studies have found that different media channels have varying potentials for informed participation. Exposure to newspaper and TV news exposure has been shown to increase actual knowledge ...and participation, while social media is associated with participation based on perceived knowledge, without changes in actual knowledge. In light of these findings, we conducted an online survey (
= 1,670) in Germany to investigate the (mediated) relationships between news consumption, knowledge (perception), and participation. The study revealed that exposure to quality newspaper and public service TV news was linked to both actual and perceived knowledge, thereby impacting participation. However, tabloid newspapers and news from private TV channels were not found to be related to participation. In the case of social media, we found a relationship with online participation on social media and offline participation, but this relationship was only mediated through an increase in perceived knowledge. In other words, our findings suggest that social media use creates an illusion of knowledge that is linked to higher levels of participation. These findings highlight the democratic importance of traditional media channels, particularly public service broadcasting media. They also demonstrate how social media can lead to a false feeling of knowing, which can hinder participation processes.
The present research examines the longitudinal average impact of frequency of use of Internet and social networking sites (SNS) on subjective well-being of adolescents in Germany. Based on five-wave ...panel data that cover a period of nine years, we disentangle between-person and within-person effects of media use on depressive symptomatology and life satisfaction as indicators of subjective well-being. Additionally, we control for confounders such as TV use, self-esteem, and satisfaction with friends. We found that frequency of Internet use in general and use of SNS in particular is not substantially related subjective well-being. The explanatory power of general Internet use or SNS use to predict between-person differences or within-person change in subjective well-being is close to zero. TV use, a potentially confounding variable, is negatively related to satisfaction with life, but it does not affect depressive symptomatology. However, this effect is too small to be of practical relevance.
This study explores how news messages carrying parts of the populist ideology contribute to a polarization of public opinion about populism. It combines a content analysis of news coverage on two ...policy areas (N = 7,119 stories) with a two‐wave panel survey (N = 2,338) in four European metropolitan regions (Berlin, Paris, London, and Zurich). In three regions, unopposed media messages with a populist stance have a conditional effect on populist attitudes that depends on prior convictions. A higher dose of exposure to populist news coverage enhances both prior agreement and disagreement with populism. Although the observed interaction patterns vary between regions, the general picture suggests that populist messages in the news foster polarization between public support and disapproval of populism.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
This study investigates media effects on stereotypic attitudes toward immigrants in a political campaign that dealt with the naturalization of immigrants. By combining a content analysis of the ...campaign coverage with a 2‐wave panel survey, the study found that negative news portrayals of immigrants increased stereotypic attitudes in the public in the course of the campaign. Additionally, the frequent exposure to positive news portrayals of immigrants reduced the activation of negative outgroup attitudes. However, these findings are contingent on people's issue‐specific knowledge. Only people with low to moderate knowledge were influenced by negative and positive news stories about immigrants in the campaign. Well‐informed people were resistant to the effects of positive and news portrayals of immigrants.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Spiral of silence theory does not assume a simple relationship between opinion climate and opinion expression. In fact, the notion of hardcore individuals (who express their opinions regardless of ...the climate) embraces the idea that there are some people for whom this relationship does not hold true. However, this idea has not been put to a direct empirical test. In this article, the authors propose that attitude certainty is a key variable in identifying the hardcore. Data from three surveys demonstrate that the climate of opinion only determines opinion expression when individuals hold their attitudes with low or moderate attitude certainty. For individuals with high attitude certainty, no such effect can be found. Thus, there is a spiral of silence only for some but not for all members of the public.
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Adolescents with a strong tendency for irrational task delay (i.e., high trait procrastination) may be particularly prone to use Internet applications simultaneously to other tasks (e.g., during ...homework) and in an insufficiently controlled fashion. Both Internet multitasking and insufficiently controlled Internet usage may thus amplify the negative mental health implications that have frequently been associated with trait procrastination. The present study explored this role of Internet multitasking and insufficiently controlled Internet use for the relationship between trait procrastination and impaired psychological functioning in a community sample of
= 818 early and middle adolescents. Results from multiple regression analyses indicate that trait procrastination was positively related to Internet multitasking and insufficiently controlled Internet use. Insufficiently controlled Internet use, but not Internet multitasking, was found to partially statistically mediate the association between trait procrastination and adolescents' psychological functioning (i.e., stress, sleep quality, and relationship satisfaction with parents). The study underlines that adolescents with high levels of trait procrastination may have an increased risk for negative outcomes of insufficiently controlled Internet use.
In Western democracies, the public harbors mostly negative attitudes toward ethnic minorities and favors policy programs intended to restrict immigration (Pettigrew, Wagner, & Christ, 2007). In some ...cases, these prejudices may stem from the coverage of ethnic minorities in the news media. On U.S. television, ethnic minorities are typically portrayed negatively, for example, as being poor or violent, as well as being loud politicians, or criminals (Dixon & Linz, 2000; Entman & Rojecki, 2000). Studies from Europe also reveal that racial bias is a core component of media reporting on ethnic minorities (e.g., Lubbers, Scheepers, & Wester, 1998; Ruhrmann, 2002). Given that media coverage of minorities is overwhelmingly negatively biased, exposure to such news is likely to perpetuate ethnic prejudice (Mastro, 2009).
The present study investigates self-reinforcing spirals processes between the negative affect toward asylum seekers and the attention to political advertising in a campaign dealing with the issue of ...the asylum law restriction. Based on data from a three-wave panel survey, the study found evidence of such reciprocal influences. Specifically, the initial attention to political advertising elicited negative affective reactions, such as fear or anxiety toward asylum seekers in the course of the campaign. At the same time, these affective reactions enhanced people’s attention to subsequent political ads. Not only do the findings indicate the presence of reinforcing spirals processes but also do the data suggest that the spirals process is mainly fueled by cues emanating from the political campaign.
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Der Beitrag untersucht medienbezogene Einstellungen und das Ausmaß des Verschwörungsglaubens von Menschen mit AfD-Wahlpräferenz. Er greift die Debatte über Kampfbegriffe wie „Lügenpresse“ und ...„Systemmedien“ auf und erweitert die Radikalisierungsforschung um einen kommunikationswissenschaftlichen Zugang. Dafür verwendet er das Konzept des „Medienzynismus“. Es bezeichnet ein Einstellungsmuster mit verschwörungsideologischen Zügen: Journalist*innen werden als Lügner und System-Kollaborateure betrachtet. Der Beitrag analysiert auch die Mediennutzung von Menschen mit AfD-Präferenz sowie ihre Einstellungen zu Gewalt. Die Basis bilden vier Bevölkerungsumfragen aus den Jahren 2016 bis 2019. Die Daten wurden in Regressionsanalysen und mit einem Strukturgleichungsmodell ausgewertet. Dabei zeigt sich die Radikalität der AfD-Gruppe: Bei ihr sind Medienzynismus und Verschwörungsglaube stark ausgeprägt. Dies geht mit einer überdurchschnittlichen Nutzung „alternativer“ Medien und einem höheren Verständnis für die Anwendung von Gewalt einher. Die Studie findet keine eindeutigen Hinweise für eine sich verschärfende Radikalisierung im Zeitverlauf, aber auch keine Abschwächung. Die Befunde stützen Befürchtungen, dass der Verschwörungsglaube mit einer Affinität zu Gewalt verbunden und die Radikalisierung durch eine spezifische Mediennutzung gefördert werden kann.
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