Exploring the direct and indirect effects of elite influence on public opinion

Political elites both respond to public opinion and influence it. Elite policy messages can shape individual policy attitudes, but the extent to which they do is difficult to measure in a dynamic information environment. Furthermore, policy messages are not absorbed in isolation, but spread through...

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Autores principales:	Lauren Ratliff Santoro, Elias Assaf, Robert M. Bond, Skyler J. Cranmer, Eloise E. Kaizar, David J. Sivakoff
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/36b6b9c7323b4594b375e0316f6de5c3
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:36b6b9c7323b4594b375e0316f6de5c32021-11-25T06:19:29ZExploring the direct and indirect effects of elite influence on public opinion1932-6203https://doaj.org/article/36b6b9c7323b4594b375e0316f6de5c32021-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8604325/?tool=EBIhttps://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203Political elites both respond to public opinion and influence it. Elite policy messages can shape individual policy attitudes, but the extent to which they do is difficult to measure in a dynamic information environment. Furthermore, policy messages are not absorbed in isolation, but spread through the social networks in which individuals are embedded, and their effects must be evaluated in light of how they spread across social environments. Using a sample of 358 participants across thirty student organizations at a large Midwestern research university, we experimentally investigate how real social groups consume and share elite information when evaluating a relatively unfamiliar policy area. We find a significant, direct effect of elite policy messages on individuals’ policy attitudes. However, we find no evidence that policy attitudes are impacted indirectly by elite messages filtered through individuals’ social networks. Results illustrate the power of elite influence over public opinion.Lauren Ratliff SantoroElias AssafRobert M. BondSkyler J. CranmerEloise E. KaizarDavid J. SivakoffPublic Library of Science (PLoS)articleMedicineRScienceQENPLoS ONE, Vol 16, Iss 11 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Lauren Ratliff Santoro Elias Assaf Robert M. Bond Skyler J. Cranmer Eloise E. Kaizar David J. Sivakoff Exploring the direct and indirect effects of elite influence on public opinion
description	Political elites both respond to public opinion and influence it. Elite policy messages can shape individual policy attitudes, but the extent to which they do is difficult to measure in a dynamic information environment. Furthermore, policy messages are not absorbed in isolation, but spread through the social networks in which individuals are embedded, and their effects must be evaluated in light of how they spread across social environments. Using a sample of 358 participants across thirty student organizations at a large Midwestern research university, we experimentally investigate how real social groups consume and share elite information when evaluating a relatively unfamiliar policy area. We find a significant, direct effect of elite policy messages on individuals’ policy attitudes. However, we find no evidence that policy attitudes are impacted indirectly by elite messages filtered through individuals’ social networks. Results illustrate the power of elite influence over public opinion.
format	article
author	Lauren Ratliff Santoro Elias Assaf Robert M. Bond Skyler J. Cranmer Eloise E. Kaizar David J. Sivakoff
author_facet	Lauren Ratliff Santoro Elias Assaf Robert M. Bond Skyler J. Cranmer Eloise E. Kaizar David J. Sivakoff
author_sort	Lauren Ratliff Santoro
title	Exploring the direct and indirect effects of elite influence on public opinion
title_short	Exploring the direct and indirect effects of elite influence on public opinion
title_full	Exploring the direct and indirect effects of elite influence on public opinion
title_fullStr	Exploring the direct and indirect effects of elite influence on public opinion
title_full_unstemmed	Exploring the direct and indirect effects of elite influence on public opinion
title_sort	exploring the direct and indirect effects of elite influence on public opinion
publisher	Public Library of Science (PLoS)
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/36b6b9c7323b4594b375e0316f6de5c3
work_keys_str_mv	AT laurenratliffsantoro exploringthedirectandindirecteffectsofeliteinfluenceonpublicopinion AT eliasassaf exploringthedirectandindirecteffectsofeliteinfluenceonpublicopinion AT robertmbond exploringthedirectandindirecteffectsofeliteinfluenceonpublicopinion AT skylerjcranmer exploringthedirectandindirecteffectsofeliteinfluenceonpublicopinion AT eloiseekaizar exploringthedirectandindirecteffectsofeliteinfluenceonpublicopinion AT davidjsivakoff exploringthedirectandindirecteffectsofeliteinfluenceonpublicopinion
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Exploring the direct and indirect effects of elite influence on public opinion

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