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...
Guardado en:
Autores principales: | , , , , , |
---|---|
Formato: | article |
Lenguaje: | EN |
Publicado: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2021
|
Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://doaj.org/article/708830f51d4747dab0615b007f490d0a |
Etiquetas: |
Agregar Etiqueta
Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!
|
id |
oai:doaj.org-article:708830f51d4747dab0615b007f490d0a |
---|---|
record_format |
dspace |
spelling |
oai:doaj.org-article:708830f51d4747dab0615b007f490d0a2021-12-02T20:12:41ZExploring the direct and indirect effects of elite influence on public opinion.1932-620310.1371/journal.pone.0257335https://doaj.org/article/708830f51d4747dab0615b007f490d0a2021-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0257335https://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, p e0257335 (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/708830f51d4747dab0615b007f490d0a |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT laurenratliffsantoro exploringthedirectandindirecteffectsofeliteinfluenceonpublicopinion AT eliasassaf exploringthedirectandindirecteffectsofeliteinfluenceonpublicopinion AT robertmbond exploringthedirectandindirecteffectsofeliteinfluenceonpublicopinion AT skylerjcranmer exploringthedirectandindirecteffectsofeliteinfluenceonpublicopinion AT eloiseekaizar exploringthedirectandindirecteffectsofeliteinfluenceonpublicopinion AT davidjsivakoff exploringthedirectandindirecteffectsofeliteinfluenceonpublicopinion |
_version_ |
1718374890902388736 |