Online Political Participation in the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election: Mobilizing or Reinforcing?

Participation is at the core of democratic society. However, studies have shown that participation is biased toward those who are better educated, more affluent, and in greater possession of civic skills. Scholars have pointed to the Internet as a possible remedy for the disparity in participation for its potential to lower barriers and increase access to those who lack the time, money, and/or necessary civic skills. Research has been mixed about whether the Internet mobilizes new or marginalized participants to the electoral process, simply reinforces those who are active in that process already, or does both. In the 2008 U.S. presidential election campaign, all major presidential candidates utilized the Internet and email as a tool for mobilizing, recruiting, communicating and raising money. New media, especially the Internet and other Information Communication Technologies (ICTs), played a significant role in extending and perhaps even supplanting more traditional methods of political participation. Because of the greater role played by the Internet and ICTs in 2008, the ability to test the mobilization and reinforcement hypotheses was much greater than in previous elections. My research adds to the general debate by 1) testing the reinforcement versus mobilization theories related to the impact of the Internet on political participation; 2) refining these theories by testing whether mobilization or reinforcement occurs differently in online versus offline participation; and 3) exploring the extent to which mobilization and reinforcement are contingent on activities of individual campaigns. The 2008 National Annenberg Election Survey is the data source for this research. This dissertation provides evidence to support each of the mobilization and reinforcement hypotheses I proposed. However, the mobilized groups varied across the campaign by activity. No single group either advantaged or disadvantaged in the past, was mobilized consistently throughout the primaries and general election campaigns. While this study offers evidence of mobilization and reinforcement in a number of instances and among a number of demographic groups, it raises additional questions which cannot be easily resolved with the available data. Nevertheless, the results do illustrate that Internet usage in certain instances is more likely to motivate certain groups to engage in participation activities. Further, online campaign contact is a strong predictor for most participation activities

Culturally Antagonistic Memes and the Zika Virus: An Experimental Test

This paper examines a remedy for a defect in existing accounts of public risk perceptions. The accounts in question feature two dynamics: the affect heuristic, which emphasizes the impact of visceral feelings on information processing; and the cultural cognition thesis, which describes the tendency of individuals to form beliefs that reflect and reinforce their group commitments. The defect is the failure of these two dynamics, when combined, to explain the peculiar selectivity of public risk controversies: despite their intensity and disruptiveness, such controversies occur less frequently than the affect heuristic and the cultural cognition thesis seem to predict. To account for this aspect of public risk perceptions, the paper describes a model that adds the phenomenon of culturally antagonistic memes – argumentative tropes that fuse positions on risk with contested visions of the best life. Arising adventitiously, antagonistic memes transform affect and cultural cognition from consensus-generating, truth-convergent influences on information processing into conflictual, identity-protective ones. The paper supports this model with experimental results involving perceptions of the risk of the Zika virus: a general sample of US subjects, whose cultural orientations were measured with the Cultural Cognition Worldview Scales, formed polarized affective reactions when exposed to information that was pervaded with antagonistic memes linking Zika to global warming; when exposed to comparable information linking Zika to unlawful immigration, the opposing affective stances of the subjects flipped in direction. Normative and prescriptive implications of these results are discussed

Legacy and social media respectively influence risk perceptions and protective behaviors during emerging health threats: A multi-wave analysis of communications on Zika virus cases.

ObjectiveBoth legacy media, such as television and newspapers, and online social media are potentially important but incompletely understood sources of information in the face of emerging public health risks. This research aimed to understand media effects on risk perceptions and behaviors concerning the Zika virus in the United States.MethodsWe analyzed a multi-wave nationally representative survey (N = 29,062) and the volume of communications in social and legacy media (i.e., legacy media data from news sources and databases, N = 2,660 and social media data from Twitter, N = 1,605,752) in the United States between April and October 2016, dates coinciding with the early cases of local transmission of Zika in the United States (i.e., 25 weeks). The present study conducted econometric analyses (i.e., Granger causality tests) to assess the associations of legacy and social media coverage with risk perceptions and protective behaviors in the total sample and specific groups separated by pregnancy status/intent, geographic region, income, education level, age, and ethnicity.ResultsThe results from the overall sample suggested that changes in the volume of information in legacy and social media (i.e., Twitter) were followed by different changes in community risk perceptions and protective behaviors. Specifically, social media coverage correlated with the level of risk perceptions, whereas the legacy media coverage correlated with the level of protective behaviors. Analyses across different subpopulations, including those of different pregnancy status/intent, geographic Zika risk, income, education level, age, and ethnicity, replicated the social media associations with risk perceptions in most cases. However, legacy media and protective behaviors were linked only in some vulnerable subpopulations (e.g., the less-educated populations).ConclusionUnderstanding how media coverage relates to Zika risk perceptions and protective behaviors will help to facilitate effective risk communications by healthcare professionals and providers, particularly when a health risk emerges

Intentions to Seek Information About the Influenza Vaccine: The Role of Informational Subjective Norms, Anticipated and Experienced Affect, and Information Insufficiency Among Vaccinated and Unvaccinated People

When deciding whether to vaccinate, people often seek information through consequential processes that are not currently well understood. A survey of a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults (N = 2,091) explored the factors associated with intentions to seek influenza vaccine information in the 2018–2019 influenza season. This survey shed light on what motivates intentions to seek information about the influenza vaccine through the lens of the risk information seeking and processing (RISP) model. The model explained information‐seeking intentions well among both unvaccinated and vaccinated respondents. Key findings show that informational subjective norms, information insufficiency, and different types of affect are strong predictors of information‐seeking intentions. Theoretical insights on extending the RISP model and practical guidance on designing interventions are provided.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/163574/2/risa13459.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/163574/1/risa13459_am.pd