Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2021, Journalism (Communication)

Spread of mis- and dis-information has emerged as one of the most concerning threat to democratic processes in the United States. Who is to blame for such a rise in the spread of mis- and dis-information is yet to be decided, however, this study aimed to explore how such forms of information is consumed and believed by the audiences. This research expands on our understanding of how ideological cues work to promote mis/disinformation consumption along with other factors like, political opinion leaders, cognitive dissonance and personal ideology. Furthermore, the study explores the two-step selective evaluation process, which an information consumer goes through before making any decision on the information. The decision is then further rationalized in post-decisional effects. A survey experiment was conducted on 429 respondents who showed that any information content will be palatable to them if those information carries ideologically confirming cues. Moreover, the study used opinion leader as manipulation to test cognitive dissonance, consonance, and resonance against the personal ideology of the respondents to further divulge into the process of mis/disinformation consumption. A deductive thematic analysis of audience responses gives a direction to the decision-making process when faced with congruent or incongruent information.

Committee: Victoria LaPoe (Advisor) Subjects: Cognitive Psychology; Communication; Journalism; Mass Communications; Mass Media; Political Science

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2020, Communication

Over the past three decades, partisanship has become an increasingly salient social identity for Americans, resulting in an electorate that is affectively polarized. An electorate characterized by affective polarization cuts against normative models of democracy, as party loyalists tend to dislike members of other parties, prefer confrontation to compromise, and distrust government when their preferred party is out of power. The commercial US media environment has been a frequent culprit in theories of the origins of affective polarization. Cross-national comparisons find that the United States may have experienced the most rapid gains in affective polarization but Americans' fixation on party identity is far from unique. This comparative analysis categorizes 14 countries' national media systems and tests whether news media consumption in commercial media systems, such as the United States, predicts higher levels of partisan animus and party loyalty in vote choice than media consumption in other types of media systems. The results indicate that television consumption in commercial media systems is associated with higher levels of partisan affect than in public-service or hybrid media systems.

Committee: Erik Nisbet Ph.D. (Advisor); R. Kelly Garrett Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication; Political Science

MA, University of Cincinnati, 2022, Arts and Sciences: Communication

Polarization has been a growing problem in the United States, but in 2020 it reached a new high (Dimock & Wike, 2020). The tension— or better yet, hostility— between ideological lines was palpable as the country navigated controversy after controversy. How individuals navigate intense moments like this significantly depends on where they live and whether their political affiliation is the dominant group. Often many issues arise for those in the minority, as concepts of the spiral of silence and co-cultural communication theories illustrate. This study explores the challenges of those in the perceived political minority and offers nuance to our understanding of what it means to spiral into silence. Utilizing the phronetic iterative approach and the theoretical frameworks of spiral of silence and co-cultural theory, this study investigates how progressives in a staunchly conservative state communicate politics offline and online. The findings from this qualitative exploration reinforce notions of self-censorship, fear of isolation, and a quasi-statistical organ as ways to understand and adapt to their political landscape. However, findings also supported common SOS critiques that fear of isolation is not the only, nor most substantial, motivator for falling silent. Moreover, findings support the connection between Orbe's co-cultural theory and Noelle-Neumann's spiral of silence theory by addressing scholarly critiques regarding tactics and motivations beyond self-censoring and fear of isolation.

Committee: Eric Jenkins Ph.D. (Committee Member); Heather Zoller Ph.D. (Committee Member); Shaunak Sastry Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication

Honors Theses, Ohio Dominican University, 2022, Honors Theses

This thesis covers the multi-variant reasons for extensive hyper-partisanship in both the United States and the United Kingdom, as well as how they compare on this topic. Both nations are currently in a period of polarization, with the US suffering from the effects of a divisive leader, and the UK still conflicted over the issue of their exit from the European Union. This thesis explains how the different issues like the role of media, leadership, and political structures, have had an impact on the political climate of today, and which nation is experiencing the highest levels of hyper-partisanship.

Committee: Ronald Carstens Dr. (Advisor); Harry McKnight Prof. (Other); Martin Brick Dr. (Other) Subjects: Demographics; European Studies; History; International Relations; Modern History; Political Science; Public Administration; Public Policy

Bachelor of Arts (BA), Ohio University, 2022, Political Science

Recent years have seen online political subcultures that embrace populism and reject many liberal institutional norms gain increased influence over the mainstream political arena. Four of the most prominent of these subcultures include White Nationalists, believers of the QAnon conspiracy theory, the Black Lives Matter movement, and modern Socialists. All four of these groups have, to varying degrees, seen support for their views rise among mainstream media outlets, elected officials, and the public. However, the insistence of these groups on ideological purity and their often combative stance towards moderate colleagues has made influencing legislative efforts difficult for them at times. Additionally, these groups have had differential impacts on democracy in the United States. While the more progressive of these subcultures seek to expand democratic rights and participation to the poor and people of color, the more conservative among these groups often seek to restrict the political rights and influence of their ideological rivals and historically marginalized people.

Committee: DeLysa Burnier (Advisor) Subjects: Political Science

PHD, Kent State University, 2022, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Sociology and Criminology

Animosity between American partisans has been rising for decades, producing governmental dysfunction, uncertainty, and even political violence. Theory and research on social identity processes imply that as antagonism rises, it may erode a shared sense of what it means to be American. I argue that to minimize the resulting psychological uncertainty, partisans will be drawn to outrage-driven media that castigates political opponents. Specifically, partisans will find vitriolic messages about members of the other political party reassuring, provoking the opposing party to respond with similar messages. That same search for psychological certainty will undermine support for political opponents' legal rights and encourage partisans to punish their own relatively moderate in-group members that are not sufficiently hostile to the opposition. To test these predictions, I use crowd-sourced survey experiments in fictitious social media environments that expose participants to high or low levels of partisan conflict. Outgroup aggression consistently fails to provoke retaliatory responses, but predictions about how social identity processes themselves would produce extreme responses were supported.

Committee: Will Kalkhoff (Advisor); Susan Fisk (Committee Member); Ryan Claassen (Committee Member); Richard Serpe (Committee Member); Carla Goar (Committee Member) Subjects: Political Science; Social Psychology; Sociology

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2020, Communication

In the media, partisans are often portrayed in constant conflict and detrimental to the democratic process in the United States. If this is the case, partisans may engage in techniques to disguise their partisan affiliation, especially online. This study examines partisan identity expression through social identity theory, impression management, and willingness to self-censor. Utilizing two different samples, participants answer survey questions, read an article, then create an online profile for an imaginary discussion site. Results demonstrate that even if partisans are portrayed negatively, they will continue to identify with their party on their discussion site profile, counter to the hypotheses presented.

Committee: Robert Bond PhD (Advisor); William Eveland PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2005, Communication

The purpose of this study was to examine the 2004 Presidential election, both the “top-down” and “bottom-up” processes, by integrating the research areas of media framing, social identity, political discussion, and opinion leadership. In addition to replicating prior research, this study extended these areas of research to consider the possible differential effects that these “top down” and “bottom up” processes may have had on political efficacy and mobilization based on partisan identity. I conducted a quantitative content analysis of media with some qualitative observations, a secondary analysis of the National Election Studies 2004 time-series data, and a field study of the volunteer opinion leaders for the political campaigns in the battleground state of Ohio. Examining the media content during the two months prior to the election, I found that the polarization frame was used quite frequently across two different types of media, newspapers and television. While the use of the polarization frame did not seem to vary over time during those two months, certain key words and phrases indicating the presence of the polarization frame were more prominent in news coverage. The campaign media at times portrayed the United States as consisting of blue states, red states, and battleground states; as a nation sharply divided; as a nation consisting of a polarized electorate, split 50/50; as a nation of clashing cultures; as a nation filled with bitter, angry people. The survey results indicate that attention to media coverage of the campaign, frequency of political discussion with family and friends, and opinion leadership are all significant predictors of political efficacy and mobilization. In addition to these main effects, the survey results suggest that the effects of media attention, political discussion, and contact with an opinion leader are sometimes moderated by partisan identity. Replicating prior work on the functional role of opinion leadership, opinion leader (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Gerald Kosicki (Advisor) Subjects: