Graduation Semester and Year

2018

Language

English

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Political Science

Department

Political Science

First Advisor

Herschel F Thomas

Abstract

Scholars have found that an environment that appears increasingly polarized in the United States has been accompanied by a decline in institutional trust over several decades. Scholarship involving partisanship and trust suggests that out-party groups are less receptive to political messages than in-groups. In the wake of the false emergency alert in Hawaii that sent citizens into a panic for 38 minutes, messaging and nuclear issues remain a salient topic for study. This thesis presents the results of an experiment (N = 2,310) investigating how political trust is influenced by the partisan interpretation of a message. Survey respondents were presented with treatment messages from varied political sources and then asked a posttest question regarding diffuse trust in government. Results demonstrate that partisanship is a strong factor that affects how people interpret a message, even in the event of a large-scale disaster. The findings suggest that partisanship and preferences for or against authoritarianism influence trust and message interpretation.

Keywords

Partisanship, Polarization, Political trust, Nuclear fear, Message processing, Authoritariansm, Authoritarian personality, Political psychology

Disciplines

Political Science | Social and Behavioral Sciences

Comments

Degree granted by The University of Texas at Arlington

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