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

ABSTRACT: 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. H

SUBMITTER: Santoro LR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8604325 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature