Perceived Motives of Public Diplomacy Influence Foreign Public Opinion.

ABSTRACT: Although many countries engage in public diplomacy, we know relatively little about the conditions under which their efforts create foreign support for their desired policy outcomes. Drawing on the psychological theory of "insincerity aversion," we argue that the positive effects of public diplomacy on foreign public opinion are attenuated and potentially even eliminated when foreign citizens become suspicious about possible hidden motives. To test this theory, we fielded a survey experiment involving divergent media frames of a real Russian medical donation to the U.S. early in the COVID-19 pandemic. We find that an adapted news article excerpt describing Russia's donation as genuine can decrease American citizens' support for sanctions on Russia. However, exposing respondents to informat

SUBMITTER: Rhee K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9807104 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature