Abstracts Political Science

Information Exposure and Opinion Fortnation

by Samuel Cornwell Collitt

Are people biased in their exposure to, and processing of, political information? Do people only expose themselves to information that agrees with, and reinforces, their political dispositions; and do they process information to be consistent with their prior beliefs and opinions? This dissertation provides two studies that aim to answer these questions. The first study uses a seven-year panel survey to understand whether Americans’ news consumption is a function of their partisanship and ideology, as well as whether exposure to a particular ideology of news sources shapes one’s political identity. The second study uses an original survey experiment to assess: 1) individuals’ tendencies to follow misinformation from copartisan elites about climate change; and 2) tendencies to reject corrections from science experts that rebut this misinformation. I find little evidence that individuals are biased in how they seek and respond to information. One’s political identity does not inform the degree to which one is exposed to liberal or conservative news sources. Neither do individuals adhere to misinformation from copartisan elites when it is identified as such by scientists. Instead, I find that individuals seek out and respond to information in a largely unbiased manner: a boon for democracy and a well-informed public.