Date of Award

10-18-2024

Author's School

Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

Author's Department

Political Science

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Degree Type

Dissertation

Abstract

This dissertation explores three critical aspects of communication that significantly impact how individuals process information and form opinions in today's polarized media landscape. While the experiments in each chapter do not directly interact, they collectively illuminate the complex interplay of cognitive biases, misperceptions, and counter-normative speech in shaping public discourse. The first chapter examines argument congruency bias, demonstrating how individuals evaluate arguments based on their alignment with pre-existing beliefs while still distinguishing between strong and weak reasoning. It also investigates the potential of objectivity priming to mitigate these biases, yielding insights into the challenges of overcoming ingrained cognitive patterns. The second chapter focuses on the effectiveness of culturally-relevant corrections in combating misinformation, particularly within minority communities. Through experiments with Latino and Black participants, it reveals that while corrections generally reduce misperceptions, the expected superiority of in-group corrections is not consistently observed. These findings suggest a nuanced dynamic where perceived expertise and credibility play crucial roles in correction effectiveness. The final chapter investigates how exposure to various types of social media comments about race influences racial attitudes. Contrary to expectations, results indicate that brief exposures do not significantly alter deep-seated racial beliefs, highlighting the resilience of these attitudes and the limitations of social media in challenging entrenched norms. Together, these studies contribute to our understanding of how individuals navigate the complex information environment of the digital age. They underscore the persistence of cognitive biases, the challenges in correcting misinformation, and the need for more nuanced investigations into how social media interactions shape individual and collective attitudes toward race. These findings have important implications for designing effective interventions to promote critical thinking, combat misinformation, and foster more inclusive public discourse in an era of rapid information dissemination and polarization.

Language

English (en)

Chair and Committee

Jacob Montgomery

Committee Members

Betsy Sinclair; Morgan Hazelton; Taylor Carlson; Ted Enamorado

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