Political Communication

"I Voted" stickers have long symbolized civic pride and voter participation in American political culture. This study examines the impact of these stickers' language on voting intentions, comparing the effects of future tense ("I Will Vote") with past-tense stickers ("I Voted") and control stickers. Through two pre-registered experiments involving low-propensity voters (Total N = 1500), we find that "I Will Vote" stickers significantly enhance voting intentions compared to "I Voted" and control stickers. We also find that "I Will Vote" stickers induce more positive attitudes toward voting and greater voting self-efficacy. These findings contribute to the understudied intersection of language and political behavior, illuminating how linguistic choices in voter outreach can shape civic engagement. We conclude with a call for scholars to explore how incorporating the future tense in get-out-the-vote campaigns can effectively boost turnout.

This study investigates the impact of media coverage on attitudes toward immigrants by analyzing the frequency of media contact with refugee individuals, the gender of immigrants portrayed in the media, and the moderating role of preexisting political attitudes. Using a two-wave panel survey (N = 1,066 respondents) and a content analysis of 1,303 news items from Germany in 2018, we assess the influence of media coverage on individual attitudes. Our results show no significant main effects of media contact with refugee persons on attitudes toward immigrants in general nor do we find significant differences in the effects of media contact with men versus women refugees. Rather, our models suggest that respondents’ political orientation and refugees’ origin play a crucial role. Specifically, we found that more frequent media contact with refugees leads to more negative attitudes toward refugees from the Middle East among right-leaning respondents and to more positive views on refugees from Africa among left-leaning respondents.

Two experiments examined the role of issue presentation and race on attitudes toward police (Study 1, N = 820) and election (Study 2, N =1405) reform in the United States. Across both studies, it was found that when a ballot measure was framed as though it would be implemented within a Black community, the policy received less support than the same ballot in a White community. For police reform, results suggest that more positive framing led to higher policy support than negative framing. Across both studies, symbolic racism scores predicted opposition toward police reform (Study 1) and support for election reform(Study 2), particularly for White participants, and found evidence of racial battle fatigue for Black participants. Together, this work illustrates the complicated ways race impacts U.S. public policy support and high-lights how racial dynamics negatively influence perceptions of policies that disproportionally impact communities of color. Considering these findings, we offer strategies, guided by framing theory, to help practitioners communicate more strategically about racialized policies. The normative goal of this work is to use this understanding to improve the equitability of public policy. That said, these efforts require practitioners and theorists alike to acknowledge the pernicious role racial prejudices play in the U.S. political system. (PDF) The Role of Framing, Race, and Symbolic Racism in Policy Support. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/388874069_The_Role_of_Framing_Race_and_Symbolic_Racism_in_Policy_Support [accessed Feb 12 2025].