Date on Master's Thesis/Doctoral Dissertation

8-2019

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Degree Name

M.A.

Department

Political Science

Degree Program

Political Science, MA

Committee Chair

Gainous, Jason

Committee Co-Chair (if applicable)

Enders, Adam

Committee Member

Enders, Adam

Committee Member

D'Silva, Margaret

Author's Keywords

Ambivalence; political communication; attitude change; communication; internet; polarization

Abstract

Understating how individuals form, reinforce, or change attitudes has a long history in political science research. This study seeks to contribute to the existing literature by bridging the gap between the ambivalence and digital political communications literature by examining the relationship between digital political information consumption and ambivalent political attitudes. Using the American National Election Studies 2016 Time Series Study, I examine the role of digital political information consumption as a moderator of value conflict and ambivalent political attitudes. The findings suggest that increased levels of information gather significantly reduce group ambivalence, candidate ambivalence, and value ambivalence.

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