How motivated reasoning and temporal frames may polarize opinions about wildlife disease risk

• Main Authors: Sungjong ROH, MCCOMAS, Katherine A., RICKARD, Laura N., DECKER, Daniel J.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2015
• Subjects: framing; motivated reasoning; temporal distance; dual-processing; One Health; Business and Corporate Communications; Health Policy; Social Influence and Political Communication
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/4836; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/lkcsb_research/article/5835/viewcontent/how_motivated_reasoning.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

We draw from theories of motivated reasoning, dual-processing models, and attribution of responsibility to examine how scientific messages may increase public polarization with respect to emerging risk issues such as Lyme disease. A nationally representative sample of Americans (N = 460) read messages about Lyme disease that varied the framing of responsibility for the prevalence of the disease (human/wildlife vs. wildlife only) and when its effects will occur (today vs. in the next 10 years). The influence of framing was contingent on participants’ partisanship, which resulted in a boomerang effect among Republicans and increased the degree of political polarization regarding support for proenvironmental behaviors.