Persuading the enemy: estimating the persuasive effects of partisan media with the preference-incorporating choice and assignment design
Files
Accepted manuscript
Date
2019-11-01
Authors
De Benedictis-Kessner, Justin
Berinsky, Adam J.
Baum, Matthew A.
Yamamoto, Teppei
Version
Accepted manuscript
OA Version
Citation
Justin De Benedictis-Kessner, Adam J. Berinsky, Matthew A. Baum, Teppei Yamamoto. 2019. "Persuading the enemy: estimating the persuasive effects of partisan media with the preference-incorporating choice and assignment design." American Political Science Review, Volume 113, Issue 4, pp. 902 - 916. 10.1017/S0003055419000418
Abstract
Does media choice cause polarization, or merely reflect it? We investigate a critical aspect of this puzzle: how partisan media contribute to attitude polarization among different groups of media consumers. We implement a new experimental design, called the Preference-Incorporating
Choice and Assignment (PICA) design, that incorporates both free choice and forced exposure. We estimate jointly the degree of polarization caused by selective exposure and the persuasive effect of partisan media. Our design also enables us to conduct sensitivity analyses accounting
for discrepancies between stated preferences and actual choice, a potential source of bias ignored in previous studies using similar designs. We find that partisan media can polarize both its regular consumers and inadvertent audiences who would otherwise not consume it, but
ideologically-opposing media potentially also can ameliorate existing polarization between consumers. Taken together, these results deepen our understanding of when and how media polarize individuals.