The Effects of Negativity and Motivated Information Processing During a Political Campaign

• Published in: Journal of communication Vol. 56; no. 1; pp. 27 - 51
• Main Authors: Meffert, Michael F., Chung, Sungeun, Joiner, Amber J., Waks, Leah, Garst, Jennifer
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Malden, USA Blackwell Publishing Inc 01.03.2006; Blackwell; Oxford University Press
• Subjects: Attitudes; Bias; Candidates; Communication; Computers; Election campaigns; Electoral campaigning; Information communication; Information processing; Negative campaigning; Political behaviour; Political campaigns; Political information; Political opinions; Political sociology; Politics; Preferences; Press; Publicity; Social psychology; Sociology; Voter behavior; Voters; Voting behaviour; Candidate; Policy; Electoral campaign; Preference; Bias; Voter; Information

This research investigated how voters select, process, are affected by, and recall political information in a dynamic campaign environment. It was hypothesized that voters’ information selection, processing, and recall are subject to a negativity bias (i.e., negative information dominates over posit...