Political Narratives: The Influence of Text Genre and Political Ideology on Political Attitudes

• In Event: AERA Poster Session 7
  In Poster Session: Innovations in Literacy Research, Theory, and Practice: Poster Session 2

Abstract

Politics has long been influenced by prevailing narratives surrounding contentious issues. These narratives not only create an easily digestible summary, but also attempt to persuade readers to hold a certain point of view. Readers are persuaded by becoming transported by a narrative, uncritically accepting information within it, and taking on that world’s perspective (Appel and Richter, 2007). It was the goal of this experiment to determine to what extent this narrative persuasion can occur in political discourse. Participants who read pro-reform (liberal) texts on the polarizing issue of criminal justice reform tended to conform their attitudes to said text, regardless of their pre-existing ideology. Meanwhile, participants responded best to expository texts on the nonpolarized issue of the opioid epidemic.

Author

• Sarah Elizabeth Cox, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities