Exemplification and Political Perceptions of the Public: An Analysis of Traditional and Partisan News Media

This dissertation analyzes the role of news media in shaping political perceptions of the public through exemplification. While scholarship finds that news media exemplification influences perceptions of public opinion, the research is limited by theoretical approaches to understanding the processes behind exemplification effects as well as study design issues. Using three experiments and one survey, this dissertation tests hypotheses and research questions derived from research in media effects and social psychology. The three experiments were conducted through an online survey, with a total of 982 subjects recruited through Amazon's Mechanical Turk. Survey data came from the 2011 Nebraska Annual Social Indicators Survey, which is a mail survey that was completed by 906 adults. Results from the experiments and survey suggest that political talk show hosts can influence perceptions of the public, and that perceptions of typicality are influenced by group membership and attitudinal congruity. Furthermore, both political knowledge and strength of national identity appear to influence how individuals make inferences about public opinion. Future research on news media exemplification should consider alternative issues and public perceptions to measure.