| Partisan political operatives often speak immediately after televised candidates, debates in an attempt to create a favorable impression of their candidate. This is known as "spin," and it is done because it is believed effective. This study hypothesized that spin can affect impressions of candidates because even though it is presented by biased sources, it presents overloaded "cognitive miser" voters with schemata that facilitate their processing task. using a videotaped production that included an actual candidates, debate and confederate spin speakers who appeared after the debate, the study manipulated the schematic content of the spins and conditions believed to affect heuristic processing. Results showed: (1) Partisan schematic spin amplifies impressions of the candidate of whom it speaks. (2) schematic spin intensifies impressions of candidate traits when the candidate in fact possessed the traits, as indicated by control subjects. (3) When the spin for one candidate highlights a positive trait the candidate possesses, and the opponent's spin highlights the opponent's opposite trait, trait ratings for each candidate become polarized. The results suggested that spin affects impressions of candidates in a specific way. Spin is most effective when its claims about the candidates are plausible and consistent with what the viewer has observed. |
