Information environment, cognitive appraisal, and discrete emotions in citizens' political evaluation and behavior: The 1966 United States Presidential Campaigns

The research in my dissertation explores the dynamic role of emotions in citizen's political judgment processes on the basis of cognitive appraisal theory of discrete emotions. It focuses on the role of the mass media, including political talk radio, in constructing the structure of the political information environment, which in turn influences emotional responses toward political candidates. Part of this research involves examining how citizen's cognitive appraisals of political candidates would produce discrete emotions toward them such as fear, anger, happiness, and pride. The research also tries to determine if there is a distinctive role for each discrete emotion in determining citizen's political learning, participation, and attitudes toward the candidates. The findings of this study are as follows: (a) A citizen's emotions toward a political candidate involve appraisals or evaluations of that candidate's character and associated policy performances. (b) Rush Limbaugh's political talk radio show primes specific policy issues that then shape emotions toward a political candidate. (c) Limbaugh's one-sided ideological message results in a unidimensional structure and systematically increases the intensity of positive and negative emotions toward a political candidate. (d) Emotions perform a positive function in political deliberation and political behavior: fear and hope toward a political candidate facilitate the acquisition of more information about the candidate anger and pride motivate communicative participation, such as campaign-related activity.The findings in this study suggest that political emotion is, and indeed should be, a rational outcome of a voter's political information processing. Emotion plays a constructive role in furthering political participation and in shaping voting preferences. Indeed, emotions are important elements of deliberation that can inform and illuminate as well as motivate.