This study investigates the dynamics of the reciprocal influence of political knowledge and attentive news use. News media are an important source for political information and contribute to political learning. Yet, this process is optimized with increasing levels of pre-existing knowledge about the political world. In extant literature, mutual interdependence is often suggested, but empirical proof is scarce. We propose to conceptualize the relationship of knowledge and news use as an upward spiral. The model is tested on data from a three-wave panel survey among 888 adolescents using growth curve modeling. The results support the model of a spiral of political learning. Interestingly, the influence of political knowledge on news use is estimated to be higher than the other way round.
BollenK. A.CurranP. J. T. (2006). Latent curve models: A structural equation perspective. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Interscience.
2.
BuckinghamD. (1997). News media, political socialization and popular citizenship: Towards a new agenda. Critical Studies in Mass Communication, 14, 344-366.
3.
ChaffeeS. H.KanihanS. F. (1997). Learning about politics from the mass media. Political Communication, 14, 421-430.
4.
ChaffeeS. H.SchleuderJ. (1986). Measurement and effects of attention to media news. Human Communication Research, 13, 76-107. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2958.1986.tb00096.x
5.
ChaffeeS. H.WardL. S.TiptonL. P. (1970). Mass communication and political socialization. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 47, 647-666. doi:10.1177/107769907004700401
6.
ChangL.KrosnickJ. A. (2003). Measuring the frequency of regular behaviors: Comparing the “typical week” to the “past week. Sociological Methodology, 33, 55-80. doi:10.1111/j.0081-1750.2003.t01-1-00127.x
7.
de VreeseC. H.BoomgaardenH. (2006). News, political knowledge and participation: The differential effects of news media exposure on political knowledge and participation. Acta Politica, 41, 317-341. doi:10.1057/palgrave.ap.5500164
8.
Delli CarpiniM. X.KeeterS. (1996). What Americans know about politics and why it matters. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
9.
DilliplaneS.GoldmanS. K.MutzD. C. (2013). Televised exposure to politics: New measures for a fragmented media environment. American Journal of Political Science, 57, 236-248.
10.
ElenbaasM.de VreeseC.SchuckA.BoomgaardenH. (2014). Reconciling passive and motivated learning: The saturation-conditional impact of media coverage and motivation on political information. Communication Research, 41, 481-504. doi:10.1177/0093650212467032
11.
EvelandW. P. (2004). The effect of political discussion in producing informed citizens: The roles of information, motivation, and elaboration. Political Communication, 21, 177-193.
12.
EvelandW. P.HayesA. F.ShahD. V.KwakN. (2005). Understanding the relationship between communication and political knowledge: A model comparison approach using panel data. Political Communication, 22, 423-446. doi:10.1080/10584600500311345
13.
EvelandW. P.MartonK.SeoM. (2004). Moving beyond “Just the facts”: The influence of online news on the content and structure of public affairs knowledge. Communication Research, 31, 82-108. doi:10.1177/0093650203260203
14.
EvelandW. P.ScheufeleD. A. (2000). Connecting news media use with gaps in knowledge and participation. Political Communication, 17, 215-237. doi:10.1080/105846000414250
15.
EvelandW. P.SeoM.MartonK. (2002). Learning from the news in campaign 2000: An experimental comparison of TV news, newspapers, and online news. Media Psychology, 4, 353-378. doi:10.1207/S1532785XMEP0404_03
16.
FiskeS. T.TaylorS. E. (1991). Social cognition (2nd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
17.
GraberD. A. (1997). Mass media and American politics. Washington, DC: CQ Press.
18.
GraberD. A. (2001). Processing politics: Learning from television in the internet age. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
19.
HigginsE. T. (1996). Knowledge activation: Accessibility, applicability, and salience. In HigginsE. T.KruglanskiA. W. (Eds.), Social psychology:Handbook of basic principles (pp. 133-168). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
20.
HivelyM. H.EvelandW. (2009). Contextual antecedents and political consequences of adolescent political discussion, discussion elaboration, and network diversity. Political Communication, 26, 30-47.
21.
InglehartR. J. (1990). Culture shift in advanced industrial society. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
22.
JeritJ. (2009). Understanding the knowledge gap: The role of experts and journalists. The Journal of Politics, 71, 442-456. doi:10.1017/S0022381609090380
23.
McLeodD. M.ShahD. V.HessD.LeeN.-J. (2010). Communication and education: Creating competence for socialization into public life. In SherrodL. R.Torney-PurtaJ.FlanaganC. A. (Eds.), Handbook of civic engagement in youth (pp. 363-392). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
24.
MondakJ. J.AndersonM. R. (2004). The knowledge gap: A reexamination of gender-based differences in political knowledge. The Journal of Politics, 66(2), 492-512. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2508.2004.00161.x
25.
NorrisP. (2000). A virtuous circle: Political communications in postindustrial societies. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
26.
PriceV.ZallerJ. (1993). Who gets the news? Alternative measures of news reception and their implications for research?Public Opinion Quarterly, 57, 133-164.
27.
PriorM. (2007). Post-broadcast democracy: How media choice increases inequality in political involvement and polarizes elections. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
28.
PriorM. (2010). You either got it or you don’t? The stability of political interest over the life cycle. Journal of Politics, 10, 747-766.
29.
SchemerC. (2012). Reinforcing spirals of negative affects and selective attention to advertising in a political campaign. Communication Research, 39, 413-434. doi:10.1177/0093650211427141
30.
SearsD. O.LevyS. (2003). Childhood and adult political development. In SearsD. O.HuddyL.JervisR. (Eds.), Oxford handbook of Political Psychology (pp. 60-109). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
31.
SearsD. O.ValentinoN. A. (1997). Politics matters: Political events as catalysts for pre-adult socialization. The American Political Science Review, 91, 45-65.
32.
ShahD. V.McLeodJ. M.LeeN. J. (2009). Communication competence as a foundation for civic competence: Processes of socialization into citizenship. Political Communication, 26, 102-117. doi:10.1080/10584600802710384
33.
ShahD. V.McLeodJ. M.YoonS. H. (2001). Communication, context, and community: An exploration of print, broadcast, and Internet influences. Communication Research, 28, 464-506. doi:10.1177/009365001028004005
34.
SigelR. S.HoskinM. B. (1981). The political involvement of adolescents. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
35.
SlaterM. D. (2007). Reinforcing spirals: The mutual influence of media selectivity and media effects and their impact on individual behavior and social identity. Communication Theory, 17, 281-303. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2885.2007.00296.x
36.
SotirovicM.McLeodJ. M. (2004). Knowledge as understanding: The information processing approach to political learning. In KaidL. L. (Ed.), Political communication research (pp. 357-395). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
37.
TichenorP. J.DonohueG. A.OlienC. N. (1970). Mass media flow and differential growth in knowledge. Public Opinion Quarterly, 34, 159-170.
38.
VerbaS.SchlozmanK. L.BradyH. E. (1995). Voice and equality: Civic voluntarism in American politics. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
39.
WeaverD.DrewD. (2001). Voter learning and interest in the 2000 presidential election: Did the media matter?Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 78, 787-798. doi:10.1177/107769900107800411
