This dissertation seeks to understand how the need for orientation (NFO) and motivated reasoning influence the agenda-setting process at the level of the individual by examining whether and to what extent the two types of motivations guide individuals to process information differently, thereby resulting in differences in the second level of agenda-setting effects. The first motivation, the need for orientation (NFO), was developed as part of the agenda-setting theory in communication studies, while the other set of motivations (i.e., accuracy and directional goals) was introduced by the theory of motivated reasoning that was developed in the field of psychology. By combining the two motivations - NFO and motivated reasoning - this study demonstrated that the role of NFO on the agenda setting process was moderated by motivated reasoning, accuracy and directional goals. In other words, participants with High-NFO who used accuracy goals that motivated them to seek information in accurate ways searched for more news about unemployment which was manipulated as the most salient attribute. Their information seeking behaviors, in turn, led to higher agenda-setting effects. By comparison, participants with High-NFO who used directional goals to seek information that was congruent with their prior perspectives or perceptions were less likely to seek information about unemployment and showed lower agenda-setting effects. Overall, the findings of this study suggest that individuals’ motivation to seek more information about an issue (NFO) may not always result in higher agenda-setting effects: if their motivations are biased by strong prior perceptions or perspectives, then their eagerness to seek information may blind them to what the media cover. Individuals’ motivations are expected to play an increasingly important role in their information seeking behaviors in the new media environment where people have unprecedented opportunities to access a broad range of information that varies in content as well as perspectives. Implications for the findings of this study and for the role of the media in a democratic society are also discussed. / text

Political scientists have largely overlooked the issue of effort. It is a seemingly simple concept with great implications for the study of political behavior. With intuition alone we can often classify behaviors as more or less effortful. And many of the behaviors that interest political scientists concern this fundamental concept, but, somehow, we have failed to formally incorporate effort into our theories. Indeed, normatively speaking, citizens will engage the democratic process effortfully, not effortlessly. But what makes a behavior more or less effortful? How does the amount of effort expended in pursuit of a behavior affect the likelihood of actualizing that behavior? To answer these questions I have developed a resource model of political cognition which posits that effortful behaviors are essentially fueled by a limited, but renewable, supply of cognitive resources. In this dissertation I report the results of a series of experiments in which I apply the resource model to collective action behaviors as well as information processing. The results suggest that these behaviors, and mostly likely others as well, are, to a significant degree, dependent upon the sufficient availability of cognitive resources.

The sentencing provisions of section 718.2(a)(i) of the Criminal Code of Canada adopt the view that Canadians have the right to live in society without being subjected to hatred. The research has shown, however, that section 718.2(a)(i) misses the opportunity to address hate-motivated offences directed toward Aboriginal people. This is particularly troubling given the high rates of violence experienced by Aboriginal people and Aboriginal women. It is now widely acknowledged that Euro-centric laws and discriminatory policies flourished in Canadian society in an attempt to dismantle formerly organized Aboriginal nations and their strong structures of governance, diverse cultures of language, practices and traditions. Although later laws were entrenched to transform oppressive relationships, this thesis reveals there remains significant gaps in understanding hate motivated crimes directed toward Aboriginal people and Aboriginal women. The patterns of violence directed toward Aboriginal women substantiate the finding that for some men, Aboriginal women are considered prey. However, the sparse data available does not distinguish Aboriginal women as a specific class of people subjected to hatred. Reviewing the current case law, the thesis looks closely at: proving hate motivated offences, ideology, slurs, knowledge, degree of motivation, identity of the victim, the accused and issues surrounding denial of culpability. Several important broad findings and trends of the courts are drawn from the examined jurisprudence and literature. This thesis revels there is little case law giving meaningful attention to the hatred of Aboriginal people. Aboriginal people are rarely found to be victims of hate-motivated crimes. Aboriginal people and Aboriginal women are, with few exceptions, a missing category of protection under section 718.(2)(a)(i) in both the written provisions and case law. The direct and specific inclusion of Aboriginal women as a protected category of protection under s. 718.2(a)(i) and a definition provision of hatred would be consistent with principles of the constitution, human rights law and the provisions of the Criminal Code. Most importantly, it may assist in addressing gaps in addressing hate-motivated crimes directed toward Aboriginal people and Aboriginal women.

Female mice exhibit a hardwired preference to investigate pheromones released by male conspecifics. The neural pathways that convey pheromonal inputs to brain regions controlling motivated behaviors remain largely unknown. One brain region known to process pheromonal information conveyed via main- and accessory olfactory bulb inputs is the Medial Amygdala (Me), a limbic structure comprised of anterior (MeA) and posterior (MeP) subdivisions. Electrolytic lesions of the MeP blocked the normal preference of estrous female mice to investigate urinary odors emitted from breeding as opposed to castrated males whereas lesions of either the MeA or MeP significantly reduced females' display of the receptive lordosis posture in response to male mounts. Quantitative analysis of synaptic puncta in the efferent projection targets of these two amygdaloid subregions, visualized using fluorescent anterograde tract tracing techniques, revealed that the MeA and MeP differentially innervate several forebrain regions. The medial olfactory tubercle (mOT; a component of the ventral striatum) receives dense monosynaptic input from the MeA and responds selectively to breeding male (but not female) soiled bedding volatiles, indexed by augmented FOS expression. Using injections of the retrograde tracer, cholera toxin B (CTb), neurons were identified in the MeA and ventral tegmental area (VTA) that projected to the mOT in female mice and which also co-expressed FOS after exposure to breeding male, but not female, soiled bedding/urinary volatiles. This suggests that the MeA and VTA convey opposite-sex (male) pheromonal information to the mOT. Bilateral dopaminergic lesions of the anteromedial VS (a region which includes the mOT) eliminated females' preference for breeding male vs. female urinary pheromones, suggesting that dopaminergic modulation in the VS is necessary for the display of these behaviors. Lastly, bilateral silencing of mOT neuronal firing by the activation of the inhibitory DREADD receptor, hM4Di, induced by intraperitoneal injection of its ligand (CNO), also disrupted females' preference to investigate urinary odors from breeding males; this deficit was reversed when saline was administered instead of CNO. The Me, VTA, and mOT are essential segments of a neural reward circuit that motivates estrous female mice to seek out male pheromones, thereby facilitating mate recognition and reproductive success.

When conducting integrated audits, auditors are susceptible to motivated judgment biases that may negatively affect their judgment quality. In a 2012 report, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board found evidence of auditor judgment failures during their quality inspections of audit firms. In this experimental study with 160 senior auditors, I explore the effects motivated reasoning (outcome goal vs. no outcome goal) and accountability (outcome accountability vs. judgment accountability) have on determining internal control effectiveness. I posit that AS No. 5 encourages auditors to have an outcome-motivated goal when conducting internal control audits, which encourages information seeking behaviors. These information seeking behaviors encourage the auditor to attend more to confirmatory information that supports their motivated goal more than information that conflicts with the motivated goal. I hypothesize that auditors who conduct integrated audits are more likely to rate internal control effectiveness higher compared to auditors conducting a non-integrated audit. I also hypothesize that having a judgment based accountability will help to mitigate the biased effects when auditors have outcome-motivated goals.

No description available.

A large disconnect exists between the general public's acceptance of human-caused climate change and the prevailing consensus of actively publishing scientists. Previous research has examined both political and economic motivated reasoning, media influence in print and television, conspiracy ideation as a predictor of science rejection, and the role of the social construction of scientific knowledge in science rejection. Using these previously studied justifications for climate change rejection as a starting point, this research examines 212 written responses to a prompt at Climate Etc. asking the community to explain their acceptance / rejection of climate change. Using a textual content analysis, this study finds that media choice, motivated reasoning, conspiracy ideation, and the scientific construction of knowledge all play important roles in explanations for climate science rejection. Work and educational background, as well as a reframing of the scientific consensus as a "religion," add new analytical perspectives to the motivated reasoning explanations offered in prior research. This analysis also finds that the explanations for climate science denial given by respondents are often complex, falling into two or more of the explanation types suggesting that science rejection may be a more complex social process than previously thought.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.