While numerous studies have examined the role of group identity, particularly partisan identity, in influencing individuals’ socio-political attitudes and policy preferences, the impact of relational identity — individuals’ self-concept rooted in interpersonal relationships, roles, and responsibilities — is rarely examined. This dissertation outlines the different effects of group identity and relational identity on message processing and attitude change in socio-political contexts. This dissertation first draws on the social identity approach and motivated reasoning to understand how categorizing oneself in terms of group membership contributes to group polarization. Next, building on Brewer and Gardner’s (1996) notion of a relational self and interpersonal relationship literature, this dissertation examines the influence of relational identity on attitudes toward socio-political issues. Additionally, this dissertation offers a relational identity-based strategic communication solution that could potentially mitigate polarization resulting from group identity. Three online survey experiments were conducted in three different contexts, including immigration, climate change, and the COVID-19 pandemic. These three studies primed different group identities (e.g., partisan identity and national identity) and relational identities (e.g., being a friend and being a parent) and then presented issue-specific factual information. Results suggest that individuals’ partisan identities bias a broad range of judgments and lead to polarization over politicized issues, even when presented with factual information. However, linking a controversial socio-political issue and an issue-relevant relational identity has the potential to mitigate polarization resulting from group identity such as partisanship. / Media & Communication
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TEMPLE/oai:scholarshare.temple.edu:20.500.12613/4776 |
| Date | January 2020 |
| Creators | Zeng, Chen |
| Contributors | Hardy, Bruce W., Holbert, Lance, Arceneaux, Kevin |
| Publisher | Temple University. Libraries |
| Source Sets | Temple University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation, Text |
| Format | 192 pages |
| Rights | IN COPYRIGHT- This Rights Statement can be used for an Item that is in copyright. Using this statement implies that the organization making this Item available has determined that the Item is in copyright and either is the rights-holder, has obtained permission from the rights-holder(s) to make their Work(s) available, or makes the Item available under an exception or limitation to copyright (including Fair Use) that entitles it to make the Item available., http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
| Relation | http://dx.doi.org/10.34944/dspace/4758, Theses and Dissertations |
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