Date on Honors Thesis

Fall 12-10-2021

Major

Political Science and Public Relations

Examining Committee Member

Drew Seib, PhD, Advisor

Examining Committee Member

Brittany Wood, PhD

Examining Committee Member

Ann Johnson, PhD

Abstract/Description

Climate change is in everyday conversation and on the platform for many elections. This issue has grown bigger to where action needs to be taken in order to counteract its effects. One way to examine this subject is through the media. Media allows for an outlet of communication between those with vital information and the public audience. This usage of media can be influential in informing people, as well as changing causation beliefs towards either side. Through this project, the question of how media consumption affects people’s climate change causation beliefs is examined. Using data provided through the 2016 American National Election Survey, relationships between media and climate change causation were exposed. Partisanship is also examined in the project as a factor in influencing media’s information as it is consumed by the audience and is positively associated with climate causation beliefs. Results indicate that media consumption does have an influence on climate beliefs in some circumstances.

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