Date of Award
6-2011
Document Type
Open Access
Degree Name
Bachelor of Science
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
George Bizer
Language
English
Keywords
internet, news, information, credibility
Abstract
The Internet has become an integral part of society. While people have been turning to the Internet for their news, newspapers are still a powerful source of information. This study investigates whether the newspaper or Internet is more effective at altering people’s opinions. Participants included people ranging from 18-78 years old. After reading a political endorsement that appeared to come from either a printed newspaper or a news website, participants rated their opinions on this candidate. When the message included strong arguments, the source of the article did not have an effect on how well the articles were able to change people’s opinions. Conversely, when the message contained relatively weak arguments, people were significantly more persuaded by the newspaper article than the website article. These effects were not moderated by age, income or average time on a computer or reading a newspaper. This shows the overall untrustworthy nature of the Internet despite its growing popularity.
Recommended Citation
Sheldon, Sloane E., "What's More Persuasive? How the Internet and Newspaper Change Opinions" (2011). Honors Theses. 1060.
https://digitalworks.union.edu/theses/1060