Implications of counter-attitudinal information exposure in further information-seeking and attitude change

摘要

Given that people rely heavily on their party affiliation to make their political decisions, an interesting dilemma occurs when people are exposed to counter-attitudinal information from the party they identify with. This paper examines how exposure to counter-attitudinal messages from the party an individual identifies with influence further online information seeking and attitude change. Using an adult sample (N=289), the study adopts an experimental design, measuring actual information seeking behaviour in time units through unobtrusive observation. Quantitative analysis was carried out on the data using SPSS. In terms of information seeking, neither attitude-party message consistency, nor partisanship strength, led to confirmation bias-seeking. In terms of attitude change, there was significant difference in attitude change between strong and weak partisans when they were exposed to the pro-attitudinal message. Despite popular belief, even those with strong party identification do not blindly seek out information that confirms their own belief. The type of information exposure, rather than an individual’s strength of party affiliation, influences the further information seeking patterns of individuals. In addition, attitude change patterns showed some complexities depending on various conditions. This paper calls for more nuanced understanding of political information seeking behaviour and attitude change.