Todd K. Hartman

Research

My primary research interests lie within political psychology, particularly in the area of political communication. I am especially interested in how information from elites and the news media influence the way in which citizens interpret and evaluate political issues. After completing my dissertation, I plan to prepare selected chapters for publication and work on several ongoing projects. Below is a list of active studies (at various stages of progress) that is indicative of the type of research that I am pursuing and find intellectually engaging.

Who Said What? The Effects of Source Cues in Issue Framing (with Christopher R. Weber)

Drawing on previous literature concerning the role that source cues play in political information processing, we examine whether an ideological identity match between the source of a framed message and the respondent moderates framing effects. We test our hypotheses in two experiments concerning attitudes toward a proposed rally by the Ku Klux Klan. In Experiment 1, we find that framing effects occur only when there is an ideological match between speaker and respondent and demonstrate that this ideological source cue matching effect is mediated by the relative weight attached to specific values highlighted by the frames. In Experiment 2, we examine whether matched frames resonate equally well when individuals are simultaneously exposed to counterframes. The results from this experiment provide mixed support for our hypothesis. Taken together, identity matching appears to be an important factor to consider in future framing research. Under review at Political Behavior.

The Media's Message: How Portrayals of Muslims in the News Influence Attitudes

With the rise of Islamic fundamentalism and recent terrorist attacks, Americans have been increasingly exposed to images of Muslims committing violent acts, as well as strong anti-Islamic rhetoric from political elites. Although they comprise only a tiny fraction of the more than 1 billion Muslims worldwide, these Islamic extremists largely shape the American public's perception of this group as a whole, especially since few Americans have any direct contact with Muslims in their everyday lives. With two experiments I aim to explore the impact of repeated exposure to this information on people's attitudes toward Mulsims. Ultimately, this study will provide an interesting test of media effects with real-world implications, namely further escalation of conflict and a potential "clash of civilizations."

Political Polarization: The Effects of Ambivalence and Ideology in Group Discussions (with Howard Lavine)

For more than half a century, scholars have demonstrated the effects of group influences on political behavior. We expand on this rich literature with experiments to test the impact of group discussions (within homogenous social networks) on political attitudes. We have already conducted one experiment and are planning a follow-up study to examine the content of group discussions, which should help us better explain our findings from Study 1.

A Theory of Priming

In this theoretical chapter, I attempt to reconcile the differences between two types of priming effects observed in psychology research and communication studies--effects that are usually distinguished by the duration of time between exposure and measurement of the political attitudes. On the one hand, psychologists typically define priming as a "temporary" phenomenon that dissipates (without further activation) in seconds, if not minutes. Communication scholars, on the other hand, often find priming effects over the course of days, weeks, and, in some cases, months. I outline a theory of priming that explains these differences.

A Bayesian Approach to Studying the 2000 & 2004 Presidential Campaigns (with Skyler J. Cranmer)

The conventional wisdom is that campaigns have little impact on citizens' vote choices, as scholars generally argue that factors such as party identification are largely responsible for determining election outcomes. While we do not dispute the importance of partisanship in voting, we do argue that many previous studies of this issue did not have the kind of data currently available to answer this question empirically. Using data from the National Annenberg Election Surveys, Wisconsin Advertising Project, and content-coded news coverage throughout the 2000 and 2004 political campaigns, we are exploring the effects of campaign information on candidate evaluations and issue positions.

Attitudes toward Immigration Policy (with Matthew Odell)

This study explores attitudes toward the fastest growing immigrant group in the United States, namely Hispanics. More specifically, we are conducting a representative, mail-based survey of Long Island residents that examines how they think and feel about the recent influx of Hispanic immigrants in their local communities. We also plan to create a follow-up study with a national sample of adults recruited on the Internet to help generalize our findings.