Title: The nature and origins of mass opinion /
Authors: Zaller, John, 1949-
Publisher: Cambridge University Press,
Year: 1992
Subjects: Public opinion; Attitude (Psychology); Political psychology.; Public opinion polls
Abstract: Zaller develops a comprehensive theory to explain how people acquire political information from the mass media and convert it into political preferences, and applies it to both domestic and foreign policy, trust in government, racial equality, presidential approval, and voting behaviour.
Contents: List of tables and figures -- Preface -- 1. Introduction: the fragmented state of opinion research -- 2. Information, predispositions, and opinion -- 3. How citizens acquire information and convert it into public opinion -- 4. Coming to terms with response instability -- 5. Making it up as you go along -- 6. The mainstream and polarization effects -- 7. Basic processes of 'attitude change' -- 8. Tests of the one-message model -- 9. Two-sided information flows -- 10. Information flow and electoral choice -- 11. Evaluating the model and looking toward future research -- 12. Epilogue: the question of elite domination of public opinion -- Measures appendix -- References -- Index.