Social Identification and Public Opinion: Effects of Communicating Group Conflict

Public opinion formation is a social and communicative process, and individuals'opinion thus depend in many ways upon the social context surrounding public issues. Consequently this research investigates the interaction between people'ssocial identities and mass media reports of public issues emphasizing conflicts of opinion between social groups. Current theory and research on social identification and intergroup behavior are used to develop a three-stage model of the cognitive, perceptual, and behavioral processes which may be triggered bymedia reports of group conflict. According to the model, a news report empasizing group conflict over an issue (1) cues its recipients to think about the issue through their particular group perspective, which (2) leads to polarized or exaggerated perceptions of group opinions, and finally (3) leads toexpressions of personal opinion consistent with these exaggerated perceptions ofgroup norms. Factors contributing to and inhibiting this kind of response are also incorporated into the model. Analyses of experimental data from college undergraduates who read and responded to experimentally prepared newspaper articles covering a campus issue are reviewed. The results are foud generally tosupport the social identification model and serve to illustrate how media reports emphasizing group conflicts may play an important role in the formation of public opinion.