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Is it the Message or the Messenger? Examining Movement in Immigration Beliefs

Author

Listed:
  • Hassan Afrouzi
  • Carolina Arteaga
  • Emily K. Weisburst

Abstract

How do political leaders affect constituents’ beliefs? Is it rhetoric, leader identity, or the interaction of the two that matters? Using a large-scale experiment we decompose the relative importance of partisan messages vs leader sources, in the context of beliefs about immigration. Participants listen to anti-immigrant and pro-immigrant speeches from both Presidents Obama and Trump. These treatments are benchmarked to versions of the speeches recorded by an actor to control for message content, and to non-ideological presidential speeches to control for leader priming. Our findings show that political leader sources influence beliefs beyond the content of their messages in a special case: when leaders deliver unanticipated messages to individuals in their own party. This evidence supports the hypothesis that individuals will “follow their leader” to new policy positions.

Suggested Citation

  • Hassan Afrouzi & Carolina Arteaga & Emily K. Weisburst, 2023. "Is it the Message or the Messenger? Examining Movement in Immigration Beliefs," NBER Working Papers 31385, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:31385
    Note: POL
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • C90 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - General
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness

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