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Viewing a news story containing targeted “facts” about the behavior and experiences of a political figure led to substantial alterations in subjects’ perceptions of related personal characteristics. Changes in several of these perceptions were in turn related to changes in global affect — known to bear a strong relationship to vote choice and other politically relevant behaviors. Results were unaffected by partisan identification. This suggests that in an era of declining party loyalty and involvement in politics, the influence of televised newscast information about politicians may transcend party lines.
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Donald T. Cundy (1994) studied this question.
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