Television Exposure and Attitude Change: The Impact of Political Interest

A number of media effects studies have speculated that politically uninvolved individuals are susceptible to attitudinal or behavioral change as a result of media exposure. This possibility is investigated by testing a causal model of change in attitude toward President Nixon during the Watergate period (1972–1974). The initial analysis suggested that political interest was a source of interaction in the model; it was thus treated as a specifying variable by testing separate models for high and low interest respondents. Though exposure to Watergate-related television had no discernible impact on attitude toward Nixon for high interest individuals, it was the only significant predictor of 1974 Nixon attitude for persons with low political interest.