A scandal breaking mid-survey created a natural experiment testing media priming

Evidence

Respondents do not always tend to say “yes” on scales, and High RWAs do not always tend to yea-say more than Lows. My Ethnocentrism Scale provokes mostly “disagrees.” When participants sense that a test measures prejudice, they may adopt an overall response set to disagree in attempting to look unprejudiced. — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 815 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Short experimental news exposure measurably shifts perceived problem importance; Natural experimental conditions allow rigorous causal tests of media effects; Media priming effects had only experimental support, not real-world confirmation — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 1577 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Respondents who detect a test’s intent shift to socially desirable answering #complicates (0.75) — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 815