City Research Online

Abstract

This article shows that citizens consider policy positions for the formation of their political preferences when they actively seek and find high-quality information, while they dismiss passively acquired and low-quality information. The study develops an extended theory of information and political preferences that incorporates the process of information acquisition and its connection with information quality. A novel experimental design separates the effects on political preferences due to information behavior as an activity from those due to selective exposure to information. The study applies this design in a laboratory experiment with a diverse group of participants using the example of issue voting and European integration in the context of the 2014 European Parliament elections.

Publication Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This article has been published in a revised form in British Journal of Political Science https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123416000600. This version is free to view and download for private research and study only. Not for re-distribution or re-use.© Cambridge University Press 2017.
Subjects:	J Political Science > JA Political science (General) J Political Science > JN Political institutions (Europe) Z Bibliography. Library Science. Information Resources > Z665 Library Science. Information Science
Departments:	School of Policy & Global Affairs > International Politics
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

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