From fiction to frame of mind:

The effect of political portrayals on political cynicism

Name: Helena Uhl

ID: 12323764

Master’s Thesis

Graduate School of Communication

Master’s programme: Communication Science

Supervisor: Rinaldo Kühne

Date of completion: 31 January 2020 Abstract

Given the dark themes in political thrillers and the potential threat that political cynicism poses to the functioning of a democracy, how and why they may influence each other is of great scholarly concern. Using an experimental design, this study examined the indirect influence of negative portrayals of politics in fiction on the political cynicism levels of viewers. In particular, this study aimed to link the content characteristics of political thrillers, such as storylines about conspiracies and villainous politicians, to political attitudes. Although these portrayals fostered negative impressions of the fictional politicians portrayed, the latter did not affect political cynicism. However ad-hoc analyses revealed that they did increase perceived immorality of politicians, a facet of political cynicism. No evidence was found for individual differences in how people responded to negative portrayals. This research provides further support for the benefits of taking a genre-specific approach when examining the potential effects elicited by fictional media content, especially by linking specific narratives with relevant political effects.

1 Introduction

“For those of us climbing to the top of the food chain, there can be no mercy. There is but one rule: hunt or be hunted,” Frank Underwood famously said in House of Cards (Willimon &

Franklin, 2014). The idea that politics is a ruthless game with people solely looking out for themselves is not unique to this show, but rather a feature of the political thriller genre (Castrillo

& Echart, 2015). These portrayals have the potential to influence political attitudes, such as political cynicism. Studies have shown that fictional portrayals can influence not only strictly political attitudes (Jones & Paris, 2018; Kearns & Young, 2017) but also socio-political attitudes

(Gillig, Rosenthal, Murphy & Folb, 2017; Swigger, 2017) and political engagement (Hoewe &

Sherrill, 2019).

In particular, negative portrayals of politics in entertainment TV were linked to an increase in cynicism and decline of political trust. Guggenheim, Kwak and Campbell (2011) argue that cable opinion news often introduces elements of opinion and personal attacks on politicians to entertain viewers and is thus associated with more distrust of politicians. Similarly, satirical news shows produce humorous content by criticizing political actors and therefore are associated with systemic cynicism (Baumgartner & Morris, 2006; Tsfati, Tukachinsky & Peri,

2009). A negative portrayal of politics in fictional television shows was also shown to elicit this effect (Manoliu, 2019). If entertainment media can play a role in the cultivation of political cynicism, this has serious implications for democracy. Dalton (2004) argued that in order for a democracy to function and for citizens to take part in it, they need to have faith and trust in politicians and political institutions. This was also confirmed empirically by Pinkleton and

Austin (2004), who found that people with higher levels of cynicism were less likely to vote.

2 Therefore any media, which breeds political cynicism, indirectly poses a potential threat to the democratic process.

Despite the importance of the topic, there are still some gaps in research examining the political effects of fictional TV shows. A limitation of previous research is that they often manipulated negativity using two different types of content, such as two different films or two episodes from different television shows. This increases the potential for confounding variables, therefore making it unclear which aspect of the stimuli affected the outcome. This study aims to fill this gap and improve internal validity by conducting research using two episodes from the same show. Additionally, previous research often examined the effect of one specific book, film or TV show on relevant political attitudes. This makes it difficult to generalize results to other fictional media content inviting the possibility that these results were content specific and cannot be replicated when other stimuli are used. By examining the influence of specific content characteristics that define political thrillers, this study aims to produce results that are at least generalizable to the whole genre.

Individual differences are also under-explored when looking at the political effects of entertainment media. Related to the genre-based approach is the idea that fans of the genre may have different responses to the same content than ‘non-fans’. Young and Carpenter (2018) included previous exposure to the genre as a moderator and found that avid viewers of science fiction are more sensitive to priming effects. Therefore, previous exposure to the political thriller genre was included as a moderator. People who are particularly sensitive to or involved with negative media content may also experience more effects. Neuroticism is a personality trait,

3 which causes a tendency to experience negative affect (Bakker & de Vreese, 2016) and a focus on negative stimuli (Gotlib & McCabe, 1992). Therefore neuroticism may play a key role in a study exploring the influence of negativity in entertainment media on viewers and was included as a moderator.

This research aims to investigate whether negative portrayals of politics, like those commonly featured in political thrillers, influence perceptions of fictional politicians and ultimately their level of political cynicism in real-life. Furthermore, it will examine whether these effects are different for people with varying degrees of previous exposure to the political thriller genre and different levels of neuroticism.

Theoretical Framework

Fictional Political Shows and the Political Thriller Genre

Fictional political shows, particularly political thrillers, often feature very negative portrayals of politics, therefore this study examines their influence on political cynicism.

Designated Survivor, House of Cards and 24 all share common themes, storylines and characters that play a role in the development of cynical attitudes. In political fiction, the overall focus is usually on recreating the backdrop and inner-workings of the highest levels of real-life politics.

In America, that usually means it is set in the White House and the president is the main character (Rollins & O’Connor, 2003). Its realistic nature was argued to be one of the reasons why its consumption may have significant effects on viewers (Manoliu, 2019).

A key characteristic of political thrillers is the inherent negativity in the themes they portray. This type of media content often features government conspiracies, political

4 assassinations and selfish political villains (Giglio, 2005; Van Zoonen & Wring, 2012). These themes are not only fundamentally negative but are carefully chosen to induce uncertainty and anxiety, according to Castrillo and Echart (2015). Therefore they are likely to stimulate negative attitudes in viewers.

Additionally, several storylines commonly featured in political thrillers, are also likely to foster political cynicism. One key narrative is the presence of a large conspiracy in the highest levels of government where a cabal of political actors are trying to undermine democracy (Van

Zoonen, 2005). Both 24 and Designated Survivor feature conspiracies that involve either the president or the vice president directly. These political figures are usually portrayed as being extremely ruthless and going to severe lengths to protect their own interests (Castrillo & Echart,

2015). Often a related storyline will feature the conflict between this villain and a threatened individual who is trying to unmask this conspiracy (Palmer, 1979). This focus on a conspiracy and a threatened protagonist is likely to induce a certain uneasiness towards politics and politicians.

The character-driven storylines featured in political fiction may also play a role in this research. These storylines focus on an individual or several individuals who take part in politics, rather than examining a larger political issue (Gianos, 1998; Van Zoonen & Wring, 2012). This type of focus on the perpetrators of conspiracies over more generalized information on the political problem can lead to misplaced attributions of blame (Iyengar, 1996). After consuming this type of media content, viewers are more likely to blame a character’s personal attributes

5 rather than situational factors for any political problems. This, in turn, can foster negative attitudes towards these characters and play a role in increasing political cynicism.

Television Portrayals and Political Cynicism

According to framing theory, media content presents politics from a particular perspective, which has the capacity to affect how viewers perceive it (Goffman, 1986). Due to their themes, storylines and focus on political villain’s behaviors, political thrillers create a negative portrayal of politics that highlights political turmoil, the difficulty of fighting back against conspirators and blatant corruption. Thereby, laying the groundwork for the development of cynicism and apathy towards politics (Christensen & Haas, 2005), as these portrayals make related experiences that previously induced cynicism towards politics more accessible to viewers

(Cappella & Jamieson, 1997). Although many researchers simply refer to political cynicism as the opposite of political trust (Citrin & Luks, 2001; Southwell, 2008), in order to link these content characteristics to cynicism a more nuanced definition was needed.

Dekker and Meijerink (2012, p.44) defined it as “the negative political attitude of an individual, based on beliefs that the political actors, political institutions and the entire political system are immoral and incompetent”. They argue that a number of interrelated dimensions make up political cynicism: perceived immorality of politicians, political institution, the political system, as well as, perceived incompetence of politicians, political institutions and the political system. By highlighting certain aspects that influence these perceptions of immorality and incompetence and making these more accessible, political thrillers alter perceptions of the real world inviting people to think more cynically about politics.

6 These types of framing effects are long established in news media content. For example, strategic frames that portray politicians as being in constant competition with each other were linked to political cynicism (Cappella & Jamieson, 1997; De Vreese, 2004). Zoizner (2018) argues that this occurs because instead of seeing politicians as acting in the public’s interest, viewers perceive politicians as only interested in gaining power (Zoizner, 2018). A meta-analysis of the effects of strategic frames also found them to consistently increase political cynicism in general, as well as, in regard to specific issues (Zoizner, 2018). However, some studies have found that fictional media can have similar persuasions effects. The way fictional media framed torture and abortion was found to have significant effects on attitudes toward these controversial political issues (Kearns & Young, 2017; Mulligan and Habel, 2011).

In a similar manner to strategic frames, negative storylines in entertainment media genres were also shown to cultivate negative political attitudes. Pfau, Moy and Szabo (2001) found that regular viewing of science fiction, which portrays government as rife with conspiracy, resulted in significant reductions of trust in government. A theme of “justified resistance to elite injustice” (Jones & Paris, 2018, p. 972), a feature of the totalitarian-dystopian genre, increased the willingness to justify fanatical and aggressive forms of political activism. Manoliu (2019) demonstrated that different narratives in political fiction affected political cynicism. She found that a political show with a negative tone, characterized by the depiction of a politician's ruthless pursuit of power, led to increased political cynicism, especially when viewers perceived the show to be realistic. Cumulatively, these studies point to a clear link between negative television portrayals, both in fiction and nonfiction, and political cynicism.

7 • H1: Exposure to a fictional television show that portrays politics negatively increases

political cynicism levels compared to fictional television shows that portray politics

neutrally.

The Mediating Role of Negative Character Evaluations

When consuming entertainment media, viewers are automatically drawn towards its characters and simultaneously form impressions of them based on the cues presented (Bryant &

Zillmann, 1991). The negative portrayal of politics mentioned above and the features it makes most accessible in viewers’ minds facilitate negative impression formation, particularly by eliciting negative trait inferences about the political characters portrayed (Cappella & Jamieson,

1997). This is because people commit the fundamental attribution error, attributing the behavior of others to dispositional, rather than situational factors (Ross, 1977). Character-driven storylines in political fiction, which place the viewers’ focus on the actions taken by specific politicians in certain situations rather than more generalized descriptions of a political problem, exemplify this.

Iyengar (1996) highlights that these more personal depictions increase the probability of the attribution error occurring. Therefore viewers are more likely to place the blame for negative behavior in political fiction on the inherent traits of the characters portrayed.

These inferences about inherent traits allow viewers to make evaluative judgements of the characters. Implicit personality theory states that people infer other related traits upon the knowledge of a single trait about a person (Schneider, Hastorf & Ellsworth, 1979). This suggests that once viewers make a trait inference about a fictional character, they will immediately use this trait to evaluate them as either ‘good’ or ‘bad’ (Bryant & Zillmann, 1991). Therefore any

8 negative information about the character cued in the TV show, such as being depicted as selfish and power-hungry, leads to an unfavorable evaluation. Based on online processing models

(McGraw, Lodge & Stroh, 1990), this occurs because only affective impressions of characters are stored in memory and therefore, these are used when making a final evaluation of a character.

• H2a: Exposure to a negative portrayal of politics in a fictional television show leads to the

adoption of a more negative attitude towards the fictional politicians in the television show.

These negative evaluations of the television characters go on to have more serious effects on the viewer's real-life political attitudes. Cappella and Jamieson (1997) argue that negative trait appraisals of specific politicians, especially when repeated, will spillover into perceptions of politicians in general and breed cynicism. This effect occurs because information about the negative side of politics is not received in a vacuum. Instead, every new media experience occurs in the context of previous political experiences (Schank & Abelson, 1995). Price and Tewksbury

(1997) argue the use of memory-based processing techniques allows viewers to make the connection between a single politician and all politicians because negative appraisals of television characters trigger similar negative experiences of politics in memory. More specifically, they affect how easily other negative attributions of politics and political actors can be recalled. As all these negative associations are stimulated, viewers develop more negative attitudes towards politics.

Research has also demonstrated a spillover effect of negative perceptions of fictional characters on real-life political attitudes (Manoliu, 2019). This occurs in part because fictional television gives insights into areas of life that viewers do not have access to, such as the

9 government’s use of torture (Kearns & Young, 2017) and how police solve serious crimes

(Surette, 2007; Donovan and Klahm, 2015). The average person has no experience of what happens inside the highest levels of government, therefore they may also rely on fictional portrayals for information. People were also shown to use the facts gained from fiction to answer general knowledge questions about the real world (Marsh, Meade & Roediger, 2003) and integrate it into arguments about real-life issues in a discussion (Delli Carpinini & Williams,

1998). This suggests that viewers are just as likely to retrieve information learned from political fiction as nonfiction to inform political attitudes (Gierzynski, 2018). Therefore negative information gained about fiction may also affect real-life political attitudes.

• H2b: A more negative attitude towards fictional politicians increases political cynicism.

Using the two hypotheses above a relationship can be derived from negative portrayals to political cynicism. Hypothesis 2a and 2b imply that there is an indirect effect of negative portrayals of politics on political cynicism, by way of negative evaluations of fictional characters, based on a model proposed by Hayes (2018).

• H2c: The effect of the exposure to a negative fictional television show on political

cynicism is mediated by the adoption of a negative attitude towards the fictional

politicians in the television show.

The moderating role of previous exposure to the political thriller genre

Impression formation, under online-processing models, may be based on behaviors depicted in media content, but it may also need to fit with a pre-existing framework of ideas.

10 Previous research by McGraw, Lodge and Stroh (1990) found that people rely on information received earlier more to make evaluations than information received at a later stage. This suggests that although the most recent media exposure may lead to the development of negative evaluations, previous exposures that resulted in the same types of evaluations also plays a role.

Therefore, previous exposure to the themes and storylines of the political thriller genre will already have created a negative impression of fictional politicians.

Online-processing models propose that only affective evaluations are stored in long term memory, while the specific information that led to the formation of these impressions is discarded (McGraw, Lodge & Stroh, 1990). Based on this assumption one-time exposure to negative media content may already lead to the formation of such impressions, however repeated exposure may strengthen them (Cappella & Jamieson, 1997; Iyengar 1991). This occurs because each new exposure to media content will activate the existing schema, the overall impression of fictional politicians in long-term memory (Price & Tewksbury, 1997; Scheufele, 2004). Thus, viewers with extensive experience of the political thriller genre may already have an overall negative impression of these types of characters. So when they are exposed to new media content from the same genre, this already established impression is activated. Taber and Lodge (2006) found that people were more likely to process information that was already in line with their previously held beliefs, while they counter-argued contradictory statements. Thus the fact that it activates pre-existing impressions, makes it more likely that these new impressions will be processed and further added to the online tally.

11 Previous research has also examined the influence of genre on political attitudes, such as the effects of dramas (traditional and progressive) on views about woman’s rights (Holbert, Shah

& Kwak, 2003) and crime dramas on attitudes towards capital punishment and gun control

(Holbert & Shah, 2004). These studies provide consistent evidence that portrayals that contain information that people are already familiar with are more likely to produce effects compared to new information on its own (De Vreese & Boomgaarden, 2006).

• H3: The effect of the exposure to fictional television shows, which portray politics

negatively, on the adoption of a more negative attitude towards the fictional politicians

will be stronger for those who have a higher familiarity with the political thriller genre,

than those with a lower level of familiarity, indirectly also affecting its relationship with

political cynicism.

The moderating role of neuroticism

Finally, as this study is examining the influence of negative portrayals on political cynicism, the role of personality traits that infer a predisposition to experience negative emotions is investigated. Neuroticism is part of the big five personality traits and defined as a long-term tendency to be in a negative or anxious emotional state (Costa & McCrae, 1992). Previous research has indicated that different personality traits play a role in the media’s influence on political attitudes and behaviors. Kalmoe, Gubler, and Wood (2018) found that those with high levels of trait aggression responded to violent metaphors by sticking closer to the views of their political party, therefore increasing issue polarization.

12 Neurotic individuals are more fearful, anxious and depressed and therefore have a higher tendency to experience negative affect (Bakker and de Vreese, 2016). This tendency means that neurotic individuals tend to focus on negative rather than positive information and stimuli

(Gotlib & McCabe, 1992; Rogers & Revelle, 1998). This has the potential to influence how neurotics perceive negative information presented by the media. Weibel, Wissmath and Stricker

(2011) found that neurotics tend to experience higher levels of presence than those with lower levels of neuroticism because they get more emotionally involved in media content. Presence or

‘telepresence’ is defined as feeling immersed or present in an environment generated by communication media that is different from where the viewer is physically located (Steuer,

1992).

This feeling of being immersed strengthens any potential media effects, according to

Wirth, Hartmann, Böcking, Vorderer, Klimmt and Schramm (2007), because the viewer feels as though they are a part of the depicted environment. When neurotics were shown sad or fearful content, they experienced higher presence and thus had a more intense negative emotional response (Weibel et al., 2011). Based on this research, it could be argued that neurotics will also feel more presence when consuming political thrillers and experience the negative political environment more vividly. Therefore the proposed framing effects will be strengthened for individuals who score high on neuroticism. The increased presence will most clearly affect the first relationship between exposure to a negative portrayal of government and politics and attitudes towards TV characters.

13 • H4: The effect of the exposure to fictional television shows, which portray politics

negatively, on the adoption of a more negative attitude towards the fictional politicians

will be stronger for those with higher levels of neuroticism, than those who are less

neurotic, indirectly also affecting its relationship with political cynicism.

Methodology

Participants

Sixty-one participants aged between 18 and 39 took part in this study. Previous research showed that this age group was particularly disengaged and distrustful of politics making them ideally suited for this research (Chevalier, 2019; Zukin, Keeter, Andolina, Jenkins & Delli

Carpini, 2006). Previous studies examining the political effects of fictional media content found significant results with samples of a similar age (Glas & Taylor, 2018; Swigger, 2017).

Convenience sampling was used due to limited time and resources. Most participants were recruited through the University of Amsterdam’s Laboratory, but some came from the researcher’s personal network. They either volunteered or were offered credits in exchange for participation. The study was granted Institutional Review Board approval by the university’s ethical committee. Out of the 61 people, three were excluded because they failed the attention check (N = 58). One-third of participants were male (N = 18, 31%), while 40 were female (69%).

The average age of participants was 22.22 (SD = 4.17). Most participants had either a high school or undergraduate degree (88%).

14 Procedure

This study used a one-factorial experimental design, with negative versus neutral portrayal of politics as the main independent variable. The experiment was conducted in individual cubicles at the University of Amsterdam laboratory. To increase the sample size, some completed the experiment online from home. Participants were first asked for informed consent and to log onto their Netflix accounts. Personal accounts were used to prevent copyright infringement. Participants were then randomly assigned to either the negative or neutral conditions and the researcher selected the appropriate episode of Designated Survivor.

Participants were instructed to pay close attention to the episode. To ensure that all participants had the same viewing experience, the researcher showed all episodes in English with subtitles. Next participants were asked to fill in an online questionnaire, which was designed in

Qualtrics. Completing the questionnaire took about 10 minutes. The variables were measured in the following order: political cynicism, neuroticism, attitudes towards politicians in the TV show, perceived realism, previous exposure to political thrillers, political ideology and political interest.

An attention and manipulation check (Appendix 1.1) were included after the outcome variable.

Demographics were included in the end.

Stimulus and Manipulation

Portrayal of politics (negative vs. neutral) served as the experimental factor. The stimuli material was selected from the television show Designated Survivor, as it is representative of political thrillers. It tells the story of a low-level congressman who becomes president overnight after an act of terrorism kills all senior-level politicians in America (IMDb, 2019). The television

15 show features all content characteristics relevant for the genre: an attempted assassination, a conspiracy, storylines about an FBI agent fighting to track down the conspirators, and a focus on individual characters. However, these features are a lot more prominent in some episodes than others. This allows for the creation of an experimental condition (negative portrayal) and a control condition (neutral portrayal) using the same TV show. Therefore the main characters, settings, type of storytelling and overall depictions of American political processes remain largely the same throughout both conditions. This significantly improves internal validity, compared to experiments that use episodes from different TV shows and helps to ensure that the main difference between the two episodes is only the portrayal of politics.

While ‘Warriors’ features all the hallmarks of the political thrillers genre that could elicit political cynicism, ‘The Enemy’ does not. Specifically, the themes, storylines and focus on individuals who carry out negative actions distinguish the experimental from the control condition. ‘Warriors’ not only features pessimistic and threatening themes, such as a conspiracy and attempted assassination of the president (Rahman, 2017), but also depicts storylines about a power-hungry political villain and an FBI agent, whose life is put in danger when she tries to unmask the fore-mentioned conspiracy (Sims, 2016). Finally, another feature of political thrillers is that they focus on individuals and their actions. In ‘Warriors’, this focus is on the vice- president, who tries to seize power by arranging an assassination and his unethical actions to try to cover it up. Therefore the focus is on negative behaviors of politicians, especially as there is also a marked absence of a more righteous political character.

16 Alternatively, the main theme of season one, episode four entitled ‘The Enemy’ is the relatively neutral day-to-day power struggles within the government. The episode features storylines of the president’s handling of foreign policy matters, as well as, his political steps to prevent intolerance towards minority groups in the south of the US. President Kirkman, who has good morals and intentions (Sims, 2016) is front and centre in this episode, unlike in ‘Warriors’ where he is absent due to the recent assassination attempt. Therefore the character-driven narratives focus on a positive character.

By using full episodes of the TV show, ecological validity was maximized, as viewers would see them the same way as in their daily lives. This also ensured that the narrative remained intact and increased its potential to cause media effects. A qualitative pre-test was conducted with five participants. It concluded that ‘Warriors’ clearly portrayed politics in a more negative light than ‘The Enemy' due to its focus on the conspiracy and the politicians involved.

Operationalization

Dependent variable

Political Cynicism was gauged using a comprehensive battery of measures covering both the perceived immorality and incompetence of politicians, political institutions and the political system, adopted from research by Dekker and Meijerink (2012). Minor changes were made to remove references to Dutch politics. Twenty-six items together measured general political cynicism (e.g. ‘Political parties are all talk’; ‘politicians are honest’), however, the measure was theoretically made up of six sub-dimensions (Appendix 1.2). For all items, participants were asked to answer on a scale from 1 (fully disagree) to 5 (fully agree). The 26-item scale was very

17 reliable overall (� = .90). Half of the items were worded negatively to prevent acquiescence bias and recoded for the final analysis. The final variable was calculated using the average of all 26 items, with a higher score indicating higher levels of cynicism (M = 3.11, SD = 0.58).

Mediator

The measure for Attitudes towards politicians featured in the television show was adapted from research by Carlson, Ganiel and Hyde (2008), as well as, von Sikorski and Herbst (2019). It used a five-point semantic differential scale with seven pairs of adjectives (e.g. likable/ unlikeable). Participants were alternately presented with either negative or positive items first to avoid bias. An exploratory factor analysis using principal component extraction with an oblimin rotation method indicated that the scale was unidimensional (only one component with

Eigenvalue above 1.00), explaining 46.23% of the variance in the seven original items. The seven-item scale (Appendix 1.3) was reliable (α =.79). A mean score was calculated for the final variable, with a higher score demonstrating more positive perceptions of TV politicians (M =

3.12, SD = 0.79).

Moderators

Indicators of neuroticism stem from the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised

Short Form (EPQR-S) developed by Eysenck, Eysenck and Barrett (1985). This measure consisted of 12 dichotomous items, such as ‘Are you an irritable person?’. Participants were asked to indicate yes or no in regard to whether it described their personality. Each yes was assigned one point, while a no received zero points. This 12-item dichotomous scale (Appendix

18 1.4) was reliable, (� = .74). A sum score was calculated with higher scores indicating higher levels of neuroticism (M=5.31, SD = 3.02).

Previous exposure to political thrillers was measured in a similar manner to Young and

Carpenter’s research (2018). Participants were asked to indicate their familiarity with television shows and movies belonging to the political thriller genre. They were selected by the researcher based on IMDb’s category for political thrillers and whether or not they fit the genre description proposed in the theoretical framework. Participants were asked whether they had seen political thrillers, such as 24 and The Manchurian Candidate, and to fill in additional political thrillers that they had seen. Each political thriller seen was given one point. The scale of movies selected by the researcher (Appendix 1.5) was unreliable (� = .43), however, this is not uncommon with dichotomous items. A sum score was calculated using the 12 items (M= 1.95, SD = 1.59).

Control variables

Political ideology was included as a control variable because the episode entitled ‘The

Enemy’ focuses on issues, such as immigration in the US, that could increase political cynicism more on one side of the political spectrum than the other. It was measured using a single item self-placement scale deemed very reliable and valid (Scherpenzeel & Saris, 1997). Participants were first told ‘In politics, people sometimes talk about liberal and conservative’. Then they were asked to indicate where they would place themselves on an 11-point scale, deemed to have the highest validity by Kroh (2007), from 0 meaning very liberal to 10 meaning very conservative. In general participants were mostly very liberal, (M = 2.76, SD = 2.02).

19 Perceived realism was included because the events in ‘Warriors’ were less realistic than those of ‘the Enemy’ possibly affecting their influence on cynicism. To measure perceived realism two items were used that were adopted from Busselle and Bilandzic’s research (2008) in the same manner as Manoliu (2019) did. Participants were asked to answer two questions, in regard to how realistic the portrayal of events and characters in this episode were. They were asked to rate the episode on a scale from one (not realistic at all) to five (very realistic). The two perceived realism items did not correlate r(58) = .25, (p = .058). Therefore they were added as separate control variables, measuring perceived realism of events (M = 2.78, SD = 1.21) and of characters (M = 2.98 , SD = 1.08).

Finally, political interest was included as a control variable because differences could affect attention and understanding of the plot, which could alter the intensity of media effects. It was measured using a single question used in both the American National Election Study

(ANES) and the German Longitudinal Election Study (GLES). Prior’s (2018) research indicated that this measure of political interest was just as valid as other similar measures for the same variable. Participants were asked to indicate their interest based on a five-point scale from not interested at all to extremely interested (M = 3.24, SD = 1.05). The most common demographics

(age, gender & education) were also included.

Results

Manipulation Check

A manipulation check was carried out using an independent samples t-test. It revealed that participants in the experimental condition (M = 2.37, SD = 1.07) perceived the portrayal of

20 politics in the stimuli as more negative than those in the control condition (M = 3.21, SD = 1.03).

The mean difference (mdiff = 0.85) was statistically significant, t(56) = -3.07, p = .003, 95% CI

[-1.40, -0.30]. Therefore the manipulation was successful, the negative portrayal of politics in the experimental condition was perceived as such by the participants in the experiment.

Randomization Checks

Randomization checks were carried out to determine if random assignment was successful and whether control variables should be included in the final analyses. Two Chi-

Square analyses were carried out to determine whether gender and data origin were comparable across the two experimental conditions (Appendix 2.1). Both analyses revealed no significant differences, therefore randomization was successful in terms of participants’ gender and whether they did the experiment in the lab or online. To compare the other variables in relation to the conditions, several ANOVAs were conducted (Appendix 2.2). They also found that randomization across the two conditions was successful in terms of age, education, ideology, political interest, and perceived realism (events and characters). Therefore none of the control variables were included in the formal analyses used in this paper, however alternative analyses with control variables were conducted.

Main Analyses

Before running the analyses, it was confirmed that both the assumptions of heteroscedasticity and normality were met for this analysis (Appendix 3.1). Therefore, a moderated mediation analysis using model nine of Hayes’s PROCESS was conducted, with portrayal of politics (negative vs. neutral) as the independent variable, attitudes towards

21 politicians featured in the television show as the mediator, two moderators (neuroticism and previous exposure to political thrillers) and political cynicism as the dependent variable. There was a non-significant effect of portrayal of politics on political cynicism when ignoring the mediator, b = 0.07, t = 0.43, p = .666, 95% CI [-0.25, 0.38]. Thus, H1 that negative portrayals of politics increase political cynicism levels compared to neutral portrayals was not supported.

A significant negative effect of portrayal of politics on attitudes towards politicians was found, b = -0.50, t = -2.35, p = .023, 95% CI [-0.92,-0.07]. Participants who viewed the negative portrayal had more negative attitudes towards TV politicians, than those who saw the neutral portrayal. Therefore, H2a that negative portrayals of politics foster more negative attitudes towards the fictional politicians portrayed was supported. However, there was no support for

H2b that more negative views of fictional politicians increase political cynicism. No significant effect was found for the effect of attitudes towards politicians on political cynicism, b = -0.18, t =

-1.84, p = .072, 95% CI [-0.38, 0.02]. Although the first part of the mediation model was significant, the second part was not, therefore H2c that there is an indirect effect of exposure to negative portrayals of politics on political cynicism via the adoption of negative attitudes towards fictional politicians was also not supported.

Neither previous exposure to political thrillers or neuroticism had an effect on attitudes towards politicians. No moderation effect was found for portrayal of politics and previous exposure to political thrillers on attitudes towards politicians, b = -0.08, t = -0.53, p = .598, 95%

CI [-0.36, 0.21]. Therefore, no evidence was found to support H3 that experienced viewers of the

22 political thriller genre will feel a stronger effect of negative portrayals of politics on the development of negative attitudes towards fictional politicians.

Neuroticism also did not moderate the relationship between portrayal of politics and attitudes towards politicians, b = -0.02, t = -0.23, p = .817, 95% CI [-0.17, 0.13]. Therefore, no evidence was found to support H4 that those with higher levels of neuroticism will feel a stronger effect of negative political portrayals on the formation of negative views of fictional politicians. The significance levels of the relevant variables did not change when all relevant control variables were included and the latter were not significantly related to either outcome variable. A full table of results, without and with control variables, is included in the appendix

(Appendix 4.1-4.2).

Ad-hoc Analyses

Although the analysis above produced limited results in regard to the effect of portrayal of politics on political cynicism. Further ad-hoc analyses (moderated mediation analysis using model nine of Hayes’s PROCESS) were done using each sub-dimension of the political cynicism scale, developed by Dekker and Meijerink (2012). The assumptions of heteroscedasticity and normality were also met for each additional ad-hoc analysis (Appendix 3.2).

The most noteworthy result was an indirect effect of portrayal of politics on perceived immorality of politicians (political cynicism sub-dimension). The direct effect of portrayal of politics on perceived immorality of politicians remained insignificant, b = 0.11, t = 0.64, p =

.522, 95% CI [-0.23, 0.45]. As the same variables were used in the first part of the model as in the main analysis, a significant effect of portrayal of politics on the mediator (attitudes towards

23 fictional politicians) was found, b = -0.50, t = -2.35, p = .023, 95% CI [-0.92,-0.07]. This is also true for each additional analysis. A significant negative effect of attitudes towards politicians on perceived morality of politicians was also found, b = -0.27, t = -2.52, p = .015, 95% CI [-0.48,

-0.06]. Therefore more negative attitudes towards fictional politicians led to higher levels of one facet of political cynicism. A significant indirect effect of negative portrayals on perceived immorality of politicians (via negative attitudes towards fictional politicians) was also found, b =

0.12 (SE = 0.08), 95%CI [ <0.01, 0.31]. The significance levels of all relevant variables did not change when control variables were included and the latter variables were also not significantly related to the outcome variable (Appendix 5.1).

Portrayal of politics was not indirectly related with any of the other sub-dimensions of political cynicism. A summary of results can be found in the appendix, (Appendix 5.2). Each analysis was originally done without control variables, due to successful randomization

(Appendix 2.1& 2.2). However, the results were compared to a model with control variables.

After the inclusion of control variables, the significance levels of the main variables did not change. However education level played a role in perceived incompetence of politicians and political institutions (Appendix 5.3). Highly educated people were more likely to perceive politicians (b = 0.38, t = 2.63, p = .011, 95% CI [0.09, 0.66]) and political institutions as incompetent (b = 0.35, t = 2.05, p = .046, 95% CI [0.01, 0.70]). The implications of these findings are discussed in the next section.

24 Discussion

This study only found evidence to corroborate one of the six hypotheses proposed.

Therefore the central finding of this study is that the negative portrayals of politics in political thrillers lead to the development of negative attitudes towards the politicians portrayed. However additional findings were found by doing ad-hoc analyses. They revealed that these negative attitudes towards the politicians, in turn, increased the perceived immorality of politicians, a sub- dimension of political cynicism. Based on these findings, there is evidence to argue that fictional portrayals of politics can play a significant role in the development of real-life political attitudes.

However, they also show that the effects of fiction on these political attitudes are not universal.

There was no indirect effect of negative portrayals on general political cynicism. Only very specific real-life attitudes that are closely tied to the narrative featured in the media content are susceptible.

The original hypotheses proposing both direct and indirect effects of portrayal of politics on general political cynicism were not supported. Although previous research found effects of media portrayals on political cynicism (Jamieson & Cappella,1996; De Vreese, 2004; Manoliu,

2019), this study does not necessarily contradict these findings. Similar operationalizations of political cynicism were used throughout these studies with a clear focus on the characteristics and motivations of politicians rather than all aspects of politics. Therefore, the measures were closer to perceived immorality of politicians than a measure of general political cynicism.

Research in this field could benefit from a more nuanced definition and operationalization of the types of cynicism elicited by negative media portrayals.

25 That the effects of media content would be more specific rather than general is also in line with framing theory, which proposes that viewers take on the specific perspective brought forth by media content (Goffman, 1986). Viewers may adopt the negative portrayal of politics, as it is presented in political thrillers, but might not make further inferences based on it. This is also in line with findings by Mulligan and Habel (2011) that only political attitudes directly related to the framed issue were affected. The negative portrayal of politics in political thrillers largely revolves around political villains who take part in conspiracies (Castrillo & Echart, 2015), therefore these portrayals do not cause general political cynicism but only elicit specific forms of cynicism.

These findings also shed some light on which content characteristics of political fiction may cause media effects by linking the narratives of a political thriller and an aspect of political cynicism. The portrayal of politics in political thrillers is strongly character-driven (Van Zoonen

& Wring, 2012) and focuses specifically on the ruthless and selfish behavior of politicians

(Castrillo & Echart, 2015), it logically follows that viewers developed negative attitudes towards the fictional characters and went on to perceive real-life politicians as immoral. Not only do these types of storylines increase the likelihood of individuals being blamed over contextual factors (Iyengar, 1996), political fiction also often literally places blame for political troubles on specific villains, rather than examining the failures of the political system or its institutions

(Gierzynski, 2018). These features of the political thriller narrative may also explain why only real-life views of politicians but not those of political institutions, and the wider political system were affected.

26 By taking a genre-based approach and focusing on characteristics unique to political thrillers, the findings from this study should be generalizable to all political thrillers. Any television show or film that displays the themes, storylines and focus on specific individuals that characterize political thrillers should elicit a similar effect on perceived immorality of real-life politicians. However, further replications of these findings are necessary before clear-cut conclusions can be drawn. Future research could study the effects of exposure to several different political thrillers on this facet of political cynicism. Furthermore, researchers could take a genre- based approach to examine different types of political fiction and thereby determine whether there is a content characteristic that consistently produces political media effects.

Experienced viewers of political thrillers did not respond differently to negative portrayals of politics in terms of the measures in this study, meaning that this hypothesis also could not be accepted. Although it is possible that the activation of schema related to political impressions does not play as large a role as previously assumed, there are also some other considerations that may have affected this relationship. On average participants in this study had a very limited experience of the political thrillers genre, as most had only seen approximately two of the eleven political thrillers referred to in the questionnaire. Limited exposure to the genre likely meant that even ‘experienced viewers’ had no existing or a very weak schemata when it came to negative impressions of fictional politicians, such as those elicited by political thrillers.

Therefore the additional exposure to a political thriller did not activate any pre-existing schemata, meaning there were no differences in impression formation between those who had seen one or two relevant media and those who had seen none. Future research examining this type of moderation effect should use quota sampling to find participants who are fans of the

27 political thriller genre or have extensive experience with it and then retest these moderation effects. Alternatively, a sample with a wider age range could be used, as many political thrillers are older than 10 years. This could increase the difference between non-experienced and experienced viewers.

Another limitation of the study that could explain the lack of moderation effects is that only a small subsection of the average person’s media consumption was studied. Especially considering the rise of streaming services, participants were likely exposed to portrayals and messages about politics from several different types of fictional media at the same time. This alternative media content may portray politics in different ways introducing a conflicting impression of fictional politicians, as well as, politics as a whole. Previous research shows that competing portrayals may significantly reduce media framing effects (Sniderman & Theriault,

2004; Chong & Druckman, 2007). Future research could get a more comprehensive image of participants’ general media consumption, both fiction and nonfiction, and thereby determine what kinds of messages they were exposed to. While inconsistent messages from different sources may interfere with media effects, consistent messages could prove to strengthen them.

Highly neurotic individuals also did not respond to the content in different ways, despite their tendency to focus on negative stimuli (Rogers & Revelle, 1998). One explanation for this could be that this study only measures one of the big five personality traits. Markey and Markey

(2010) previously argued that media effects research tends to focus on specific personality traits, while ignoring the concept that it is a combination of the big-five personality traits that makes a difference. They found evidence that the interaction of several personality traits (upwards of

28 three) elicited moderating effects that did not appear when only a single trait was examined

(Timmermans & Sparks, 2017). Future research could replicate the study with a more comprehensive measure of all personality traits in the big five, such as the NEO Personality

Inventory-Revised (Costa & McCrae, 1992). However, a strength of this study is that it examines one of the five personality traits and not just one of its facets.

Another limitation of this study is that due to the time-consuming nature of laboratory research, it had a relatively small sample size. Although the use of a lab setting improved internal validity, the small sample size may have also suppressed moderation effects. Future research with more time and resources could examine these same effects with a larger sample size.

Another potential issue with the study is that its sample was mostly made up of students, which may raise concerns about representativeness. However, Druckman and Kam (2011) found that student samples produced similar results on political variables as non-student samples, as long as random assignment was successful. According to randomization checks, this was the case in this study. However, future research could replicate the same study with a more representative sample.

Despite its limitations, this study does suggest that negative portrayals in political fiction can influence certain facets of political cynicism via their influence on impressions of fictional politicians. This is something that writers and directors should keep in mind when producing fictional television content, considering the severe implications for democracy when citizens lose faith in politics. However, this study only points to a loss of faith in politicians rather than

29 political institutions or the political system, which likely lessens the threat that political fiction can pose for the functioning of a democracy.

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39 Appendices

Appendix 1.1: Question wordings of the attention checks and manipulation check included.

Attention Checks:

For experimental condition: What does the vice president do while the president is in surgery?

• Order a shoot to kill order for the man who tried to assassinate the president (Correct)

• Order the army to capture the man who tried to assassinate the president alive (False)

For control condition: Why does President Kirkman originally refuse to launch an airstrike against Najid Nasser?

• There is an American life at stake (Correct)

• He disagrees with the use of airstrikes against foreign nations (False)

Manipulation Check:

On a scale of one to five, how positive or negative do you perceive politics to be portrayed in the

TV show you just watched?

Very negative-very positive

(Answer scale: 1= very negative, 2 = slightly negative, 3 = neither negative or positive, 4 = slightly positive, 5 = very positive

Appendix 1.2: Question wording and all items used to measure political cynicism sorted into the six dimensions described in the theory and methodology sections.

On a scale of one to five, where one means strongly disagree and five means strongly agree, please indicate to what extent you agree with the following statements regarding your political attitudes.

40 Perceived immorality of politicians

• Politicians are honest

• Politicians keep their promises

• Politicians are reliable

• Politicians are profiteers

• Politicians are corrupt

• Politicians get a kick out of power

Perceived immorality of political institutions

• Political parties are all talk

• The government is wasting our tax money

• The government has our best interest at heart

• Political parties are honest and do what they say

Perceived immorality of the political system

• In government only back room politics are conducted

• Politics in my country is sick

• They are using our tax money well in my country

• Politics in my country does consider the interests of the people

Perceived incompetence of politicians

• Politicians know what people’s concerns are

• Politicians make good judgments when making political decisions

• Politicians are talking through their hats

• Politicians are not able to solve problems in this society

41 Perceived incompetence of political institutions

• Political parties clearly let us know what they stand for

• The government is aware of problems in our society

• Political parties push bad leaders forward as candidates

• The government is not solving our problems

Perceived incompetence of the political system

• The democracy in my country functions well

• Government is perfectly able to solve problems in our society

• The democracy in my country does not protect our rights

• The world of politics does not know what citizens want

Appendix 1.3: Question wording and items used to measure attitudes towards the politicians portrayed in the television show.

These questions refer to the episode you have just watched. Overall, the politicians featured in this episode are…

• Likable - unlikeable

• Incompetent - competent

• Trustworthy - untrustworthy

• Believable - not believable

• Honest - dishonest

• Moral - immoral

• Strong values - weak values

42 Appendix 1.4: Question wording and items used to measure neuroticism.

Please indicate yes or no on the following questions to indicate whether they generally apply to you.

• Does your mood often go up and down?

• Do you ever feel ‘just miserable’ for no reason?

• Are you an irritable person?

• Are your feelings easily hurt?

• Do you often feel ‘fed up’?

• Would you call yourself a nervous person?

• Are you a worrier?

• Would you call yourself tense or ‘highly strung’?

• Do you worry too long after an embarrassing experience?

• Do you suffer from ‘nerves’?

• Do you often feel lonely?

• Are you often troubled about feelings of guilt?

Appendix 1.5: Question wording and items used to previous exposure to the political thriller genre.

Please indicate which of these television series and films you have watched in the past.

House of Cards, Scandal, Homeland, 24, Handmaid’s tale, Bodyguard, The Manchurian

Candidate, State of Play, All the President’s Men, Enemy of the State, The Ides of March

43 Appendix 2.1: Results of Chi-square tests conducted to see whether gender and data origin differ significantly between the experimental conditions (negative portrayal of politics vs. neutral portrayal).

Variable Experimental Control Chi-square tests condition Condition Gender χ2(1) = 0.15 n(%) p = .695 Female 20(66.7) 20(71.4) Male 10(33.3) 8(28.6) Data Origin χ2(1) = 0.01 n(%) p = .905 Lab 21(70.0) 20(71.4)

Online 9(30.0) 8(28.6)

Note: N = 58

44 Appendix 2.2:

Table 1: Table of univariate ANOVA results conducted to see whether age, education, ideology, political interest, perceived realism (events and characters) differ significantly between the experimental conditions (negative portrayal of politics vs. neutral portrayal).

Variable Portrayal of Politics Negative Neutral F p N = 30 N = 28 Age M(SE) 22.17(4.01) 22.29(4.41) 0.01 .915 Education M(SE) 2.60(0.68) 2.43(0.74) 0.85 .361 Ideology M(SE) 2.70(2.25) 2.82(1.79) 0.05 .821 Political interest M(SE) 3.23(0.97) 3.25(1.14) <0.01 .952 Perceived realism (events) M(SE) 2.57(1.22) 3.00(1.19) 1.87 .177 Perceived realism (characters) M(SE) 2.90(1.12) 3.07(1.05) 0.36 .552

Appendix 3.1: Detailed interpretation of the results of assumption testing for heteroscedasticity and normality of the main mediation analysis

The assumptions of heteroscedasticity and normality were tested for the main analysis.

The former was tested using a Levene’s test. If this test was non-significant, it was concluded that there were equal variances in the two samples and the assumption was met. Additionally,

45 measures of skewness and kurtosis were conducted for each dependent variable to test the assumption of normality. Normal distribution of data was assumed when results were between

-2.00 and 2.00. For the main analysis of the portrayal of politics on general political cynicism

(ANOVA), the assumption of heteroscedasticity was met based on a Levene’s test, F(1,56) =

0.36, p = .551. This assumption was also met for the indirect effects analysis of portrayal of politics on attitudes towards TV politicians (ANOVA), F(1,56) = 1.55, p = .218. The assumptions of normality were also met. Political cynicism was normally distributed, with a skewness of

-0.15 (SE = 0.31) and kurtosis of -0.33 (SE = 0.62). The variable attitudes towards politicians was also normally distributed, with a skewness of -0.54 (SE = 0.31) and kurtosis of -0.19 (SE =

0.62). Therefore all assumptions were met for the following analyses.

Appendix 3.2: Detailed interpretation of the results of assumption testing for heteroscedasticity and normality of the variables used in the ad-hoc analyses.

For the first ad-hoc analysis, both the assumptions for heteroscedasticity, F(1,56) = 0.83, p = .366 and normality were met. Perceptions of the immorality of politicians was normally distributed, with a skewness of -0.45 (SE = 0.31) and kurtosis of 0.20 (SE = 0.62). For the second ad-hoc analysis of the portrayal of politics on perceived immorality of political institutions (sub- dimension of political cynicism), both the assumptions for heteroscedasticity, F(1,56) = 0.68, p =

.413 and normality were also met. Perceptions of the immorality of political institutions was normally distributed, with a skewness of 0.14 (SE = 0.31) and kurtosis of -0.52 (SE = 0.62). For the third ad-hoc analysis of the portrayal of politics on perceived immorality of the political system (sub-dimension of political cynicism), both the assumptions for heteroscedasticity,

46 F(1,56) = 0.13, p = .719 and normality were also met. Perceptions of the immorality of political institutions was normally distributed, with a skewness of -0.03 (SE = 0.31) and kurtosis of -0.89

(SE = 0.62).

The ad-hoc analysis for portrayal of politics on perceived incompetence of politicians, political institutions and the political system produced similar results. Assumptions for heteroscedasticity were met for all variables, The Levene’s test results were F(1,56) = 0.05, p =

.831, F(1,56) = 0.13, p = .722 and F(1,56) = 0.02, p = .880 respectively. Perceived incompetence of politicians (skewness = 0.57(0.31), kurtosis = 0.51 (0.62)), political institutions (skewness =

0.18(0.31), kurtosis = 0.81 (0.62)) and the political system (skewness = 0.50(0.31), kurtosis =

-0.56 (0.62)) were all normally distributed. Therefore all assumptions were met.

Appendix 4.1

Table 2: Table of results for the first part of the full mediated moderation model, including the following variables: Portrayal of politics (negative vs. neutral), previous exposure to political thrillers, neuroticism and Attitudes towards TV politicians featured in the television show.

Variable B t p Portrayal of politics -0.50 -2.35 .023 Political Thrillers 0.01 0.13 .894 Portrayal of politics* Political -0.08 -0.53 .598 Thrillers Neuroticism -0.04 -1.06 .294 Portrayal of politics* Neuroticism -0.02 -0.23 .817

Note: (N = 58) Negative portrayal of politics is coded as 1, neutral portrayal is coded as 0.

47 Table 3: Table of results for the second part of the full mediated moderation model, including the following variables: Portrayal of politics (negative vs. neutral), Attitudes towards TV politicians featured in the television show and political cynicism.

Variable B t p Portrayal of politics 0.07 0.43 .666 Attitudes toward TV Politicians -0.18 -1.84 .072

Note: (N = 58), Negative portrayal of politics is coded as 1, while neutral portrayal is coded as

0.

48 Appendix 4.2

Table 4: Table of results for the first part of the full mediated moderation model, including the main variables, as well as, control variables: Portrayal of politics (negative vs. neutral), previous exposure to political thrillers, neuroticism and Attitudes towards TV politicians featured in the television show, as well as, sex, data origin, age, education, perceived realism of events, perceived realism of characters, political interest and ideology.

Variable B t p Portrayal of politics -0.47 -2.17 .036 Political Thrillers 0.03 0.38 .707 Portrayal of politics* Political -0.02 -0.16 .877 Thrillers Neuroticism -0.04 -1.08 .285 Portrayal of politics* Neuroticism -0.00 -0.03 .974

Sex -0.06 -0.21 .834

Data Origin 0.37 1.14 .261

Age -0.06 -1.66 .104

Education 0.05 0.28 .783

Realism (events) 0.07 0.73 .468

Realism (characters) 0.11 0.93 .357

Political interest -0.14 -1.15 .256

Ideology 0.04 0.68 .498

49 Note: (N = 58), Negative portrayal of politics is coded as 1, while neutral portrayal is coded as

0. Being female is coded as 1, while being male is coded as 0.

Table 5: Table of results for the second part of the full mediated moderation model, including the main variables, as well as, control variables: Portrayal of politics (negative vs. neutral),

Attitudes towards TV politicians featured in the television show and political cynicism, as well as, sex, data origin, age, education, perceived realism of events, perceived realism of characters, political interest and ideology.

Variable B t p Portrayal of politics 0.03 0.19 .851 Attitudes towards TV politicians -0.20 -1.78 .081 Sex 0.12 0.61 .546

Data Origin 0.03 0.14 .888 Age -0.01 -0.32 .749

Education 0.24 1.71 .094

Realism (events) -0.01 -0.13 .897

Realism (characters) -0.08 1.00 .324

Political interest -0.02 -0.26 .797

Ideology 0.00 0.02 .982

Note: (N = 58), Negative portrayal of politics is coded as 1, while neutral portrayal is coded as

0. Being female is coded as 1, while being male is coded as 0.

50 Appendix 5.1:

Table 6: Table of results for the second part of the mediated moderation model, including the following main and control variables: Portrayal of politics (negative vs. neutral), Attitudes towards TV politicians featured in the television show and perceived immorality of politicians

(sub-dimension of political cynicism), as well as, sex, data origin, age, education, perceived realism of events, perceived realism of characters, political interest and ideology.

Variable B t p CI CI Portrayal of politics 0.07 0.40 .694 -0.28 0.42 Attitudes towards TV -0.32 -2.74 .009 -0.56 -0.09 politicians Sex 0.12 0.57 .574 -0.30 0.54

Data Origin 0.27 1.10 .278 -0.22 0.75 Age -0.03 -1.11 .275 -0.09 0.02

Education 0.17 1.14 .260 -0.13 0.48

Realism (events) -0.02 -0.35 .731 -0.17 0.12

Realism (characters) 0.15 1.82 .075 -0.02 0.31

Political interest 0.05 0.58 .567 -0.14 0.25

Ideology 0.01 0.15 .879 -0.09 0.10

Note: (N = 58), Negative portrayal of politics is coded as 1, while neutral portrayal is coded as

0. Being female is coded as 1, while being male is coded as 0.

51 Appendix 5.2

Table 7: Indirect effects of Portrayal of Politics on all six sub-dimensions of political cynicism.

Outcome Variable & mediator Effect

b1 b2 b1*b2 (Portrayal - (Mediator - (Indirect effect) Mediator) Outcome) Perceived immorality of politicians -0.45*(.20) -0.27*(.11) 0.12*(.08) Perceived immorality of political institutions -0.45*(.20) -0.21(.13) 0.09(.08) Perceived immorality of the political system -0.45*(.20) -0.05(.17) 0.02(.09) Perceived incompetence of politicians -0.45*(.20) -0.14(.11) 0.06(.06) Perceived incompetence of political institutions -0.45*(.20) -0.20(.12) 0.09(.08) Perceived incompetence of the political system -0.45*(.20) -0.18(.14) 0.08(.08)

Note: (N = 58), elaborated are unstandardized regression coefficients and standard errors.

Negative portrayal of politics is coded as 1, while neutral portrayal is coded as 0. *p< .05.

52 Appendix 5.3:

Table 8: Table of results for the second part of the mediated moderation model, including the following main and control variables: Portrayal of politics (negative vs. neutral), Attitudes towards TV politicians featured in the television show and perceived incompetence of politicians

(sub-dimension of political cynicism), as well as, sex, data origin, age, education, perceived realism of events, perceived realism of characters, political interest and ideology.

Variable B t p Portrayal of politics 0.10 0.63 .534 Attitudes towards TV politicians -0.14 -1.28 .207 Sex 0.02 0.11 .909

Data Origin -0.02 -0.10 .920 Age 0.01 0.71 .479

Education 0.38* 2.63* .011

Realism (events) 0.03 0.51 .609

Realism (characters) 0.08 0.99 .328

Political interest -0.02 -0.21 .832

Ideology 0.01 0.26 .795

Note: (N = 58), Negative portrayal of politics is coded as 1, while neutral portrayal is coded as

0. * Significant results

53 Table 9: Table of results for the second part of the mediated moderation model, including the following main and control variables: Portrayal of politics (negative vs. neutral), Attitudes towards TV politicians featured in the television show and perceived incompetence of political institutions (sub-dimension of political cynicism), as well as, sex, data origin, age, education, perceived realism of events, perceived realism of characters, political interest and ideology.

Variable B t p Portrayal of politics 0.05 0.27 .785 Attitudes towards TV politicians -0.22 -1.59 .118 Sex -0.13 -0.54 .589

Data Origin 0.33 1.19 .241 Age -0.00 -0.02 .984

Education 0.35* 2.05* .046

Realism (events) 0.06 0.76 .454

Realism (characters) 0.15 1.61 .114

Political interest -0.01 -0.10 .917

Ideology -0.01 -0.13 .900

Note: (N = 58), Negative portrayal of politics is coded as 1, while neutral portrayal is coded as

0. * Significant results

54