A Uses and Gratifications Perspective of the Relationships among Consumption of Government-Conspiracy-Theory-Oriented Media Fare, Trust in Government, and Political Participation A dissertation submitted to the College of Communication and Information of Kent State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Communication Studies by Rekha Sharma August, 2017 Dissertation written by Rekha Sharma B.S., Kent State University, 2002 M.A., Kent State University, 2004 M.S., Kent State University, 2004 Ph.D., Kent State University, 2017 Approved by ________________________________ Paul M. Haridakis, Ph.D., Chair, Doctoral Dissertation Committee ________________________________ Danielle S. Coombs, Ph.D., Member, Doctoral Dissertation Committee ________________________________ Janet R. Meyer, Ph.D., Member, Doctoral Dissertation Committee ________________________________ James D. Ponder, Ph.D., Member, Doctoral Dissertation Committee Accepted by _________________________________ Elizabeth Graham, Ph.D., Director, School of Communication Studies _________________________________ Amy Reynolds, Ph.D., Dean, College of Communication and Information ii Table of Contents Page TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................... iii LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................................v LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................................ vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................... vii CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................1 Problem Statement ........................................................................................................4 Rationale and Objectives ............................................................................................10 Literature Review ........................................................................................................13 Uses and Gratifications Theory ..................................................................................13 Uses and Gratifications: Needs Manifested in Motives ..................................13 Selecting Conspiracy-Theory-Oriented Media ...........................................................16 Individual Differences ................................................................................................19 Media Skepticism ............................................................................................19 Need for Cognition .........................................................................................26 Locus of Control .............................................................................................31 Conservatism/Liberalism ................................................................................33 Media Use Motives .....................................................................................................38 Exposure to Government Conspiracy Theories ..........................................................43 Outcome Variables ......................................................................................................44 Trust in Government .......................................................................................44 Political Participation ......................................................................................46 Hypotheses and Research Questions ..........................................................................49 II. METHODOLOGY .....................................................................................................60 Sample and Sampling Procedure ................................................................................60 Measures .....................................................................................................................64 Statistical Analyses .....................................................................................................85 III. RESULTS ....................................................................................................................88 Hypotheses ..................................................................................................................88 Research Questions .....................................................................................................93 IV. DISCUSSION ...........................................................................................................124 Trust in Government ..................................................................................................126 Political Participation ................................................................................................131 Other Significant Predictors .......................................................................................134 Individuals’ Background Characteristics ......................................................135 Motives for Using Media for Government-Conspiracy-Theory-Oriented Fare .....................................142 Limitations and Future Directions .............................................................................144 Conclusion ................................................................................................................151 iii APPENDICES A. Informed Consent to Participate in a Research Study Document ...................................153 B. Media Skepticism Scale ..................................................................................................155 C. Need for Cognition Scale ................................................................................................156 D. Internal, Powerful Others, and Chance Locus of Control Scales ...................................157 E. Conservatism/Liberalism Scale ......................................................................................158 F. Motivations for Consuming Media Fare Related to Government Conspiracy Theories .......................................................................................................159 G. Media Use for Consuming Content Related to Government Conspiracy Theories ........161 H. Perceptions of the Federal Government Scale ................................................................163 I. Political Participation Scale ............................................................................................165 J. Demographic Characteristics ..........................................................................................167 REFERENCES ...........................................................................................................................168 iv List of Figures Figure Page 1. Diagram of uses and gratifications framework for studying the role of individual differences, motives for selecting government-conspiracy-theory-oriented media content, and exposure to conspiracy-theory-oriented media fare involved in determining particular attitudinal and behavioral effects .................................................12 v List of Tables Table Page 1. Media Skepticism Means and Standard Deviations ..........................................................65 2. Need for Cognition Means and Standard Deviations ........................................................66 3. Locus of Control Means and Standard Deviations ............................................................69 4. Conservatism/Liberalism Means and Standard Deviations ...............................................70 5. Factor Loadings for Motives for Choosing Media Fare about Government Conspiracy Theories..............................................................................................................................73 6. Motives for Choosing Media Fare about Government Conspiracy Theories: Item Means and Standard Deviations ....................................................................................................75 7. Media Use for Government Conspiracy Theories Means and Standard Deviations .........78 8. Perceptions of Federal Government Means and Standard Deviations ...............................80 9. Political Participation Means and Standard Deviations .....................................................83 10. Correlations between Media Use for Government Conspiracy Theories and Internal, Powerful Others, and Chance Dimensions of Locus of Control ........................................90 11. Correlations between Use of Government-Conspiracy-Theory-Oriented Media and Trust in Government (Perceptions of the Federal Government: Executive Branch, Legislative Branch, Law Enforcement Agencies, and Regulatory Agencies) ......................................91 12. Correlations between Use of Government-Conspiracy-Theory-Oriented Media and Political Participation (Interpersonal Political Discussion, Interactive Political Messaging, Civic Participation, Political Participation) .......................................................................92 13. Summary of Regression Analysis for Predicting Trust in Government (Executive Branch) ............................................................................................................96 14. Summary of Regression Analysis for