The health of the American democracy is up for debate. Digital natives will decide the future of this democracy. Fewer digital natives--those who have grown up with Internet access--are engaging in formal political participation, compared to their parents. Digital natives lack the information needed to participate. This study examined the effects of interactive political content on digital natives' political information efficacy (PIE) through an experiment. The results revealed a decrease in the participants' political confidence and a decrease in the likelihood they would vote. Exposure to political information harmed most digital natives' PIE and reinforced political attitudes in some. The results are troubling for the future health of the American democracy. The results call attention to the need for further research on the relationship between digital natives' use of new communication technologies and its effect on political participation.
","abstract_html":"<p>The health of the American democracy is up for debate. Digital natives will decide the future of this democracy. Fewer digital natives--those who have grown up with Internet access--are engaging in formal political participation, compared to their parents. Digital natives lack the information needed to participate. This study examined the effects of interactive political content on digital natives' political information efficacy (PIE) through an experiment. The results revealed a decrease in the participants' political confidence and a decrease in the likelihood they would vote. Exposure to political information harmed most digital natives' PIE and reinforced political attitudes in some. The results are troubling for the future health of the American democracy. The results call attention to the need for further research on the relationship between digital natives' use of new communication technologies and its effect on political participation.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Stouffer, Ryan"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Open Access Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Communication","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Fred Vultee"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2015,"date_issued":"2015-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2015-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:00:03Z","subjects":["framing","media effects","participation","quantitative - experiment","Communication","Political Science"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_dissertations/1169","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Fred Vultee"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Stouffer, Ryan"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-01-01T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Communication"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Open Access Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D."]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["framing","media effects","participation","quantitative - experiment","Communication","Political Science"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_dissertations/1169"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The health of the American democracy is up for debate. Digital natives will decide the future of this democracy. Fewer digital natives--those who have grown up with Internet access--are engaging in formal political participation, compared to their parents. Digital natives lack the information needed to participate. This study examined the effects of interactive political content on digital natives' political information efficacy (PIE) through an experiment. The results revealed a decrease in the participants' political confidence and a decrease in the likelihood they would vote. Exposure to political information harmed most digital natives' PIE and reinforced political attitudes in some. The results are troubling for the future health of the American democracy. The results call attention to the need for further research on the relationship between digital natives' use of new communication technologies and its effect on political participation.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Political Content And Political Behavior: Using Functional Theory To Test The Ability Of Political Content To Stimulate Political Interest"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Fred Vultee"],"dc:creator":["Stouffer, Ryan"],"dc:date.available":["2014-01-01T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["The health of the American democracy is up for debate. Digital natives will decide the future of this democracy. Fewer digital natives--those who have grown up with Internet access--are engaging in formal political participation, compared to their parents. Digital natives lack the information needed to participate. This study examined the effects of interactive political content on digital natives' political information efficacy (PIE) through an experiment. The results revealed a decrease in the participants' political confidence and a decrease in the likelihood they would vote. Exposure to political information harmed most digital natives' PIE and reinforced political attitudes in some. The results are troubling for the future health of the American democracy. The results call attention to the need for further research on the relationship between digital natives' use of new communication technologies and its effect on political participation.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_dissertations/1169"],"dc:subject":["framing","media effects","participation","quantitative - experiment","Communication","Political Science"],"dc:title":["Political Content And Political Behavior: Using Functional Theory To Test The Ability Of Political Content To Stimulate Political Interest"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Communication"],"thesis:degree_level":["Open Access Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ph.D."]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:00:03Z"}