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THE CLIMATE OF OPINION AS A CONTEXTUAL DETERMINANT OF POLITICAL BEHAVIOR
Author(s) -
FALTER JÜRGEN W.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
european journal of political research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.267
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1475-6765
pISSN - 0304-4130
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-6765.1979.tb01273.x
Subject(s) - interpersonal communication , context (archaeology) , politics , variety (cybernetics) , mass media , interpersonal influence , social psychology , bridge (graph theory) , psychology , context analysis , sociology , political science , computer science , linguistics , government (linguistics) , geography , law , medicine , philosophy , archaeology , artificial intelligence
Most multilevel analyses are restricted to the explanation of individual behavior by utilizing contextual variables. The interchange processes operant between context and individual are generally not specified and/or empirically tested. Analyzing how contextual effects come into being and how local norms actually influence individual behavior is the primary aim of this article. Its basic assumption is that contextual norms are transferred through interpersonal contacts at the local level. Personal relations reaching beyond the home community as well as the direct information gathered from the mass media probably act as “noise” which disturbs the intra‐communal influence processes. Therefore, persons having interpersonal contacts at the local level should be more affected by contextual norms than persons without such contacts. Furthermore, individuals obtaining their political information mainly through interpersonal contacts should be more susceptible to context norms than those who rely more on the mass media. Among the latter, individuals using nationwide media should be less influenced by the local context than individuals using primarily regional or local mass media. These assumptions are empirically tested by means of a variety of indicators. The results of our analysis do indeed confirm our expectations. Thus, this article provides some further material which may serve to bridge the theory gap of contextual analysis pointed out by Hauser and others.