Impersonal Influence: How Perceptions of Mass Collectives Affect Political Attitudes (Cambridge Studies in Political Psychology and Public Opinion) [Paperback]

Diana C. Mutz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 28, 1998 | ISBN-10: 0521637260 | ISBN-13: 978-0521637268

Impersonal influence is about how people are affected by their perceptions of the collective opinions or experiences of others--things such as the well-publicized results of opinion polls (in the case of others' opinions), or media's coverage of the collective experiences of others (such as the extent to which others are experiencing financial problems or are being victimized by crimes). Media content is particularly well suited to serving as a credible channel of information about large-scale collective phenomena. Coverage of the collective opinions (in the case of perceptions of social problems such as crime or unemployment) alters people's political attitudes in surprising, yet subtle ways. These kinds of effects have important implications for the quality of public opinion and the accountability of political leaders in a mass mediated democracy.

Editorial Reviews

Review

..".this book succeeds in offering a new way of thinking about seemingly remote social science findings...in a way that is both more ambitious and more profound than most books...this is a book that no student of public opinion or political communication should miss." Lynn M. Sanders, American Journal of Sociology

Book Description

Impersonal influence is about how people are affected by their perceptions of the collective opinions or experiences of others--things such as the well-publicized results of opinion polls (in the case of others' opinions), or media's coverage of the collective experiences of others such as the extent to which others are experiencing financial problems or are being victimized by crimes. Media content is particularly well suited to serving as a credible channel of information about large scale collective phenomena. Coverage of the collective opinions (in the case of perceptions of social problems such as crime or unemployment) alters people's political attitudes in surprising, yet subtle ways. These kinds of effects have important implications for the quality of public opinion and the accountability of political leaders in a mass mediated democracy.

Product Details

• Paperback: 356 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (November 28, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521637260
• ISBN-13: 978-0521637268
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,096,566 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very good work, March 12, 2001

By 

Lee, Lap Fung (Menlo Park, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Impersonal Influence: How Perceptions of Mass Collectives Affect Political Attitudes (Cambridge Studies in Political Psychology and Public Opinion) (Paperback)

Prof. Mutz is now probably one of the most well-known political communication scholars of the younger generation in the US. In this book, which consists of a number of research she had conducted in the past decade, she provided a very good discussion of the effects of how perception of public opinion can affect public opinion. Competing hypotheses are well discussed and research well designed to test the hypotheses.

Besides the empirical part of the work, Prof. Mutz is one of the fewer scholars who have an eye on larger social theories. Though much of the studies reported in the book relies on a psychological approach to the study of public opinion, Prof. Mutz also provided a very nice discussion on the tradition of the theory of mass society and pondered on the relevance of this tradition in today's world.