Title: Integrative Complexity, COVID-19, and Political Ideology.
Authors: McCullough, Hayley
Abstract: This study explores the relationship between political ideology and integrative complexity in terms of COVID-19 news coverage. Briefly, integrative complexity is a psycholinguistic construct that examines cognitive structure. Based on a sample of COVID-19 news articles sourced from liberal, moderate, and conservative news networks, the results show liberal and moderate networks displayed higher complexity scores than conservative networks. The results further confirm a complexity pattern seen in previous research — liberals and moderates tend to demonstrate more complex rhetoric than conservatives. Moreover, the conservative networks' lower scores may be explained by the predominance of misinformation in their coverage of COVID-19.
Subjects: POLITICAL doctrines; IDEOLOGY; COVID-19; COGNITIVE structures; ATTRIBUTION of news
Publication: Western Journal of Communication, 2024, Vol 88, Issue 3, p527
ISSN: 1057-0314
Publication type: Academic Journal
DOI: 10.1080/10570314.2022.2146464

Integrative Complexity, COVID-19, and Political Ideology.

McCullough, Hayley