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In the context of an increasingly divided populace, this article considered how the emotions (enthusiasm and anxiety) partisans feel toward U.S. presidential candidates may heighten or diminish affective polarization. In Study 1 (American National Election Studies [ANES] 2008–2009 panel data), we found that enthusiasm for the in-group candidate and anxiety about the out-group candidate were related to higher levels of affective polarization, whereas enthusiasm for the out-group candidate was related to lower levels of affective polarization. In Study 2 (2016 panel data), we found that in-group enthusiasm was related to higher levels of affective polarization and out-group enthusiasm was related to lower levels of affective polarization, but neither in-group nor out-group anxiety was significantly related to affective polarization. These findings highlight that enthusiasm about out-group candidates may have a unique ability to disrupt affective polarization and that it is important to consider the source of an emotion response, not just the type of emotion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of transparency has been promoted within the public relations and business literature as both ethical and advantageous; however, the effectiveness of transparency is seldom empirically put to the test. In particular, the use of clarity, disclosure, and accuracy in organizational messages needs to be empirically examined. To this end, we conducted an online experiment using a 2 (high vs. low message transparency) x 2 (news story placed before or after an organizational statement) between-subjects design. Participants ( n  = 357) perceived organizations as more transparent and credible when exposed to messages exhibiting greater levels of clarity, disclosure, and accuracy as opposed to messages that did not. Placement of an information anchor in the form of an objective news story before the organizational message increased the perceived organizational transparency when messages employed transparent design features and decreased the perceived organizational transparency when messages did not use these features. These results provide significant implications for practitioners attempting to convey organizational transparency at the tactical level through message features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With stories of regional diminishing water resources and tainted municipal water supplies consistently populating the news, a nationwide survey was conducted to gauge overall concern and attitudes toward water scarcity and water pollution, as well as scientists and scientific information regarding water crises. Of particular interest was the question of how political ideology and past experience with scarcity and/or pollution impact pro-water attitudes and intention to exhibit positive water behaviors. Multivariate analyses of data suggest that Liberals are more concerned about water scarcity and pollution and more likely to conserve and combat pollution than their Conservative counterparts. People who have experienced a past water crisis are also more concerned and act more favorably toward water than those without crises experience. The interaction between political ideology and water crises experience is such that Conservatives with experience display more water concern than do Conservatives without experience. Liberals, regardless of experience, exhibit water concern and favorable action. Results offer direction to policy makers, water resource managers, and strategic communicators regarding how constituent audiences can be segmented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The current study combined crisis communication and message transparency. • Using an experimental methodology, the sample yielded 898 participants. • Victim crises, rebuild strategies and transparent messages had positive impacts. • Transparency contributed to a three-way interaction on organizational credibility. • Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. Public relations practitioners allocate a vast number of resources to constructing and building strategic messaging for targeted stakeholders. Two important factors within this message construction deal with organizational crisis responses and message transparency. The present study sought to combine concepts from Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) and message transparency to investigate what combined impact these two fields in public relations research have on perceptions of an organization. By utilizing a 3 (crisis type) X 3 (crisis response) X 2 (message transparency) experimental design, this study (n = 898) found that victim crisis types, rebuild strategies, and high transparency messages resulted in more positive perceptions of the organization. A three-way interaction was also found, namely that use of highly transparent messages contributed to greater perceived organizational credibility when a rebuilding or denial strategy was used in response to a preventable crisis and when a diminishing strategy was used in response to a victim or accidental crisis. Practical and theoretical implications are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

News outlets rely on social media to freely distribute content, offering a venue for users to comment on news. This exposes individuals to user comments prior to reading news articles, which can influence perceptions of news content. A 2 x 2 between-subject experiment (N = 690) tested the hostile media bias theory via the influence of comments seen before viewing a news story on perceptions of bias and credibility. Results show that user comments induce hostile media perceptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]