Leiden University Student Repository

Pilkington, N. (2013)

Framing Welfare: The Effects of Variations in Newspaper Article Framing on Attitudes to Welfare in Britain

Master thesis | Political Science (MSc)

In recent years, there have been a number of journalistic accounts of an increase in the demonization of the working class in Britain, with people who claim state benefit payments apparently bearing the brunt of this media assault. This study aims to look into the effects that negative portrayals of those receiving government payments has on attitudes to government welfare policy. The theoretical framework for this piece is based on framing, specifically thematic, equivalency frames. In order to investigate this, an experiment was employed in which a sample of undergraduate students were presented with one of five versions of an article followed by a survey regarding welfare policy. This allowed a comparison between the answers given by participants that received different versions of the article. The results of this study are largely inconclusive, suggesting that framing effects are not present in a manipulation so subtle.

Framing

Priming

Newpapers

Welfare

Author

Pilkington, N.

Faculty

Faculty of Social & Behavioural Sciences

Specialisation

Political Science (Master)

Supervisors

Meffert, M.F.
Tromble, R.K.

ECTS Credits

20

Language

en