Item Details
Skip Navigation Links
   ActiveUsers:818Hits:21039208Skip Navigation Links
Show My Basket
Contact Us
IDSA Web Site
Ask Us
Today's News
HelpExpand Help
Advanced search

In Basket
  Journal Article   Journal Article
 

ID146347
Title ProperPriming Assad
Other Title Informationan experiment of ethnic priming and attitudes toward military action in Syria
LanguageENG
AuthorClemons, Randy S
Summary / Abstract (Note)Americans’ low level of support for intervening in Syria presents a puzzle, raising questions about how democracies approach conflict. Scholars have noted that the US’s public may need to view opponents in conflict as different from themselves before military force is used. But what is the tipping point between perceiving someone as “one of us” or “one of them?” Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s actions fit the model of a villain, but his appearance represents a divergence from recent leaders cast as enemies of the United States. Using a unique experiment examining citizen evaluations of the Syrian crisis, we demonstrate that a subtle manipulation, darkening Assad’s skin tone, led respondents to view him more negatively, as well as increasing support for US intervention to effect regime change. The effect was magnified among subjects with more ethnocentric beliefs. Our experiment’s findings have implications for racial priming, ethnocentrism, and American foreign policy.
`In' analytical NoteForeign Policy Analysis Vol. 12, No.3; Jul 2016: p.433-449
Journal SourceForeign Policy Analysis 2016-09 12, 3
Key WordsSyria ;  Military Action ;  Priming Assad ;  Ethnic Priming