Media sources, partisanship, and public support for self-defense in Taiwan

Abstract

In this study, the authors focus on Taiwan, where citizens are increasingly concerned about the possibility of a Chinese invasion. Specifically, the authors want to know if different media sources would influence citizens’ willingness to engage in self-defense. Additionally, they would like to see if partisans experience a backfire effect when exposed to incongruent political information. To test these hypotheses, they designed and conducted an original survey experiment in Taiwan by creating different vignettes. Their findings reveal two points: firstly, media cues alone did not significantly alter citizens’ overall willingness to engage in self-defense and, secondly, only supporters of the Pan-Green coalition (who are more inclined towards Taiwan’s independence) experienced a backfire effect by becoming more supportive of self-defense when exposed to a pro-China media source than a pro-Taiwan source. In conclusion, the authors provide explanations for the heterogeneous effects among partisans and discuss the theoretical implications of their research.