There Is Water Everywhere: How News Framing Amplifies the Effect of Ecological Worldviews on Preference for Flooding Protection Policy

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the interactive effect of worldviews and media frames on policy preference. Using flooding as a case study, we examine the interplay of ecological worldviews and news framed as either emphasizing harmony with nature or mastery over nature on individuals' preference for flood protection policy. A total of 255 undergraduate students participated in a 2 (ecological worldviews: balance-with-nature vs. human-domination-over-nature) × 2 (media frames: harmony frame vs. mastery frame) between-subjects experiment. The findings indicate that both the balance-with-nature worldview and the human-domination-over-nature worldview have significant impacts on preference for flood protection policy. Furthermore, the harmony frame amplified the effect of the balance-with-nature worldview in supporting a natural approach to flood protection. In contrast, the mastery frame amplified the effect of the human-domination-over-nature worldview on the preference for a structural approach to flood protection. Implications are discussed.

Notes

¹By convention, obtaining an alpha of .80 or higher is representative of a good scale. An alpha at least .70 or above is considered acceptable (George & Mallery, 2003).

*p < .05. ***p < .001.

*p < .05. ***p < .001.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Timothy K. F. Fung

Timothy K. F. Fung (Ph.D., University of Wisconsin–Madison, 2010) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Hong Kong Baptist University. His research interests include risk communication, health communication and cultural influence on information processing and judgment.

Dominique Brossard

Dominique Brossard (Ph.D., Cornell University, 2002) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Life Science Communication at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Her research focuses on the intersection between science, media and policy.

Isabella Ng

Isabella Ng (M.Phil., Hong Kong Baptist University, 2004) is a doctoral candidate in the Centre for Gender Studies at the University of London. Her research interests include journalism, gender and media.