The role of value orientations in media use and political inclination.

Abstract

Individuals' value orientations and media use habits play important roles in influencing political attitudes and behavior. Based on the Sotirovic and McLeod study (2001), this project investigated how materialist and postmaterialist values are associated with political inclination and whether news and entertainment media use can mediate such influences. Singapore has made great advancements in its socio-economic status but has a restricted political environment, and thus provides an excellent context to replicate the earlier study. A nationwide telephone survey was conducted to interview a random sample of Singaporean adults (n = 522). Materialist values and television entertainment use were found to have no relationships to political inclination, but the Sotirovic and McLeod model was partly validated by the finding that political inclination is positively influenced by both postmaterialist values and news media use. Furthermore, news media use played a mediating role between postmaterialist values and political behavior. These results and their implications to political communication and participation are also discussed.