Citation

Schubert JN, Stewart PA, Curran MA. Polit. Psychol. 2002; 23(3): 559-583.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2002, International Society of Political Psychology, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/0162-895X.00298

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Public approval ratings of George W. Bush surged after the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks. This study used a quasi-experimental, within-respondents design to investigate the relative contribution of five factors to this classic rally effect: the stimulus event itself, Bush's speech that evening, media exposure, partisan support, and gender effects. Respondents were pretested on the morning of the attacks; one group was posttested immediately after the speech, another group 41 hours later. Stability of effects was examined through an additional study of Bush's 20 September 2001 speech to a joint session of Congress. The findings indicate that Bush's 11 September speech was the critical factor in this rally effect; none of the other factors contributed significantly.

Language: en