Exemplar Democracy
When reporting about social problems, the media typically use exemplars i.e. the narrative of a concrete person to illustrate the broader issue. Exemplars can make otherwise complex political issues accessible and interesting to people. Yet, they can also provide an extreme perspective which triggers (1) factual misperceptions in the mass public and (2) biases people’s democratic responsibility attributions of whether the government or the individual is to blame for the problem.
The EXDEM project seeks to understand:
- Why are some types of media exemplars so powerful in shaping factual misperceptions and responsibility attributions in the mass public while others are uninfluential?
- How can the effects of powerful but unrepresentative exemplars be corrected to combat misinformation in the mass public?
News, publications and research dissemination
New workshop
June 18th we host the interdisciplinary workshop "Advances in Research on Public Opinion in Digitalized Democracies" at Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies. Program coming soon
AIAS Seminar
Lene Aarøe presented joint work with Miceal Canavan, Dept. of Political Science, Aarhus University, and Julian Christensen, VIVE, on how politicians and citizens use different evidence to update their policy preferences., May 27, 2024
Talk at the HBES conference 2024
We presented our resent research on the impact of exemplars and statistical information on citizens and politicians opinions competitive information environements at the conference of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society, May 23, 2024
Talk at the "Navigating the Complexities of Information Integrity in a Digital Age" conference
Lene Aarøe gave the talk "Do The Facts Matter? The Impact of Statistical Evidence and Single Exemplars on Policy Opinions Among Citizens and Politicians in Digital Democracies" at the Communication Horizons Conference with the theme is "Navigating the Complexities of Information Integrity in a Digital Age", UC Davis, May 3-5, 2024.
Research dissemination
The ExDem project was represented at the conference ”Neutralitet eller aktivisme? Journalister og forskere i dialog” https://www.dmjx.dk/neutralitet-eller-aktivisme-journalister-og-forskere-i-dialog where Lene Aarøe participated in the panel debate ”Repræsentation og præsentation: Hvordan præsenteres forskere og deres forskning i medierne?”.
Abstract accepted for the 2024 APSA conference
Abstract accepted for the 2024-APSA conference: "Persuasive Implications of Experts’ Gender and Visual Gender Expression" by Kjær, Kristine Juul, Dvinge, Mathilde, Laustsen, Lasse & Aarøe, Lene
New Publication
Aarøe, L., Andersen, K., Skovsgaard, M., Svith, F., & Schmøkel, R. (2024). The journalistic preference for extreme exemplars: educational socialization, psychological biases, or editorial policy? Journal of Communication, 74(1), 48-62.
Keynote at the Norface Governance Final Conference
Lene Aarøe gave the keynote "Do the facts matter? The persuasive power of statistical evidence and single exemplars among citizens and elites" at the Norface Governance final confererence Democratic Governance in a Turbulent Age?, University of Vienna, Feb. 14-16, 2024.
Research dissemination
Lene Aarøe participated in the panel debate "Ret og retfærdighed i et presset sundhedsvæsen" at the Festival of Research at Aarhus University, April 2024, and talked about the impact of exemplars in public debate on target group members' health and on public opinion. 
Conference presentation
We presented the following project at the annual meeting of the Danish Political Science Assocation, Nyborg, November 29, 2023: Kristine, Juul Kjær, Mathilde Dvinge Pedersen, Lasse Laustsen & Lene Aarøe (2023). ”How experts’ Gender and gender typicality shape their persuasivness, perceived traits and what people learn from them”.
Public lecture
Lene Aarøe gave the public lecture ”Hjernen, medierne og vores politiske meningsdannelse” live streamed at the Hearts and Minds knowledge festival. https://fuau.dk/aarhus/program/livestream/hjernen-medierne-og-vores-politiske-meningsdannelse-livestream-med-lene-aaroee-2321-530
New preprint
We have the following pre-print ready: Kristensen-McLachlan, R. D., Canavan, M., Kardos, M., Jacobsen, M., & Aarøe, L. (2023). Chatbots Are Not Reliable Text Annotators. arXiv preprint arXiv:2311.05769.
Research dissemination
Lene Aarøe gave an interview to the national Danish news paper kristeligt Dagblad on the impact of exemplars in political communication https://www.kristeligt-dagblad.dk/danmark/statsministeren-fremhaever-ham-som-et-ideal-en-folkeskolelaerer-tidligere-elever-udfordrer
Conference presentation
We presented the following paper at the annual meeting of the Danish political science association: Aarøe, L, Canavan, M., & Christensen, J. (2023). "Do the facts matter? How Do Politicians and Citizens use Different Evidence to Update Their Policy Preferences." Nyborg, November 29, 2023.
Abstract accepted for the 2024 HBES conference
Aarøe, Lene, Canavan, Miceal & Christensen, Julian. (2024). Do the facts matter
The EXDEM project is led by Professor of Political Science Lene Aarøe and funded by the Independent Research Fund Denmark.