Publications
Notes: * indicates graduate student co-author
Publications
Myers, C. D. (2025). Politicizing the Pandemic? Partisan Framing of the Early COVID-19 Pandemic Was Infrequent, Particularly in Local Newspapers. Political Communication. https://doi.org/10.1080/10584609.2024.2372593
Abstract: Media scholars have long expressed concern that news outlets’ tendency to frame policy debates in terms of partisan conflict or political gamesmanship politicizes and polarizes public opinion. This tendency may be particularly problematic with new, highly salient issues like the COVID-19 pandemic during its earliest stages. To evaluate the degree to which coverage of the pandemic in its first months was framed in partisan terms, the study analyzes the content of COVID-19 related articles published on the front pages of the New York Times, Washington Post, and a random sample of local newspapers between February 21 and May 15, 2020. Contrary to expectations, these newspapers employed partisan framings in only about one out of ten articles. However, frequencies vary dramatically by type of newspaper: national papers were much more likely than local ones to use partisan framing, and among local papers, higher-circulation outlets were more likely than lower-circulation ones. These findings suggest that the degree to which news consumers perceive partisan framing depends on whether they consume local or national media, and that the decline of local news outlets may have contributed to increased exposure to partisan portrayals early in the pandemic.
Busby, E., Howat, A., & Myers, C. D. (2024). Changing Partisan Stereotypes in the Trump Era. Political Science Research and Methods. https://doi.org/10.1017/psrm.2023.30
Abstract: Stereotypes of the two major political parties play a significant role in political cognition, yet little research has examined how these stereotypes evolve over time. This study compares open-ended responses (from 2016 and 2021) in which individuals list descriptive words about party members. Using a structural topic model, the analysis reveals that by 2021, partisan stereotypes had shifted away from group- or issue-based descriptions, and became more focused on personal traits. These evolving perceptions suggest that during the Trump era, the public increasingly viewed political parties in personalized, character-focused terms—potentially contributing to affective polarization.
Myers, C. D., Zhirkov, K., & Trujillo, K. L.* (2024). Who is ‘On Welfare’? Validating the Use of Conjoint Experiments to Measure Stereotype Content. Political Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-022-09815-0
Abstract: [Abstract text to be inserted—needs retrieval from publisher or institutional repository.]
Working Papers
Myers, C. D., & Hvidsten, T.* (n.d.). The Effects of Local Newspaper Coverage on Attitudes Towards Congress: A Panel Experiment. https://doi.org/10.17605/0SF.IO/ZE9BA
Myers, C. D. (n.d.). Who is Congress in an Era of Nationalizing News? Comparing Coverage of Congress in National and Local Newspapers, 2003-2020.
Myers, C. D. (n.d.). Storytelling and Intergroup Relations.
Publications
Myers, C. D., & Hvidsten, T.* (Forthcoming). Who is the Party? The Effect of Counter-Stereotypical Partisan Exemplars on Inter-Party Stereotypes and Affect. Political Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-024-09991-1
Myers, C. D. (2025). Politicizing the Pandemic? Partisan Framing of the Early COVID-19 Pandemic was Infrequent, Particularly in Local Newspapers. Political Communication. https://www.doi.org/10.1080/10584609.2024.2372593
Busby, E., Howat, A., & Myers, C. D. (2024). Changing Partisan Stereotypes in the Trump Era. Political Science Research and Methods. https://doi.org/10.1017/psrm.2023.30
Myers, C. D., Zhirkov, K., & Trujillo, K. L.* (2024). Who is ‘On Welfare’? Validating the Use of Conjoint Experiments to Measure Stereotype Content. Political Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-022-09815-0
Zhirkov, K., Trujillo, K. L., & Myers, C. D. (2024). Measuring Support for Welfare Policies: Implications for the Effects of Race and Deservingness Stereotypes. Journal of Experimental Political Science. https://doi.org/10.1017/XPS.2023.31
Myers, C. D. (2023). Issues, Groups, Or Idiots? Comparing Theories of Partisan Stereotypes. Public Opinion Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1093/poq/nfad038
Myers, C. D. (2022). The Dynamics of Social Identity: Evidence from Deliberating Groups. Political Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12749
Myers, C. D. (2021). No Effect of Partisan Framing on Opinions about the COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of Elections, Public Opinion, and Parties. https://doi.org/10.1080/17457289.2021.1924747
Myers, C. D., Gordon, H. G.*, Goold, S. D., Kim, H. M., & Rowe, Z. (2020). Does Group Deliberation Mobilize? The Effect of Public Deliberation on Willingness to Participate in Politics. Political Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-018-9507-z
Myers, C. D., Kieffer, E. C., Fendrick, A. M., Kim, H. M., Calhoun, K., Szymecko, L., Salman, C., LaHann, L., Ledon, C., Danis, M., Rowe, Z., & Goold, S. D. (2020). How Would Low-Income Communities Prioritize Medicaid Spending? Journal of Health Politics, Policy, and Law. https://doi.org/10.1215/03616878-8161024
Myers, C. D. (2018). Political Deliberation, Interest Conflict, and the Common Knowledge Effect. Journal of Public Deliberation. https://doi.org/10.16997/jdd.296
Myers, C. D. (2017). Interests, Information, and Minority Influence in Deliberation. Journal of Politics. https://doi.org/10.1086/690304
Myers, C. D., & Tingley, D. (2016). The Influence of Emotion on Trust. Political Analysis. https://doi.org/10.1093/pan/mpw026
Myers, C. D. (2016). Participation and Punishment. Journal of Theoretical Politics. https://doi.org/10.1177/0951629815586882
Glick, D., & Myers, C. D. (2015). Learning from Others: An Experimental Test of Brownian Motion Uncertainty Models. Journal of Theoretical Politics. https://doi.org/10.1177/0951629814559723
Goold, S. D., Danis, M., Abelson, J., Gornick, M., Szymecko, L., Myers, C. D., Rowe, Z., Kim, H. M., & Salman, C. (2019). Evaluating Community Deliberations about Health Research Priorities. Health Expectations. https://doi.org/10.1111/hex.12931
Goold, S. D., Myers, C. D., Danis, M., Abelson, J., Barnett, S., Calhoun, K., Campbell, E. G., Lahahnn, L., Hammad, A., Pérez Rosenbaum, R., Kim, H. M., Salman, C., Szymecko, L., & Rowe, Z. E. (2018). Members of Minority and Underserved Communities Set Priorities for Health Research. Milbank Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0009.12354
Goold, S. D., Myers, C. D., Szymecko, L., Collins, C., Martinez, S., Ledón, C., Campbell, T. R., Danis, M., Cargill, S., Kim, H. M., & Rowe, Z. (2017). Priorities for Patient Centered Outcomes Research: The Views of Minority and Underserved Communities. Health Service Research. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6773.12505
Myers, C. D., Ritter, T., & Rockaway, A. (2017). Community Deliberation to Build Local Capacity for Climate Change Adaptation: The Rural Climate Dialogues Program. In W. Leal & J. Keenan (Eds.), Climate Change Adaptation in North America. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-53742-9_2
Myers, C. D., & Mendelberg, T. (2013). Political Deliberation. In L. Huddy, D. Sears, & J. Levy (Eds.), Oxford Handbook of Political Psychology. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199760107.013.0022