Toward a Science of Propaganda
Abstract
the conscious intent of manipulation, has become an important and pervasive factor in modern sociopolitical systems. In the 1930s, psychologists, sociologists, and educators were active in the field of propaganda analysis. At the present time, much propaganda research is being done but because it is dispersed among many disciplines it lacks a basic body of literature, a shared set of techniques, rules for evaluating its quality, and a channel of communication between scholars doing such research. After using examples from American print journalism to describe the range of means by which propaganda may be spread, this article discusses the considerations that would be relevant in reformulating a science of propaganda as a subdiscipline of political psychology.
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Communication scholars have adopted decades-old theories of propaganda and mass communication to understand disinformation and media manipulation online.
“In response, communication scholars have adopted decades-old theories of propaganda and mass communication to understand disinformation and media manipulation online (154, 159, 160).”
From Stewardship of global collective behavior (2021) · cites this paper as [159]
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References 11 · Cited by 32
- Authors
- Silverstein, B.
- Corresponding author
- Silverstein, Brett
- ORCID
- Silverstein, Brett
- Venue
- Political Psychology
- Publisher
- JSTOR
- Published
- 1987-03
- Volume
- 8
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 49
- ISSN
- 0162-895X (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2329342893
- Cited by
- 32
- References
- 11
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 1 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 0.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Political Psychology (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Media Influence and Politics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Misinformation and Its Impacts
- Social Sciences › Communication › Media Studies and Communication
- Keywords
- propaganda, propaganda analysis, manipulation, newspaper journalism, socio-political systems, interdisciplinary research, research methodology
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