Judgments of Propaganda Near and Far: National Identity and Media Evaluations

We often judge others differently than we judge ourselves. This study aimed to investigate whether this asymmetry in judgements also exists for extensions of the self and the other: judging one’s own nation compared to a foreign nation. We also asked whether these judgements would be moderated by national identity such that Canadians who identified more strongly with their nation would judge foreign media as more like propaganda than Canadian media. To assess such judgements, we created identical propaganda videos that ostensibly originated from either the Canadian government or a foreign government. When judgements of propaganda were measured covertly, we found no difference in judgements of Canadians and foreign videos. However, when asked explicitly about propaganda, Canadians judged videos from their own nation as more like propaganda compared to foreign videos. Contrary to our prediction, Canadian national identity did not moderate propaganda judgements.