Do They Care Anymore?: Examining Effects of Exogenous Shocks on Political Interest and News Avoidance

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 election, police brutality, and Black Lives Matter protests led to a heightened, and divisive, political environment in the US. Collectively these events served as an exogenous shock, a prolonged and widespread crisis that made it difficult to reconstitute life, to Americans. This study examines impacts and perceived effects that exogenous shocks can have on political interest and news engagement levels of young adults. Through a series of semi-structured interviews, this research provides insight that the level of importance that young adults attribute to holding a high political interest is high, even when not engaged themselves due to perceived negativity and aggression associated with politics and news. Many of those who previously held high levels of interest and engagement before the exogenous shock hit a ceiling and then the floor in terms of their interest due to becoming overwhelmed, while many who had not been previously involving themselves had a wake-up call and more steady rise in terms of their interest and engagement with news and politics. These findings can inform the current state of politics in the eyes of young adults, how to approach news and politics with young adults, and the possibilities of mitigating related effects.