This proposed study will investigate how source credibility interacts with moral foundation message frames on sociopolitical issues. This is a quantitative study with three categorical independent variables; message source credibility, moral foundation frame, extremity of self-identified ideology. Measurements will be taken on one dependent variable, sociopolitical attitudes, with two levels: climate change and immigration.

         The independent variable extremity of political ideology will be measured by participant’s self-identification on an eight point Likert scale. Message source credibility is an independent categorical variable that will have three different levels; high credibility, low credibility, and neutral. The message frame manipulation, the final independent variable, will be an ostensible message about climate change, immigration, and a control message framed to emphasize either a binding or individualizing moral foundation. The binding foundation constitutes in-group/loyalty, authority/respect, and purity/sanctity and the individualizing foundation constitutes care/harm and fairness/reciprocity.

         Attitudes will be measured using three questions that cover attitudes about environmental mitigation policies. Another three question will measure the participant’s attitudes about moral obligation of permissive immigration policies.  

         This study has three categorical independent variables: message source, moral foundation frame, and self-identified ideological extremity. This study also has one continuous interval dependent variable: sociopolitical attitudes at pre-treatment and post-treatment. Since the design elements of this research project have more than two categorical independent variables and one continuous interval dependent variable, a factorial analysis of variance will be the appropriate method of statistical analysis. The Factorial Design is between-subjects 2x3x4 and the test statistic is GLM-Univariate (Factorial/Two-way ANOVA).