INTERPRETATION OF ISSUES AND VOTER DECISION-MAKING STRATEGIES - A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON ISSUE-ORIENTED ELECTION COVERAGE

This study investigated the relationship between ethical and societal interpretations of issues and voters' decision-making strategies within systematically varied electoral issue environments. Analysis across two issue milieus using two measures of the decision-making process found that individuals who ascribed an ethical interpretation to issues were more likely to use a noncompensatory strategy, which focuses on one or two key issues in the decision-making process, than individuals who ascribed a societal interpretation to issues. This relationship held when the number of issues considered important and the importance placed on ''social-moral'' issues each were controlled.