10.1177/0093650202239028
C
Kang,
OMMUNICATION
ARTICLE
Kwak • Civic Participation
RESEARCH
• February 2003
NAEWON KANG1
NOJIN KWAK
A Multilevel Approach
to Civic Participation
Individual Length of Residence,
Neighborhood Residential Stability, and
Their Interactive Effects With Media Use
This study employed Sampson’s multilevel system model to investigate how
individual- and neighborhood-level residential characteristics are related to
individuals’ civic participation. Furthermore, this study examined whether
the effects of communication variables on civic participation vary depending
on these residence-related factors. The findings show the significant impacts
of residential variables, individual length of residence and neighborhood residential stability, and they support prior research that has evidenced the significance of communication behaviors—interpersonal network, public affairs
newspaper and television use, and time spent watching television. Notably,
this study revealed significant interactive relationships between residential
variables and media use in generating civically oriented citizens: The use of
local public affairs news on TV is more likely to lead to community participation among those living in a neighborhood with lower residential mobility,
and time spent watching TV tends to be negatively related to civic engagement
among those whose residence in a community is shorter.
Keywords: civic engagement; political participation; social capital; newspaper use; television use; media effects; time displacement; mean
world effect; residential stability; length of residence
Citizen participation in civic affairs has long been argued to be an important
foundation for the democratic functioning of a society (Bellah, Madsen,
COMMUNICATION RESEARCH, Vol. 30 No. 1, February 2003 80-106
DOI: 10.1177/0093650202239028
© 2003 Sage Publications
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Kang, Kwak • Civic Participation
Sullivan, Swidler, & Tipton, 1985; de Tocqueville, 1835/1969; Putnam, 2000;
Tönnies, 1963). Accordingly, scholars have tried to understand various causes
and settings that stimulate the attention that individuals give to collective
problems and cooperative efforts. Notably, research on social capital in recent
years has further sparked studies on this important topic (Brehm & Rahn,
1997; Kwak, Shah, & Holbert, 2000; Paxton, 1999; Portes, 1998; Putnam,
1995; Shah, 1998).
Researchers have identified various conditions that explain why individuals are drawn into civic activities, including key demographic characteristics,
personality attributes, life contentment, financial situation, and traditional
and/or new media use (Brehm & Rahn, 1997; Norris, 1996; Shah, 1998; Shah,
Kwak, & Holbert, 2001; Uslaner, 1998). As these categories suggest, previous
research has mostly focused on identifying individual characteristics that
contribute to civic participation, whereas systematic efforts to specify
aggregate-level predictors of civic engagement have been relatively lacking.2
We believe, however, that it is important to examine both individual- and
aggregate-level contributors to civic participation. That is, as much as various individual characteristics promote or constrain the process by which one
gets civically involved, some community-level characteristics may also have
important contextual effects on individuals’ participation in civic activities.
For example, a neighborhood that has a history of civic activism or institutional support for activism may provide residents with greater opportunities
for community activities. In this study, therefore, we employed an approach
that emphasized both individual-level and aggregate-level elements to delineate the processes of individuals’ civic participation.
For this multilevel understanding of civic participation, we focused on residential characteristics at both the individual and neighborhood levels: individual length of residence and neighborhood residential stability (see
Sampson, 1991; for studies on the multilevel approach in the communication
literature, see McLeod, Pan, & Rucinski, 1995; Pan & McLeod, 1991). In this
regard, we have extended Sampson’s (1991) pioneering—and successful—
efforts to identify the functions of these multilevel residential variables in
community life. Although Sampson’s research mostly focused on social
aspects of community integration and attachment, his theoretical reasoning
is quite applicable to civic aspects of community affairs.
Furthermore, we attended to the roles played by communication variables
by themselves, as well as in combination with residential characteristics, in
explaining individuals’ civic participation. It has been repeatedly documented that various communicative behaviors by individuals—including
interpersonal communication, public affairs media use, and total time spent
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COMMUNICATION RESEARCH • February 2003
watching television—have significant consequences for civic participation
(Emig, 1995; Finnegan & Viswanath, 1988; Janowitz, 1952; Jeffres, Dobos, &
Lee, 1988; McLeod et al., 1996; Moy, 1999; Neuwirth, Salmon, & Neff, 1989;
Norris, 1996; Stamm, 1985; Stamm, Emig, & Hesse, 1997; Stamm & Guest,
1991; Viswanath, Kosicki, Fredin, & Park, 2000).
We have continued and extended these efforts. In particular, we examined
whether residential variables affect the responses that individuals give to
mediated messages in such a way that influences their civic participation. We
assumed that residential characteristics at both the individual and neighborhood levels say a lot about the context in which individuals process mediated
messages. In other words, people’s experiences of their communities—which
their residential characteristics represent—may influence how they react to
stories about those communities in the media—accepting, rejecting, or uncaring—and in turn affect their willingness to engage in community activities. If
this reasoning holds, the effects of the media on civic participation should
vary with both individual and neighborhood residential factors.
In sum, we had three broad goals in this study. We analyzed the effects of
multilevel residential variables on individuals’ participation in community
affairs. Second, we continued the research tradition that has examined the
role of communication variables in community participation. Finally, by combining these two research approaches, we tested interactive relationships
between media use—the use of local news and total time spent watching
television—and residential characteristics in explaining citizens’ civic
participation.
Individual Length of Residence and
Neighborhood Residential Stability
Many scholars of community attachment and integration have contended
that residential mobility—or individual length of residence in a community—
is one of the most important factors influencing individuals’ local social bonds
and associational ties (Kasarda & Janowitz, 1974; Sampson, 1991). This line
of research, dubbed the “system model” of community attachment (Kasarda &
Janowitz, 1974), has received empirical support. Length of residence has
been found to correlate with various features of community attachment,
including local friendship (Fischer, 1982; Liu, Ryan, Aurbach, & Besser,
1998), community interest (Oropesa, 1992), local participation (Kasarda &
Janowitz, 1974), and local media use (Stamm, 1985; Stamm et al., 1997;
Stamm & Guest, 1991; Stamm & Weis, 1986; Viswanath, Finnegan, Rooney, &
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Potter, 1990). Length of residence in community research is important
enough to have prompted Viswanath and his colleagues (2000) to characterize this individual-level variable as an “investment in the community.”
An important modification of the system model was made by Sampson
(1988, 1991), who proposed the “multilevel system model.” As the term multilevel suggests, Sampson argued for incorporating both micro-level (i.e., individual) and macro-level (i.e., community or neighborhood) dimensions of
community life in research. A key variable in his model was aggregate-level
residential stability—a neighborhood property that represents the degree of
residential mobility or stability among those who live within a certain geographical boundary. To Coleman (1988, 1990), this type of residential stability at the aggregate level functions to produce social capital because it not
only maintains existing community ties but also expands the social network.
For his aggregate-level measure of residential stability, Sampson (1991)
computed the proportion of residents who had lived in a neighborhood for 20
years or more. According to Sampson, residents of stable areas have more
opportunities to form friendships and participate in local affairs than residents of areas characterized by frequent residential turnover, regardless of
the individuals’ length of residence.
Findings have supported Sampson’s (1991) expectation. In his analyses of
national samples drawn from the 1982 and 1984 British Crime Survey,
Sampson (1988, 1991) employed both individual length of residence and
neighborhood residential stability and compared their impacts on individuallevel local friendships, attachment to community, leisure activity, and social
activity (in the 1988 study), as well as friendships and acquaintanceships in
both the community and the immediate neighborhood (in the 1991 study).
The pattern of effects was consistent. Both individual length of residence and
neighborhood residential stability were significantly and positively associated with most indicators of community attachment and social activity.
For the present study, we adopted Sampson’s (1988, 1991) multilevel system model to analyze residential variables at both levels, but we extended it
by applying the model to civic participation. Although most of Sampson’s
work has focused on social aspects of community life, the contextual benefits
of residential stability, such as increases in social ties, may provide the essential basis for individuals’ interest and engagement in community activities.
Thus, we expected that both individual length of residence and neighborhood
residential stability would function to enhance civic participation.
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Communication Variables:
Interpersonal Network and Mass Media Use
Researchers have shown that engaging with channels of communication on
public affairs—whether by talking with others or using hard news in the
media—is one of the most important elements in enhancing a person’s community life. Interpersonal interaction and discussion with other people on
local issues indeed lead to various types of community participation (McLeod,
Scheufele, & Moy, 1999; McLeod, Scheufele, Moy, Horowitz, et al., 1999; Moy,
1999; Scheufele, 1999) and otherwise strengthen integration into a community (Stamm et al., 1997).
Likewise, research has shown that public affairs content in local media—
newspapers and television—informs citizens of community-wise activities
and facilitates their interest in civic process. Accordingly, numerous studies
have demonstrated the positive contribution of local media use to civic
engagement (Brehm & Rahn, 1997; Emig, 1995; Finnegan & Viswanath,
1988; Jeffres et al., 1987; Jeffres, Dobos, & Sweeney, 1988; McLeod, Scheufele,
& Moy, 1999; McLeod, Scheufele, Moy, Horowitz, et al., 1999; Neuwirth et al.,
1989; Norris, 1996; Shah, 1998; Stamm, 1985; Stamm et al., 1997; Stamm &
Guest, 1991; Stamm & Weis, 1986; Viswanath et al., 1990).
However, when total time spent watching TV has been examined, both the
findings and theoretical explanations for these findings have not been uniform. Putnam (1995) pointed to TV as the culprit for the decline in civic
engagement and interpersonal trust. For Putnam, those who spend much
time watching TV (a) have less time to get involved in their communities and/
or (b) get a distorted view of the world as a place not worthy of cooperative
efforts. These two different explanations, which are referred to as the “time
displacement” hypothesis and the “mean world effect” hypothesis, respectively, have been relied on to interpret the expected negative association
between total TV time and civic participation.
Some have developed their research on the basis of the time displacement
hypothesis. Brehm and Rahn (1997) viewed TV in the context of opportunity
costs, interpreting the negative effect of time spent watching television on
civic engagement as evidence of its causing “serious drain upon the civic participation side of social capital” (pp. 1015-1016) (also see Norris, 1996). Moy,
Scheufele, and Holbert (1999), however, rejected the time displacement
hypothesis because their model of the hypothesis, in which TV viewing time
was expected to affect civic engagement through perceptions of time pressure, was not supported.
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Kang, Kwak • Civic Participation
The mean world effect hypothesis echoes arguments made by cultivation
theorists (Gerbner, Gross, Morgan, & Signorielli, 1980). TV contains much
violence and distorted images of people, thereby tending to cause people to
believe that the real world is mean and scary as well. As a result, Putnam
(1995) maintained that TV makes people not only less trusting of other people but also less likely to become involved in working with them. Some studies have examined an indirect relationship between time spent watching TV
and civic engagement through trusting attitudes, although the findings have
not been consistent (Shah, 1998; Uslaner, 1998).
In sum, in contrast to rather consistent support for the contribution of
public affairs media to civic participation, theoretical explanations for the
presumed negative impact of total TV viewing time on civic engagement have
been unclear (i.e., the time displacement hypothesis compared with the mean
world effect hypothesis). As discussed shortly, the consideration of residential variables combined with time spent watching TV may provide valuable
insights into this theoretical debate.
Length of Residence and Residential
Stability as Moderators of Media Effects
As discussed earlier, past studies have shown the importance of residential
factors and media variables in civic processes, but few studies have examined
the combined effects of these two sets of variables. Conceivably, both residential variables may function as catalysts for the effects of public affairs media
use on civic participation. Past findings have suggested that those who have
lived for longer periods in communities or who reside in communities characterized by residential stability may maintain stronger social ties and feel a
greater sense of belonging (Berry, Portney, & Thomson, 1993; Hunter, 1979;
Kasarda & Janowitz, 1974; Sampson, 1988, 1991). These community residents, compared to those without such contextual resources and psychological attachment, may be better able to make connections between communityrelated news content in the media and actual community life. Consequently,
they may be more inclined to participate in community activities when opportunities and needs arise as a result of their use of public affairs content in the
media. Therefore, we expected that the positive relationship between public
affairs media use and civic participation would be greater for those who
scored higher on the residential variables.
Regarding the theoretical debates on the mean world effect and the time
displacement hypotheses, the relationship between total TV viewing time
and residential variables may provide suggestive findings. If the mean world
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COMMUNICATION RESEARCH • February 2003
Low Total TV Time
High Total TV Time
Low Length of Residence/Low Residential Stability
High Length of Residence/High Residential Stability
Figure 1.
The Hypothesized Model for the Mean World Effect: Interactive Effect of
Total TV Viewing Time and Residential Variables on Civic Participation
effect is the main explanation for the expected negative effects of total TV
time, we would expect the impact to be significantly smaller for those who
have lived longer in communities or who live in stable neighborhoods.
Repeated viewing of a crime-filled, dangerous world on TV may lead to civic
withdrawal. However, individuals who are long-term residents in communities or live in communities with greater proportions of long-term residents
may have psychological and contextual resources and experiences to counterbalance such depictions on TV and rather be motivated to react to social conditions presented on TV.3 As a result, we anticipated that the degree of their
participation in civic affairs would not drop. Meanwhile, other individuals
lacking residence-affected psychological and contextual resources may be
more likely to be vulnerable to TV depictions when they are repeatedly
exposed to them, with a significant decline in their civic participation. The
hypothesized model of the mean world effect is presented in Figure 1.
In contrast, if time displacement is a better explanation for the expected
negative impact of total TV time on civic participation, we would expect that
the influence of this TV use measure would be significantly larger for those
who have lived longer in communities or who live in stable neighborhoods.
One of the major assumptions of the time displacement hypothesis is that
heavy users of TV tend to spend time that would be otherwise used for civic
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Civic Participation
Kang, Kwak • Civic Participation
Low Total TV Time
High Total TV Time
Low Length of Residence/Low Residential Stability
High Length of Residence/High Residential Stability
Figure 2.
The Hypothesized Model for the Time Displacement Effect: Interactive
Effect of Total TV Viewing Time and Residential Variables on Civic
Participation
activities (Brehm & Rahn, 1997; Norris, 1996; Putnam, 1995) watching TV.
Given the past findings and the present study’s expectations for residential
variables, those who have lower levels of residence-affected resources may
have limited reservoirs of time and opportunities for civic life. For these individuals, the detrimental effects of total TV time on civic engagement must be
minimal because in terms of their initial time allocations for civic participation, the amount of time that may possibly be taken away by TV viewing is
limited. Thus, if time spent watching TV replaces time available for civic
activities at all, we would expect that it would show up more among those
whose residential characteristics have let them put civic-oriented time in the
bank. The hypothesized model of the time displacement effect is presented in
Figure 2.
Methods
Data
This study used a 2-year, pooled data set from telephone surveys of 830 residents (416 in 1997 and 414 in 1998) of Madison, Wisconsin, and its adjacent
cities, towns, and villages. The data were originally gathered by the Mass
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COMMUNICATION RESEARCH • February 2003
Communications Research Center at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
The interviews were conducted in late October of each year. Random-digit
dialing procedures were used to account for unlisted phone numbers, and
each interview was validated. The response rate was 58% in 1997 and 61% in
1998. The original population frame covered not only the city of Madison but
also its contiguous cities and townships. However, given that the purpose of
this study was to examine respondents’ participation in the Madison community and that several key survey questions were indeed mostly relevant to
Madison residents, we selected 482 respondents who lived in Madison at the
time of the surveys from the original data sets.4
Classification of the Madison Area
and Neighborhood Residential Stability
A key variable in question in this study was neighborhood residential stability. To construct this aggregate-level variable, it was necessary to establish
several distinctive regions within the geographic boundary of Madison. Our
categorization of residential areas in Madison was guided by Cromley’s
(1999) characterization of geographic areas. Pointing out that the region is
one of the most important constructs in geography, Cromley differentiated a
geographic area into three regions: the formal region, the functional region,
and the administrative region. A formal region is determined by a
researcher’s understanding of the underlying spatial distribution of the units
of observation with respect to the attributes of interest (p. 56). A functional
region is defined by flows or interactions of nodes that are linked to the
periphery by flows of people, goods, or a store’s market areas. An administrative region is a type of formal region in the sense that it is usually identified
by legal boundaries (e.g., census tracts, ZIP codes, and neighborhoods).
Our classification of the Madison area identified administrative regions
with certain formal attributes. In other words, Madison, with legal ZIP codes
(i.e., administrative regions), was partitioned into three characteristic areas
(i.e., formal regions): (a) East Side, (b) West Side, and (c) South Side. Much of
the development on the East Side of Madison dates back to the 1950s, and
many of the residents of this area work for companies east of the capital.
Madison’s West Side is composed primarily of White, middle-class residents.
In the 1990s, developments in the far western area began springing up, with
the density of homes typically lower than that of the East Side. The South
Side includes racially and culturally diverse low-income families. Parts of
this area have been the frequent target of urban renewal efforts (Campbell &
Martell, 1999; City of Madison, 1998; City of Madison, Department of
Planning and Development, 1998).
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Kang, Kwak • Civic Participation
On the basis of the ZIP codes of residence, we assigned 482 respondents
into three formal geographic regions: East Side (n = 264), West Side (n = 158),
and South Side (n = 60). A measure of neighborhood residential stability was
developed on the basis of how long each respondent assigned to one of the
three regions had lived in his or her neighborhood. The respective means for
individual length of residence in the three regions were 22.2 years for East
Side residents (SD = 17.5), 18.6 years for West Side residents (SD = 18.1), and
15.9 years for South Side residents (SD = 17.1). Finally, following Sampson’s
(1991) operationalization of residential stability, we calculated the proportion of respondents who had lived in their respective neighborhoods for 20
years or more: 52.7% for the East Side, 36.1% for the West Side, and 35.0% for
the South Side. These proportions were used for the measure of aggregatelevel neighborhood residential stability.5
Measures
Civic participation. On a 5-point, Likert-type scale (1 = never, 5 = very often),
respondents were asked how often they got together with other people in the
Madison area to talk about the community’s needs (M = 3.15, SD = 1.29)6 and
how often they worked to bring about changes in the Madison area (M = 2.58,
SD = 1.15). These variables have been used in past studies (Moy et al., 1999),
and scores for these two questions were combined into an additive index (r =
.48).
Individual length of residence. As past research has typically done
(Viswanath et al., 2000), this study measured individual length of residence
by asking respondents how long they had lived in the Madison area (M =
22.33 years, SD = 17.99).
Interpersonal network. Three measures of interpersonal network, which
concerns respondents’ discussions and interactions with other people, were
employed (McLeod, Scheufele, & Moy, 1999; McLeod, Scheufele, Moy,
Horowitz, et al., 1999). These questions asked (a) whether respondents had
much to do with the people in their neighborhoods, (b) how often they had discussions with other people about local issues and politics, and (c) how often
they had discussions about issues concerning their neighborhoods or wards.
Because these variables did not use an identical scale, scores for each of these
three items were standardized first and then combined as an index (α = .60).
Media use. This study employed individuals’ use of both local newspapers
and television as exogenous factors of civic participation (McLeod, Scheufele, &
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COMMUNICATION RESEARCH • February 2003
Moy, 1999; McLeod, Scheufele, Moy, Horowitz, et al., 1999). Newspaper local
public affairs use combined responses to two questions about newspaper use
(exposure and attention; r = .82). Respondents were asked how often they
read (paid attention to) news on politics, economy, and social issues in the
Madison area; a scale ranging from 1 (rarely/little attention) to 10 (all the
time/very close attention) was used. TV local public affairs use was measured
by an attention item; identical question wording and scale that were used for
newspaper use were employed. Finally, time spent watching TV was
operationalized as time spent watching TV on an average weekday evening
(Moy et al., 1999; M = 111.20 minutes, SD = 83.81).
Control variables. A standard set of demographic variables was included:
age (M = 42.50, SD = 18.27), gender (55.7% female), education (M = 15.09
years, SD = 3.16), and income (the mean and median fell between $30,001
and $40,000). In addition to these controls, this study included local political
knowledge and three contextual or situational variables that were expected
to have impacts on civic participation. Scholars have noted the importance of
political knowledge as an important resource in society (Delli Carpini &
Keeter, 1996; Donohue, Tichenor, & Olien, 1973; Gaziano, 1988; Kwak, 1999;
McDevitt & Chaffee, 2000), and studies have indeed reported significant consequences of political knowledge in various political phenomena (Althaus,
1998; Bartels, 1996; Delli Carpini & Keeter, 1996). Given the significance of
political knowledge in past research, it was deemed necessary to control for it
in accounting for citizens’ civic participation. This study employed three
questions in each year that concerned officials who were locally elected (e.g.,
the mayor and U.S. senators from the state) or major local projects. Scores for
these knowledge questions were combined as an index, which ranged
between 0 and 3 (1997: α = .70; 1998: α = .64; M = 1.41, SD = 1.15).
Each of three contextual or situational variables—home ownership,
church attendance, and crime index—was also expected to significantly
relate to civic engagement. Researchers have shown that the economic incentives that come with owning a home lead to greater involvement in community affairs (DiPasquale & Glaeser, 1999). This study included a dichotomous
measure, with respondents who owned a home coded high (47% homeowners). Past research has also identified churches and other places of worship as
fostering civic participation by providing their members with volunteer
opportunities and civic skills (Kwak et al., 2000; Liu et al., 1998; Sherkat &
Ellison, 1999; Smidt, 1999; Verba, Schlozman, & Brady, 1995). To account for
the influence of church on civic engagement, this study included a measure of
church attendance (M = 1.49, SD = 1.73), with the self-reported frequency of
church (or synagogue) attendance ranging from never (0) to every day (7).
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Kang, Kwak • Civic Participation
Table 1
Hierarchical Regression Analysis of Civic Participation: Individual Length of Residence
and Neighborhood Residential Stability (n = 467)
Civic Participation
Variable
Control variables
Year
Age
Gender (high: female)
Education
Income
Local public affairs knowledge
Home ownership
Frequency of church attendance
Crime index
2
Incremental R
Residential variables
Individual length of residence
Neighborhood residential stability
Incremental R2
2
Total R
β
t Value
.01
0.28
–.12** –2.37
.09**
2.03
.07
1.23
.09*
1.66
.17*** 3.29
.09*
1.89
.08
1.61
.10**
2.16
β
t Value
.02
–.18***
.10**
.13***
.08
.15***
.06
.08*
.06
8.7%***
.12**
.12**
0.39
–3.07
2.13
2.68
1.49
2.83
1.03
1.67
1.19
2.03
2.42
2.2%**
10.9%***
Note. Betas refer to final standardized regression coefficients in a respective equation.
*p < .10. **p < .05. ***p < .01.
Finally, this study included a variable that represented the degree of actual
crimes that occurred in a given ZIP code area. The variable, crime index, indicated the number of violent crimes per 1,000 households in a given ZIP code
area. Crime index is constructed on the basis of news reports published in a
local newspaper, which developed the index using 1994 official crime records
(“Violence in Madison,” 1995).7
Results
Table 1 shows the results of a regression analysis that examined the relative
contributions of length of residence at the individual level and residential
stability at the neighborhood level. Among the control variables examined,
several variables were found to be significant. In the final regression (see the
right column of Table 1), those who were younger (β = –.18, p < .01), female
(β = .10, p < .05), better educated (β = .13, p < .01), and more knowledgeable on
local affairs (β = .15, p < .01) were more likely to be civic participants in the
community. Those attending churches more frequently were more likely—
albeit marginally—to engage with their communities (β = .08, p < .10). Interestingly, those who lived in areas with higher levels of violent crimes were
more likely to demonstrate higher degrees of civic participation when only
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COMMUNICATION RESEARCH • February 2003
control variables were considered (see the left column of Table 1; β = .10, p <
.05), although the variable failed to retain significance in the final equation.
Overall, the control block accounted for 8.7% of the variance in the criterion
variable.
After the controls, both residential variables were found to be significant,
supporting our expectation. That is, the longer someone had resided in a community (β = .12, p < .05) and the more stable a person’s neighborhood was in
terms of the proportion of long-term residents (β = .12, p < .05), the more
likely he or she was to engage in civic activities. Of importance to this study
was that both measures of community residence made independent contributions. Notably, replicating the findings of Sampson (1991) and others, residential stability at the neighborhood level was found to play a significant role
in generating civic-minded community residents, even after controlling for
individual length of residence and other control variables (Incr. R2 = 1.1%;
this finding is not shown in the tables). The two residential variables independently accounted for 2.2% of the variance in civic participation.
The results in Table 2 show how various communication measures related
to the criterion variable. After controlling for demographic, contextual, and
residential variables, all four communication variables were found to contribute significantly to civic participation, with the communication block
independently accounting for 19.1% of the variance in civic participation
after the control (see the left column of Table 2). More specifically, those who
maintained active discussions and social networks with others (β = .46, p <
.01) and those who closely followed local public affairs in newspapers (β = .21,
p < .01) tended to work collectively for the community. However, as previous
studies have found, the more time individuals spent watching TV, the less
likely they were to be involved in community activities (β = –.11, p < .01). The
positive contribution of TV public affairs use was only marginally significant
(β = .08, p < .10). The significant impact of interpersonal network (β = .44, p <
.01) and total TV time (β = –.11, p < .05) was maintained when they were
simultaneously considered with other communication measures (see the
right column of Table 2). Finally, Table 2 also shows that neighborhood residential stability (β = .10, p < .05) as well as individual length of residence (β =
.11, p < .05) remained significant, even after the strong impact of communication measures was considered.
As discussed earlier, it was expected that both individual length of residence and neighborhood residential stability would moderate the relationship between media use and civic participation. It was hypothesized that the
positive contribution of public affairs media use, both newspapers and TV,
would be greater for those who had lived in communities for longer periods of
time and who lived in neighborhoods that had higher levels of residential
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Kang, Kwak • Civic Participation
Table 2
Hierarchical Regression Analysis of Civic Participation: Individual Length of Residence,
Neighborhood Residential Stability, and Mass Media Use (n = 463)
Civic Participation
When Control
Block and
Residential
Variables
Are Entered
Variable
Control block
2
Incremental R
Residential variables
Individual length of residence
Neighborhood residential stability
2
Incremental R
Communication variables
Interpersonal network
Newspaper public affairs use
TV public affairs use
Total TV time
2
Incremental R
2
Total R
β
t Value
When Control
Block,
Residential
Variables, and
Communication
Variables
Are Entered
β
t Value
8.8%***
.12**
.11**
2.02
2.20
.46*** 10.59
.21*** 4.25
.08*
1.78
–.11** –2.24
.11**
.10**
2.0%***
2.14
2.23
.44***
.07
.00
–.11**
19.1%***
29.9%***
9.64
1.36
0.01
–2.36
Note. Control block includes year, age, gender, education, income, local public affairs knowledge,
home ownership, frequency of church attendance, and crime statistics. Beta values refer to standardized regression coefficients in a respective equation. Regression coefficients for communication variables in the left column are on-entry β values, and those in the right column are final β
values.
*p < .10. **p < .05. ***p < .01.
stability. As shown in Table 3, among four interaction terms analyzed in this
regard, only the interaction term between local public affairs TV viewing and
neighborhood residential stability was significant (β = .11, p < .05). As shown
in Figure 3, the influence of TV viewing on civic participation was found to
vary depending on the characteristics of the neighborhoods in which respondents lived.8 As expected, for those who lived in a neighborhood with a higher
level of residential stability, TV viewing tended to motivate people to participate in community activities. However, for those living in unstable neighborhoods, watching local public affairs on TV has weakened their civic
participation.
In regard to the interactions between residential variables at both levels
and total time spent watching TV, as demonstrated in Table 3, individual
length of residence had a significant interactive effect with total TV time (β =
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COMMUNICATION RESEARCH • February 2003
Table 3
Hierarchical Regression Analysis of Civic Participation: Interaction Effects (n = 463)
Civic Participation
β
Variable
Prior blocks
2
Incremental R
Newspaper Public Affairs Use × Individual Length of Residence
TV Public Affairs Use × Individual Length of Residence
NP Public Affairs Use × Neighborhood Residential Stability
TV Public Affairs Use × Neighborhood Residential Stability
Total TV Time × Individual Length of Residence
Total TV Time × Neighborhood Residential Stability
2
Incremental R
t Value
29.9%***
–.02
–0.38
.05
0.92
–.05
–1.00
.11**
2.22
–.10*** –2.17
–.01
–0.18
1.6%
Note. Prior blocks include year, age, gender, education, income, local public affairs knowledge, home
ownership, frequency of church attendance, crime statistics, individual length of residence, neighborhood residential stability, interpersonal network, local newspaper news use, local television
news use, and total television time. Beta values refer to final standardized regression coefficients.
**p < .05. ***p < .01.
56
Civic Participation (%)
54
52
50
48
46
44
42
Low TV Public Affairs Use
Low Residential Stability
Figure 3.
High TV Public Affairs Use
High Residential Stability
Influence of TV Public Affairs Use on Civic Participation Between Groups
With Low Residential Stability and High Residential Stability
–.10, p < .05). As indicated in Figure 4, individual length of residence was
found to function as a contingent condition for the relationship between total
TV time and civic participation. Overall, total TV time was negatively related
94
Kang, Kwak • Civic Participation
59
Civic Participation (%)
57
55
53
51
49
47
Low Total TV Time
Low Length of Residence
Figure 4.
High Total TV Time
High Length of Residence
Influence of Total TV Time on Civic Participation Between Groups With Low
Length of Residence and High Length of Residence
to civic engagement (see Table 2), but this negative effect seemed to be exclusively for those who had lived in their communities for a longer time. For others whose residence in their communities was shorter, time spent watching
TV seems to have been unrelated to the degrees to which they participated in
civic activities. Between the alternative theories concerning the negative
impact of total TV time on civic participation, these findings seem to favor the
time displacement hypothesis over the mean world effect hypothesis. Further discussion on this issue is presented shortly.
Discussion
The findings of this study support the significance of the multilevel system
model put forth by Sampson (1988, 1991) and demonstrate the applicability
of the model in the domain of civic participation. As expected, individual
length of residence in the community was found to significantly influence
individuals’ civic participation. More important, neighborhood-level residential stability was found to have cross-level consequences in that residential
stability had a significant impact on individuals’ civic engagement. The findings of this study also show the significant effects of communication variables
on citizens’ activities in their communities. Interpersonal interaction with
95
COMMUNICATION RESEARCH • February 2003
others was found to significantly transform discussion participants into civic
participants, which replicates findings in the literature (McLeod et al., 1996;
McLeod, Scheufele, & Moy, 1999; Scheufele, 1999; Stamm et al., 1997). As far
as the main effects are concerned, the use of newspaper and TV coverage of
local public affairs was demonstrated to enhance individuals’ civic mindedness. Consistent with findings of many studies on TV use and social capital
(Brehm & Rahn, 1997; Norris, 1996; Putnam, 1995), total time spent watching TV was negatively related to viewers’ involvement in community
activities.
Analysis of the interactions between residential variables and media use
revealed that none of interaction terms involving newspaper use was significant, indicating that the impact of newspaper use on civic activities exists
independently of the residential variables. However, the relationship of civic
engagement with local public affairs TV use was moderated by neighborhood
residential stability. Given that the final regression coefficient of public
affairs TV use was not significant (β = .01, p > .80; this finding was not shown
in the tables), the significant interaction term indicates that the impact of
watching local affairs on TV depended on the residential characteristics of
the neighborhood in which one resided. More specifically, the use of local public affairs content on TV positively contributed to civic participation in stable
neighborhoods, whereas in less stable neighborhoods, the media use variable
was negatively related to civic engagement. Therefore, the significant role of
local TV use was suppressed when the interactive influence of the aggregatelevel residential variable was not accounted for.
The interaction between total TV viewing time and individual length of
residence showed another significant pattern, which indicates a type of floor
effect. As shown in Figure 4, the significant detachment from civic life due to
heavy TV viewing was exclusively found among those with longer periods of
residence in their communities. For others who had lived in their communities for a limited time and whose participation in civic activities was therefore more likely to be lower than that of their counterparts from the beginning, spending more time in front of the TV may not have further weakened
their civic connectedness.
The contingent interaction effect between total TV time and length of residence speaks to the issue of alternative theoretical explanations for the negative impact of total TV time on civic engagement. As stated earlier, if the
mean world effect is a better explanation, we would expect the impact of total
TV time to be greater for those with shorter lengths of residence because
their lack of psychological and contextual resources to counteract TV depictions of society would render them more vulnerable to media effects. However, the findings showed otherwise, which favors the time displacement
96
Kang, Kwak • Civic Participation
hypothesis. The hypothesis would predict this interactive effect because people with longer lengths of community residence are more susceptible to the
time displacement effect because of their potentially greater available time
for the civic activities that their community residence has helped to create.9
However, the significance of the mean world effect hypothesis may be
implied—in a limited sense, though—by the interaction between local public
affairs TV use and neighborhood residential stability. As Figure 3 shows,
among those who lived in neighborhoods with a smaller proportions of longterm residents, viewing local affairs on TV was negatively related to civic participation, whereas among those living in stable neighborhoods, the TV use
variable was positively related to participation. Past studies have suggested
that local crime stories take up a large proportion of local TV news (McLeod
et al., 1995), thereby limiting to some degree the availability of news holes for
stories about public affairs and community civic life (see also McLeod,
Scheufele, & Moy, 1999). If these conclusions are any indication, the use of
local hard news on TV may generate perceptions of a mean world, and those
perceptions may have negative consequences on civic life for some community residents. Presumably, such negative consequences on civic activities
(i.e., the mean world effect) must be more prevalent among residents in
unstable neighborhoods, where they may lack motivations, experiences, and
contextual resources to counteract those media depictions. However, those
who live in neighborhoods with larger proportions of long-term residents—
those who are more likely to be concerned with the well-being of their communities partly because of direct and mediated experiences with the communities over years—may be stimulated by negative news reports such that they
are willing to organize around problems. In short, the effects of negative news
on TV on civic mobilization may not be uniform across neighborhoods with
different characteristics, and researchers should carefully examine the
effects of mean world perceptions, if any, by considering various contextual
factors, including residential characteristics.
In the literature, the multilevel system model has been mostly applied to
individuals’ social lives, but the present study extended the application of
this model into the area of civic activities. However, for both past and current
research, the criterion variables influenced by the neighborhood-level residential stability have common characteristics in that they are all interactive
and collaborative activities among residents (Sampson, 1988, 1991). Given
such common elements, future research may need to inquire into whether the
residential variable at the neighborhood level also functions significantly
when applied to traditional political participation, which is characterized
more as individual actions (Nie, Junn, & Stehlik-Barry, 1996; Verba & Nie,
1972; Verba et al., 1995; Wolfinger & Rosenstone, 1980).
97
COMMUNICATION RESEARCH • February 2003
That the present study compared only three neighborhood areas in a single city limited the variance of the neighborhood-level measure examined.
Also, the definition of neighborhoods employed in this study can be improved.
Although inevitable for the current study based on a secondary data set, it
may be desirable to define neighborhood boundaries in terms of factors that
are more critical to neighborhood behaviors, such as community history,
institutional support, lifestyle, and social status. Future studies need to
design a study that will employ a more nuanced definition of neighborhoods
and incorporate a greater number of neighborhoods with sufficient respondents in each neighborhood.
In closing, it is important to note that past efforts to identify aggregatelevel factors consequential to community ties and civic participation have not
been limited to residential characteristics. For example, in a study of residents’ participation in community organizations across five large American
cities, Portney and Berry (1997) took into account the differences in socioeconomic makeup and racial composition—specifically, percentage of African
Americans—across neighborhoods. The importance of race in understanding
civic participation in general and the civic roles of the media and religious
institutions in specific has been also demonstrated (Mastin, 2000). Tigges,
Browne, and Green (1998) examined an economic factor, the level of neighborhood poverty, as an aggregate exogenous variable of social associations. All of
these studies have clearly shown that aggregate-level contexts in which individuals are situated do matter in fostering their engagement with their communities. Scholars of civic participation therefore are urged to exert greater
efforts to identify neighborhood-level predictors of civic participation.
Appendix A
Question Wording
Civic participation
1997
We’d like to know how frequently you do each of the following things. [1 =
never, 5 = very often.] Please tell me
(1) How often do you get together with other people in the Madison area?
(2) How often have you worked to bring about changes in the Madison
area?
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Kang, Kwak • Civic Participation
1998
We’d like to know how frequently you do each of the following things. [1 =
never, 5 = very often.] Please tell me
(1) How often do you get together with other people in the Madison area to
talk about the community’s needs?
(2) How often have you worked to bring about changes in the Madison
area?
Interpersonal network
(1) Do you have much to do with the people in your neighborhood? [Yes = 1,
No = 0.]
(2) On a scale from 1 to 10, where 1 means NOT VERY OFTEN and 10
means VERY OFTEN, would you tell me how often you have discussions with other people about local issues and politics?
(3) And what about issues concerning your neighborhood?
Newspaper public affairs use
On a scale from 1 to 10, where 1 means RARELY and 10 means ALL THE
TIME, how often do you read each of the following types of newspaper
content?
News on politics, economy, and social issues in the Madison area?
When you do come across the following kinds of stories, how much attention do you pay to them? Here, 1 means LITTLE ATTENTION, and10
means VERY CLOSE ATTENTION. How much attention do you pay to:
News on politics, economy, and social issues in the Madison area?
TV public affairs use
When you come across the following types of content on TV, how much
attention do you pay to them? Here, 1 means LITTLE ATTENTION,
and 10 means VERY CLOSE ATTENTION. How much attention do
you pay to:
News on politics, economy, and social issues in the Madison area?
Total TV time
On the average weekday evening, how many hours of TV do you watch
after 5 p.m.?
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COMMUNICATION RESEARCH • February 2003
Length of residence
How long have you lived in the Madison area? (in years)
Demographics
What is the highest year of school you have completed? (in years)
What was your age on your last birthday?
I would like an estimate of your total 1996 (1997) household income.
Please estimate the combined income for all household members from
all sources. Was your household income in 1996 (1997) more than
$10,000? [If yes] More than $20,000? [If yes] More than $30,000? [If
yes] More than $40,000? [If yes] More than $50,000? [If yes] More than
$60,000? [If yes] More than $70,000?
Local political knowledge
1997
(1) What is the name of the mayor of Madison?
(2) Can you tell me which office Kathleen Falk holds?
(3) Can you tell me the name of the highway whose proposed widening is
controversial?
1998
(1) Can you tell me which office Debra Amesqua holds?
(2) What is the name of the Dane County executive?
(3) Can you name a U.S. senator from Wisconsin?
Church attendance
How often do you attend (church/synagogue) services? [7] Every day, [6]
More than twice a week, [5] Twice a week, [4] Once a week, [3] Almost
every week, [2] Once or twice a month, [1] A few times a year, [0] never
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Kang, Kwak • Civic Participation
Appendix B
Descriptive Statistics by Neighborhood
East Side
M
Civic participation (0 to 10)
Age (years)
Gender (% female)
Education (years)
Income (0 to 7)
Political knowledge (0 to 3)
Home ownership (% owners)
Church attendance (0 to 7)
Local TV news (0 to 10)
Local NP news (0 to 10)
Total TV time (minutes)
Interpersonal network (z score)
Length of residence (years)
6.14
41.39
14.66
3.47
1.40
1.45
5.65
5.74
114.92
0.07
22.19
SD
2.09
17.39
53.4
2.93
1.93
1.12
49.2
1.74
2.90
2.90
79.29
2.32
17.50
West Side
South Side
M
M
SD
5.63
2.08
45.24 19.51
62.0
15.89
3.40
4.34
1.98
1.60
1.18
50.0
1.55
1.72
5.49
3.00
5.82
2.79
97.77 81.74
.15
2.28
18.56 18.13
SD
5.58
2.16
36.08 16.53
48.3
15.11
3.10
3.02
1.67
.97
1.04
28.3
1.47
1.60
5.42
2.58
5.00
2.46
109.83 97.66
–0.40
2.19
15.88 17.06
Notes
1. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Nojin Kwak,
Department of Communication Studies, University of Michigan, 3020B Frieze Building, 105 S. South Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1285; e-mail: [email protected]. The
authors are listed in alphabetical order. The authors are truly grateful to the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions for earlier versions of this
article.
2. Population density, which has typically been employed for control purposes in
multivariate analyses of social capital (e.g., Kwak, Shah, & Holbert, 2000; Shah et al.,
2001), may be an exception. However, it is worth mentioning that some scholars have
advanced an argument for developing mass communication theory at the macrosocial
level. For example, see McLeod and Blumler (1987); Tichenor, Donohue, and Olien
(1980); and Viswanath and Demers (1999).
3. Otherwise, as a reviewer suggested, those individuals are more likely to be better
informed about the situations concerning their communities. Thus, when the coverage
of their communities on television is overly negative compared to the reality, these individuals are less likely to be affected by the coverage.
4. The wording of several key questions, including the criterion variable, media use,
and political knowledge, made clear references to Madison as context for given variables. See Appendix A.
5. There was a need to rule out any possibility that the measure of residential stability simply reflected region-specific demographic attributes. Compared to other demographic characteristics of the three geographic regions, neighborhood residential stability proved not to be a surrogate or proxy measure of any demographic variables but a
unique measure characteristic of each geographic area. For example, patterns of mean
differences in respondents’ ages (East Side: M = 41.39 years, SD = 17.35; West: M =
45.24 years, SD = 19.51; South Side: M = 36.08 years, SD = 16.53), education (East Side:
M = 14.66 years, SD = 2.93; West Side: M = 15.89 years, SD = 3.40; South Side: M = 15.11
101
COMMUNICATION RESEARCH • February 2003
years, SD = 3.10), or income (East Side and South Side: $30,001 to $40,000; West Side:
$40,001 to $50,000) for the three regions were not identical to the pattern of neighborhood residential stability. See Appendix B for descriptive statistics of variables for each
neighborhood.
6. The wording of this question was slightly different in 1997. In 1997, respondents
were asked how often they got together with other people in the Madison area. To take
between-year variations, including question wording, into account, all the analysis
controlled for when the survey was administered (i.e., year).
7. Violent crimes included in the newspaper analysis were homicide, aggravated
battery (causing serious physical injury), battery (causing physical injury), sexual
assault, kidnapping, robbery, fights, weapons offenses (including shots fired), people
with guns, and reckless endangerment (jeopardizing the safety of another person).
8. In Figures 3 and 4, the high or low group for each variable refers to those whose
values for a respective variable were 1 standard deviation higher or lower than the
mean; for variables that were not components of interactions terms, mean values were
assigned (female for gender and 1998 for year). The criterion variable, civic participation, was on a 100% scale.
9. A reviewer suggested that the causal influence might flow from civic participation to television viewing. That is, the longer one lives in a community, the more likely
one would be involved in neighborhood and civic activities, which might “displace” television viewing. In this alternative explanation, the civic participation variable may
function either as a moderator or a mediator. The current data set was analyzed for
these possibilities. After considering all the control variables and two residential variables (only residential stability, if applicable), the partial correlation between total TV
time and civic participation was significantly negative (partial r = –.10, p < .04),
whereas individual length of residence was positively correlated with civic participation (partial r = –.09, p < .05). Thus, it appears that civic participation significantly
mediated the effect of length of residence on total TV time, although the indirect negative effect of length of residence via civic participation was not as large as direct positive impact (partial r = –.10, p < .03). When the interactive influence of length of residence and civic participation on total TV time was analyzed by a regression analysis,
the interaction term was negative and close to a marginal level of statistical significance (β = –.07, t = –1.63, p < .11). These findings indicate that although not significant
in a conventional statistical sense, the positive relationship between length of residence and total TV time was stronger among those with lower levels of civic participation. In short, there are some indications in the current data set that civic participation
might influence how much time people spend watching television, which may furthermore suggest a nonrecursive relationship between these two variables. Given that the
current study was based on a cross-sectional data set, however, we are unable to make a
conclusion on this issue.
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Naewon Kang (Ph.D., University of Wisconsin–Madison) is a special
research fellow for the Media Literacy Team in the Institute for Korean
Language Education, Seoul National University. His research interests
include the role of mass media in public life, media sociology, online
journalism, and the dynamic processes underlying media effects and
social change. His previous works have appeared in Communication
Research and the Korean Journal of Journalism and Communication
Studies.
Nojin Kwak (Ph.D., University of Wisconsin–Madison) is an assistant
professor of communication studies at the University of Michigan. His
main research interests concern the social and political effects of the
media, including the knowledge gap hypothesis and the roles of traditional and new media in the formation of social capital and sociopolitical attitudes. His research has appeared in Communication
Research, Political Communication, the Journal of Communication, the
Journal of Official Statistics, and the Gazette.
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