Does Science Fiction Affect Political Fact? Yes and No: A Survey Experiment on “Killer Robots”

Abstract

Some scholars suggest popular culture shapes public attitudes about foreign policy in ways that can affect real-world political outcomes, but relatively few studies test this proposition. We examine whether—and more importantly how—popular culture affects public opinion on foreign policy through a survey experiment on American attitudes toward fully autonomous weapons. We queried respondents about their consumption of popular culture—including a number of iconic science-fiction films featuring armed artificial intelligence (AI)—before or after questions about autonomous weapons. We find that science fiction “priming” exerts no independent effect on political attitudes, nor does referring to autonomous weapons as “killer robots.” However, consumption of frightening armed AI films is associated with greater opposition to autonomous weapons. This “sci-fi literacy” effect increases for the highest consumers of science fiction if they are “primed” about popular culture before reporting their attitudes—what we call the “sci-fi geek effect.” Our project advances current understanding of how popular culture affects public opinion on foreign policy and suggests avenues for further inquiry.

Framing Effects on Judgments of Social Robots’ (Im)Moral Behaviors

“…This divergence may be a function of framing differences. Frequent exposure to science fiction, for instance, may foster meaning-making frameworks for technologies ( Appel et al, 2016 ) by promoting salience of existential threats ( Young and Carpenter, 2018 ) or potential sociality ( Mara and Appel, 2015 ). Framing effects may extend to moral judgments.…”

Cyber-noir: Cybersecurity and popular culture

“…These scholars use diverse theoretical approaches including securitization theory (Vuori, 2010;Williams, 2003), poststructuralism (Campbell, 2003;Derian, 2005), and sociological theories of risk (Amoore, 2007) to shed new light on familiar security subjects such as war, terrorism, border control, and nuclear proliferation. More recent work has taken this inspiration in a range of fascinating directions (Jones & Paris, 2018;Kiersey & Neumann, 2013;Musgrave, 2019;Neumann & Nexon, 2006;Young & Carpenter, 2018) For these scholars, popular culture artefacts are not merely ephemera of state-based dynamics but both an expression of and influence on policymakers' and citizens' identities, attitudes, and desires.…”

Chaos is a ladder: A study of identity, norms, and power transition in the Game of Thrones universe

“…Popular culture is also used as a pedagogical tool in the study and teaching of the discipline (see, for example, Drezner, 2011; Dyson, 2015; Kiersey and Neumann, 2015; Lobasz and Valeriano, 2015), since it can make the material more accessible and relatable to a wider audience (Dougherty, 2002; Dyson, 2015; Grayson et al, 2009; Tierney, 2007). Scholars have conducted more empirical studies to test the causal and constitutive effects of popular culture on political behaviour and attitudes towards foreign policy (Der Derian, 2001; Dyson, 2015; Furman and Musgrave, 2017; Kiersey and Neumann, 2015; Nexon and Neumann, 2006; Young and Carpenter, 2018). For example, representations in popular culture can shape individuals’ perception of ethnic groups (Shaheen, 2009), legitimate policies such as torture (Mayer, 2007), and develop an understanding of Muslim women’s rights (Abu-Lughod, 2010).…”

“…I argue that contemporary debates about power transitions are reflected in the series and serve to impact the audiences watching. Though I accept that scholars need to move beyond interpretive decoding of the text (Young and Carpenter, 2018: 574), there is ample evidence of the impact of the show on the real world. Jaworski (2017) recently summed up several important ways in which the show has impacted the real world, from popularising new baby names to impacting the messages and rhetoric used by politicians, including how they think about themselves.…”

“… 7. For other studies on causal effects of popular culture on world politics, see Furman and Musgrave, 2017; Milkoreit, 2017; Young and Carpenter, 2018 …”