An Examination of the Relationships Between Attention to Information Sources, Colonial Debt, and Attitudes Toward a U.S. Military Buildup in the Pacific: The Case of Guam

Abstract

The case of the U.S. military buildup on the Western Pacific Island of Guam is used to examine whether (1) attention to information sources supportive of U.S. interests is associated with positive attitudes toward U.S. military presence, (2) attention to information sources supportive of U.S. interests is positively associated with colonial debt, a dimension of internalized colonialism, and (3) colonial debt mediates the proposed relationship between attention to information sources supportive of U.S. interests and attitudes toward U.S. military presence. Findings from a representative survey of 319 registered voters on Guam showed that higher attention to U.S. officials and a local newspaper, the Pacific Daily News (PDN), and higher levels of colonial debt were associated with positive attitudes toward the military buildup. Attention to U.S. officials and the PDN was positively associated with levels of colonial debt. Moreover, attention to the two information sources had indirect effects with attitudes toward the buildup through their prior effects on colonial debt.