voter turnout. In this case, a forty percent increase in "late" negative ads will decrease the likelihood of turnout by 0.087, and a sixty percent increase in late ads merits a 0.145 decrease in turnout. Thus, the only case in which attack ads have been found to effect on voter turn out is when the voter has already selected their candidate, as they realize that their candidate is potentially no better than the alternative options. Effectiveness Studies claim that 82% of Americans dislike attack ads, and 53% believe that the "ethics and values" of election campaigns have worsened since 1985. The voting public see attack ads as an element of smear campaigning. Other research indicates that voters are open to candidates attacking each other if the issues in question are "appropriate". In a 1999 survey of Virginia voters, 80.7% felt it is fair for a candidate to criticize an opponent for "talking one way and voting another", though but only 7.7% feel it is fair for a candidate to attack an opponent for the "behavior of his/her family members". Political operatives, however, have found attack ads to be useful, and social psychologists claim that negative information has a tendency "to be more influential than equally extreme or equally likely positive information". University of Toronto professor Scott Hawkins "suggests that even a mention in the media that a candidate or party is planning to run negative advertisements can be beneficial, since it plants seeds of doubt in the voter's mind, especially early in the campaign when voters tend to be less involved. If the reported claims turn up in advertisements later in the campaign, they already seem familiar to the voter." In the United States, researchers have consistently found that negative advertising has positive effects. Negative advertising "is likely to stimulate voters by increasing the degree to which they care about the election's outcome or by increasing ties to their party’s nominee;" it makes the election seem more important, and thus increases voter turnout. Other research has found that negative advertisements only appeal to partisan voters, and that it alienates independents, causing elections to be fought among partisan extremes. Backfires If an ad is seen as going too far or being "too personal", voters may turn against the party that put the ad out. For example, in the Canada 1993 federal election, the Progressive Conservative (PC) Party attacked Liberal Party leader