Reinforcement of the Political Self Through Selective Exposure to Political Messages

2011/04/01 by Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick, Silvia Knobloch‐Westerwick, Jingbo Meng · 11 citations
Social Sciences · #Social Media and Politics #Social and Intergroup Psychology #Media Studies and Communication

paper · doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.2011.01543.x

Abstract

The idea that recipients prefer messages that reinforce preexisting attitudes and self-perceptions has pervaded much communication research, but effects of selective exposure are rarely examined. This 2-session experiment (n = 157) investigates such effects. The first session presented computerized questions on 12 political issue attitudes and political self-concept. Accessibility data were collected based on response times. In the second session, participants browsed through an online magazine including 4 of the 12 issues, each issue being covered by 2 articles featuring opposing viewpoints. Selective exposure was logged and categorized as attitude-consistent or counterattitudinal. Finally, a questionnaire repeated measures for attitudes and self-concept. The results show that participants preferred attitude-consistent over counterattitudinal messages, which strengthened the political self-concept through increased accessibility.

Citations

• A New Era of Minimal Effects? The Changing Foundations of Political Communication
• Identity negotiation: Where two roads meet.

Cited by

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• Social Identity Threats: How Media and Discrimination Affect Muslim Americans’ Identification as Americans and Trust in the U.S. Government
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Related

• Confirmation Bias, Ingroup Bias, and Negativity Bias in Selective Exposure to Political Information
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• The Effects of Technological Affordances on Political Opinion Expression in Social Media: A Field Experiment