Social Identity Precursors to the Hostile Media Phenomenon: Partisan Perceptions of Coverage of the Bosnian Conflict

2001/04/01 by Kimberly Matheson, Sanela Dursun · 8 citations
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Bosnian #Collective identity #Communication in Education and Healthcare #Epistemology #Group (periodic table) #Group conflict #Identity (music) #Law #Perception #Phenomenon #Political science #Psychology #Social Media and Politics #Social and Intergroup Psychology #Social group #Social identity theory #Social psychology

paper · doi:10.1177/1368430201004002003

openalex publication_date 2001/04/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/26

Abstract

Perceptions of bias in an impartial media have been consistently documented among partisan audiences. It is argued that this phenomenon is grounded in the processes associated with a group identity that evoke cognitive differentiation between the in-group and the out-group and motivate in-group bias. Bosnian Serb and Muslim partisans and a group of nonpartisan controls responded to media coverage of the 1994 Sarajevo market bombing. Results indicated a strong hostile media effect. This effect was associated with in-group identification and cognitive differentiation between groups, the latter of which appeared to mediate the effect of identification. The extent to which the hostile media effect is a mechanism for enhancing a positive and distinct in-group identity was further supported by self-serving perceptions concerning which group was responsible for the bombing. It was suggested that the hostile media phenomenon reflects a form of in-group bias.

Citations

• Subjective Construal, Social Inference, and Human Misunderstanding
• Biased assimilation and attitude polarization: The effects of prior theories on subsequently considered evidence.
• Comments on the motivational status of self‐esteem in social identity and intergroup discrimination
• The Third-Person Effect in Communication
• The hostile media phenomenon: Biased perception and perceptions of media bias in coverage of the Beirut massacre.
• The Causes of Hostile Media Judgments

Cited by

• A Self-Categorization Explanation for the Hostile Media Effect
• Is the Media Biased Against Me? A Meta-Analysis of the Hostile Media Effect Research
• Hostile News: Partisan Use and Perceptions of Cable News Programming
• Examining the Hostile Media Effect as an Intergroup Phenomenon: The Role of Ingroup Identification and Status
• A Three-Decade Retrospective on the Hostile Media Effect
• Elaboration of the Hostile Media Phenomenon
• The Affective Underpinnings of Hostile Media Perceptions
• Hostile media effect [wikipedia]