This article aims to extend third-person effect research into a cross-cultural context. How and why the third-person perception (perceptual gaps between media effect on self and others) has dissimilar association with the willingness to support regulation of media content in the United States and South Korea is investigated. The survey results demonstrate a larger third-person perception among U.S. respondents than among Korean respondents. Regression and mediation analyses reveal that the different levels of third-person perception mainly result from the direct influence of nationality, while cultural values were not statistically significant in accounting for the third-person perception. In contrast, Koreans show a greater level of support for the censorship of violent video games than Americans. The national difference in behavioral intention is the direct effect of nationality on the intention to support regulation and by the indirect effect of cultural values such as collectivism. In addition, gender, age, religiosity, negative prejudice against violent video games, collectivism, and the presumption of media effects on others contributed to support for preemptive behavioral measures such as censorship. However, more frequent playing of violent video games decreases support for regulation. In addition, the implications for research on third-person perception and the intention to support media content regulation are discussed.
“Fake news” on global warming is widely disseminated via social and partisan media. Scientists worry about its effect, because fake news may hurt public support and change policy on climate change. The current study tested the roles of cultural constructs (individualism, collectivism, and uncertainty-avoidance) in predicting the presumed effect of fake news on global warming. Based on 770 answers in four countries, the study found that individualism and collectivism influenced the presumed media effect on others and the third-person effect (self-other disparity of media effect). Moreover, the presumed media effect contributed to both preventive actions such as support for regulation on fake news and corrective actions such as a willingness to donate money. Likewise, the study found that collectivism positively predicted a willingness to donate money, while uncertainty-avoidance predicted support for regulation.
This study examined US media coverage of foreign nations and their athletes during the 2012 London Olympic Games. An analysis of NBC primetime telecasts and sports coverage in The New York Times found that foreign nations and their athletes were not significantly affected by any given nation’s performance during the Olympics. However, coverage of the Olympics was actually based on several contextual factors. While a few elite countries’ dominance in the Olympics secured US media coverage, military expenditures, linguistic proximity to the United States, and the number of sports celebrities and gold medals won often predicted a country’s visibility in US media.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.