News, Politics, and Negativity

Abstract

Work in political communication has discussed the ongoing predominance of negative news, but has offered few convincing accounts for this focus. A growing body of literature shows that humans regularly pay more attention to negative information than to positive information, however. This article argues that we should view the nature of news content in part as a consequence of this asymmetry bias observed in human behavior. A psychophysiological experiment capturing viewers' reactions to actual news content shows that negative news elicits stronger and more sustained reactions than does positive news. Results are discussed as they pertain to political behavior and communication, and to politics and political institutions more generally.

Physiological Arousal and Self-Reported Valence for Erotica Images Correlate with Sexual Policy Preferences

“…In both cases, levels of disgust are predictive of attitudes toward issues like gay marriage (Smith, Alford, Hibbing, Oxley & Hibbing 2012;Balzer & Jacobs 2011). Whereas reactions to disgust and other negative stimuli appear to be universally valenced (though differing in intensity; see Smith et al 2012;Hibbing, Smith & Alford 2014;Soroka & McAdams 2015), physiological responses to erotica are largely considered appetitive, though may be consciously evaluated both negatively and positively by different individuals. We posit the variance in these responses may help us understand preferences for four of the most contentious sex-related issues in modern American politics: abortion, gay marriage, sex education in schools, and premarital sex.…”

The political construction of old age as reflected in online discussions

“…This is firstly because individuals perceive these frictions as strong stimuli and therefore they may be more memorable than other aspects of their interactions (Campbell, 1967). Secondly, negative stimuli are stronger than positive ones (Soroka -McAdams, 2015). Furthermore, minority groups and groups that individuals perceive to have markedly different characteristics from their own are more likely to become associated with negative attributes (Linville et al, 1996).…”

Sentiment dynamics in social media news channels

“…Due to the unique nature of each communication medium and the manner in which their audience consume the information, they show a signi cant di erence in their news articles. Despite these di erences, all these sources are commonly accused of using exaggerated headlines to garner attention [1] and for focusing on negative news [2]. Today, social media has emerged as a powerful platform for consumption of news with 62% of U.S. adults reportedly getting their news from social media [3].…”