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Der Third-Person-Effekt — Über den vermuteten Einfluss der Massenmedien

The third-person effect: On the alleged influence of the mass media

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Abstract

The third-person effect claims that people generally suppose others to be more influenced by mass media than themselves. It is one among several perceptual phenoma that offer deeper insights into the media’s role in society and media impact. Almost 100 empirical studies of the third-person effect have so far been published, mainly in North America. They consistently support the phenomenon and additionally address its causes and consequences. This article contains a systematic overview of these studies, their findings and their theoretical explanations for the third-person effect. However, extensive theoretical work on the causes for the evidently solid difference between self-perception and perception of others is still lacking. In order to close this gap we develop an integrative theoretical model in which the third-person effect is linked to other perceptual phenomena (hostile-media phenomenon, optimistic bias, pluralistic ignorance, looking-glass effect). We assume that the perception of (alleged) media impact results in real behavior and therefore should play an important role in media effect theories. Moreover, this could lead to a conceptual extension of these approaches.

Zusammenfassungen

Der Third-Person-Effekt unterstellt, dass Menschen generell annehmen, andere würden durch Massenmedien stärker beeinflusst als sie selbst. Es handelt sich somit um eines von mehreren Wahrnehmungsphänomenen, die sich um die Rolle der Medien in der Gesellschaft und Medienwirkungen gruppieren lassen. Hauptsächlich im amerikanischen Sprachraum sind mittlerweile knapp 100 empirische Studien veröffentlicht worden, die das Phänomen umfassend verifizieren und sich zudem mit seinen Ursachen und Folgen befassen. Die vorliegende Arbeit systematisiert diese Studien, ihre Befunde sowie ihre theoretischen Erklärungen für den Third-Person-Effekt. Nach wie vor fehlt jedoch eine größere Theorie der Ursachen für die so robust erscheinende Diskrepanz zwischen Selbst- und Fremdwahrnehmung. Deshalb entwickeln wir ein solches integratives theoretisches Modell, in dem der Third-Person-Effekt mit anderen Wahrnehmungsphänomenen (Hostile-Media-Phänomen, Optimistic Bias, Pluralistic Ignorance und Looking-Glass-Effekt) in Verbindung gebracht wird. Wir vermuten, dass sich die Wahrnehmung von (vermeintlichen) Medienwirkungen auch in realem Verhalten niederschlägt und daher eine wichtigere Rolle für Medienwirkungstheorien spielen sollte, was schließlich zu einer konzeptuellen Erweiterung dieser Ansätze führen kann.

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  1. Institut für Kommunikationswissenschaft und Medienforschung, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Oettingenstraße 67, D-80538, München, Germany

    Inga Huck & Hans-Bernd Brosius

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  1. Inga Huck
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  2. Hans-Bernd Brosius
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Correspondence to Inga Huck.

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Inga Huck M.A. ist wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin am Institut für Kommunikationswissenschaft und Medienforschung der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. Dr. Hans-Bernd Brosius ist Professor am selben Institut.

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Huck, I., Brosius, HB. Der Third-Person-Effekt — Über den vermuteten Einfluss der Massenmedien. Pub 52, 355–374 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11616-007-0171-2

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