THE OPTIMAL IMPACT PHENOMENON - BEYOND THE 3RD-PERSON EFFECT

According to the third person hypothesis, people believe that the medi a have a greater effect on other people's attitudes and behaviours tha n on their own attitudes and behaviours. A self-enhancement explanatio n for the third person effect was tested, stating that people perceive their own responses to the media not as weaker but as more appropriat e than other people's responses. Subjects rated the relative attitudin al impact of messages that are generally considered to be desirable to be influenced by and of messages that are generally considered undesi rable to be influenced by on themselves as compared to the average pee r. Both attitudinal impact in the direction advocated by the message a nd in the opposite direction was rated. A 'classic' third person effec t was obtained in those cases in which attitudinal media impact was co nsidered undesirable only. In cases in which attitudinal media impact was considered desirable a 'reversed' third person effect occurred, th us supporting the self-enhancement explanation and suggesting a reconc eptualization of the third person effect in terms of an 'optimal impac t phenomenon'.