V. Price et al., 3RD-PERSON EFFECTS OF NEWS COVERAGE - ORIENTATIONS TOWARD MEDIA, Journalism and mass communication quarterly, 74(3), 1997, pp. 525-540
This research focused on empirical connections between third-person ef
fects and media orientations - general beliefs about news and characte
ristic uses of the news media. The study examined the contributions of
three groups of independent variables, including political factors, m
edia schemas, and media use, to third-person effects. Results of regre
ssion analyses suggest that each of the three groups of variables is m
odestly related to the magnitude of third-person effects, but none ind
ividually has great predictive power or necessarily alters third-perso
n effects in a given news scenario. Finally, the mechanisms by which d
ifferent variables influence the magnitude of third-person effects cle
arly vary. Over all, the results suggest only modest connections betwe
en individual differences in media orientations and the tendency to ex
hibit third-person effects.