SELF-PERCEIVED KNOWLEDGE OF THE SIMPSON,O.J. TRIAL - 3RD-PERSON PERCEPTION AND PERCEPTIONS OF GUILT

This study tested the ''third-person effect'' during the O.J. Simpson double-murder trial. The perceptual component of the third-person effe ct predicts that people judge themselves to be less susceptible to med ia influence than other people. Findings from a nationwide telephone s urvey indicated that respondents' self-perceived knowledge about the l egal issues involved in the Simpson trial was correlated with third-pe rson perception of a perceived ''neutral'' media message. Self-perceiv ed knowledge was not correlated with third-person perceptual bias of a perceived ''biased'' message. It was suggested that the biased messag e primed respondents' perceptions of Simpson's guilt or innocence. The relative contributions of various predictors of third-person percepti on were assessed using regression analysis.