David Schieferdecker
Biographic Data
| ID | 118975 |
|---|---|
| NAME | David Schieferdecker |
| GIVEN NAMES | David |
| FAMILY NAME | Schieferdecker |
| SIGNATURE | SCHIEFERDECKER D |
| AFFILIATIONS | Freie Universität Berlin |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-2376-0929 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 14 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 6 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 14 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2014 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Value orientations and social cohesion in organizational discourses
Against the backdrop of political polarization and societal fragmentation, liberal democracy, more than ever, rests on social cohesion. Civil-society organizations (CSOs) are pivotal in fostering this cohesion by building social capital and serving as catalysts of social change. However, civil society is also a space of ambivalence where conflicting values and priorities are negotiated and, at times, contested. Integrating insights from social ps…
Communication about economic inequality
What do we know about representations of economic inequality in media, and how well does this account for media transformations like hybridization? This article uses a systematic review of academic literature on mediated communication about economic inequality, in order to assess the current state of research around salience, framing, explanatory factors and effects of this kind of inequality discourse. We find an overwhelming focus on legacy new…
Social media sampling is an effective way to access hard to survey populations and low prevalence groups
Non-probability samples have become increasingly popular despite some criticism. This paper examines social media sampling as a tool for accessing hard-to-survey populations. Our study targeted individuals in Germany using ads on Facebook and X, yielding 4,590 respondents. We compared these samples with high-quality probability samples (SOEP, ESS) through measurement equivalence analysis of shared measures between samples. Results show that our s…
Empathy During Crises
OBJECTIVE: In times of societal crises, it is pivotal to understand and share others' feelings. Yet, the role of empathy in fostering prosocial responses during societal crises has not gained enough attention. Our study uses the onset of Russia's war on Ukraine to examine three key questions: (1) Is empathy related to attitudes toward pro-refugee policies? (2) Does empathy correlate with a higher tolerance for diverse opinions on refugee policies…
Everyday Conversations About Economic Inequality
High and rising levels of economic inequality come at a tremendous cost to societies, yet the public is often hesitant to confront these inequalities. Prior research has attempted to explain this paradox, pointing to how it is driven by individuals' misperceptions of the extent of inequality, broader narratives that justify inequality, and distrust in government intervention and redistribution. These beliefs and attitudes are not simply a reflect…
Engaging with Distant Suffering Amid a Domestic Crisis
Transnational solidarity is essential during global crises, particularly for resource-deprived countries. This study investigated whether messages about rising COVID−19 infections in the Global South can raise awareness and trigger solidarity among audiences in the Global North during an acute domestic crisis. Moreover, it tested whether the effects depend on the message framing. In two 2 + 1 experiments in the first months of the pandemic, parti…
Does outgroup media exposure reduce prejudice in real life? Testing mediated contact effects with media diets in South Africa
Mediated intergroup contact can reduce recipients’ prejudice. However, prior studies have mainly examined the effects of carefully selected stimuli, contents, and genres. We investigated whether outgroup exposure on the level of real-life, multi-channel media diets is associated with reduced prejudice. Prior scholarship offers contradictory expectations: We tested this with survey data from South Africa where the numeric group constellation and t…
The Rhetoric of Solidarity
Scholars have called to study how social cohesion is discursively negotiated and produced in communication behavior. However, empirical evidence remains scarce. In this study, we investigate to what extent and how civil society organizations (CSOs), part of the backbone of social integration in modern democracies, make references to social cohesion in their public self-portrayals. We develop a standardized measure for content analyzing the manife…
Long-Term Dynamics of Voluntary Engagement
Prior research has suggested three explanations why levels of voluntary engagement rise and fall over time within societies. A social structural explanation considers individual resources crucial for engagement and argues that a redistribution of those resources may bring about changes in engagement. A cohort-based explanation considers socialisation and experiences in formative years as crucial for the uptake of engagement. Finally, a period-bas…
Beliefs, Attitudes, and Communicative Practices of Opponents and Supporters of Covid-19 Containment Policies
In many countries, intense political contestation unfolded around the question of how Sars-CoV-2 should be contained. In this case study, I try to understand why members of the German public came to vastly differing judgements on the containment policies. In summer 2020, I conducted 48 semi-structured interviews to investigate respondents' belief systems, attitude structures, and communicative practices. I found that disparate policy preferences …
Passivity in the face of distant others’ suffering
When media users are exposed to the suffering of distant others, they are often deeply moved and feel the urge to help. Yet, they tend to stay passive. Communication scholars have not produced a sufficient and succinct understanding of this gap between media-induced awareness and behavioral non-response. Our knowledge is dispersed across (a) interpretative audience reception studies on mediated distant suffering and (b) post-positivist media effe…
When audience segmentation is twofold
Segmented media audiences often reflect deeper divides within a society. As the relationship between race and class is dynamically changing in South Africa, I investigate to what extent students from different racialised and socio-economic backgrounds differ in their media consumption habits. I conducted a survey (n = 1221) and two focus group interviews (N = 14) at a relatively integrated and prestigious university. Bi- and multivariate analysis…
Bridging Segregation Via Media Exposure? Ingroup Identification, Outgroup Distance, and Low Direct Contact Reduce Outgroup Appearance in Media Repertoires
Researchers have started to demonstrate that media exposure to outgroups can reduce prejudice. However, in contexts of segregation a bias to select ingroup-rich media might hinder exposure and prevent those positive effects. We conducted a survey study (n = 1,095) in South Africa, a context with a notorious history of racial separation and persisting informal segregation. In accordance with the social identity gratification approach and social co…
Race Trouble
Long-Term Dynamics of Voluntary Engagement
Prior research has suggested three explanations why levels of voluntary engagement rise and fall over time within societies. A social structural explanation considers individual resources crucial for engagement and argues that a redistribution of those resources may bring about changes in engagement. A cohort-based explanation considers socialisation and experiences in formative years as crucial for the uptake of engagement. Finally, a period-bas…
The Rhetoric of Solidarity
Scholars have called to study how social cohesion is discursively negotiated and produced in communication behavior. However, empirical evidence remains scarce. In this study, we investigate to what extent and how civil society organizations (CSOs), part of the backbone of social integration in modern democracies, make references to social cohesion in their public self-portrayals. We develop a standardized measure for content analyzing the manife…
Passivity in the face of distant others’ suffering
When media users are exposed to the suffering of distant others, they are often deeply moved and feel the urge to help. Yet, they tend to stay passive. Communication scholars have not produced a sufficient and succinct understanding of this gap between media-induced awareness and behavioral non-response. Our knowledge is dispersed across (a) interpretative audience reception studies on mediated distant suffering and (b) post-positivist media effe…
Race Trouble
When audience segmentation is twofold
Segmented media audiences often reflect deeper divides within a society. As the relationship between race and class is dynamically changing in South Africa, I investigate to what extent students from different racialised and socio-economic backgrounds differ in their media consumption habits. I conducted a survey (n = 1221) and two focus group interviews (N = 14) at a relatively integrated and prestigious university. Bi- and multivariate analysis…
Bridging Segregation Via Media Exposure? Ingroup Identification, Outgroup Distance, and Low Direct Contact Reduce Outgroup Appearance in Media Repertoires
Researchers have started to demonstrate that media exposure to outgroups can reduce prejudice. However, in contexts of segregation a bias to select ingroup-rich media might hinder exposure and prevent those positive effects. We conducted a survey study (n = 1,095) in South Africa, a context with a notorious history of racial separation and persisting informal segregation. In accordance with the social identity gratification approach and social co…
Beliefs, Attitudes, and Communicative Practices of Opponents and Supporters of Covid-19 Containment Policies
In many countries, intense political contestation unfolded around the question of how Sars-CoV-2 should be contained. In this case study, I try to understand why members of the German public came to vastly differing judgements on the containment policies. In summer 2020, I conducted 48 semi-structured interviews to investigate respondents' belief systems, attitude structures, and communicative practices. I found that disparate policy preferences …
Passivity in the face of distant others’ suffering
When media users are exposed to the suffering of distant others, they are often deeply moved and feel the urge to help. Yet, they tend to stay passive. Communication scholars have not produced a sufficient and succinct understanding of this gap between media-induced awareness and behavioral non-response. Our knowledge is dispersed across (a) interpretative audience reception studies on mediated distant suffering and (b) post-positivist media effe…
Long-Term Dynamics of Voluntary Engagement
Prior research has suggested three explanations why levels of voluntary engagement rise and fall over time within societies. A social structural explanation considers individual resources crucial for engagement and argues that a redistribution of those resources may bring about changes in engagement. A cohort-based explanation considers socialisation and experiences in formative years as crucial for the uptake of engagement. Finally, a period-bas…
Engaging with Distant Suffering Amid a Domestic Crisis
Transnational solidarity is essential during global crises, particularly for resource-deprived countries. This study investigated whether messages about rising COVID−19 infections in the Global South can raise awareness and trigger solidarity among audiences in the Global North during an acute domestic crisis. Moreover, it tested whether the effects depend on the message framing. In two 2 + 1 experiments in the first months of the pandemic, parti…
Does outgroup media exposure reduce prejudice in real life? Testing mediated contact effects with media diets in South Africa
Mediated intergroup contact can reduce recipients’ prejudice. However, prior studies have mainly examined the effects of carefully selected stimuli, contents, and genres. We investigated whether outgroup exposure on the level of real-life, multi-channel media diets is associated with reduced prejudice. Prior scholarship offers contradictory expectations: We tested this with survey data from South Africa where the numeric group constellation and t…
The Rhetoric of Solidarity
Scholars have called to study how social cohesion is discursively negotiated and produced in communication behavior. However, empirical evidence remains scarce. In this study, we investigate to what extent and how civil society organizations (CSOs), part of the backbone of social integration in modern democracies, make references to social cohesion in their public self-portrayals. We develop a standardized measure for content analyzing the manife…
Everyday Conversations About Economic Inequality
High and rising levels of economic inequality come at a tremendous cost to societies, yet the public is often hesitant to confront these inequalities. Prior research has attempted to explain this paradox, pointing to how it is driven by individuals' misperceptions of the extent of inequality, broader narratives that justify inequality, and distrust in government intervention and redistribution. These beliefs and attitudes are not simply a reflect…
Communication about economic inequality
What do we know about representations of economic inequality in media, and how well does this account for media transformations like hybridization? This article uses a systematic review of academic literature on mediated communication about economic inequality, in order to assess the current state of research around salience, framing, explanatory factors and effects of this kind of inequality discourse. We find an overwhelming focus on legacy new…
Social media sampling is an effective way to access hard to survey populations and low prevalence groups
Non-probability samples have become increasingly popular despite some criticism. This paper examines social media sampling as a tool for accessing hard-to-survey populations. Our study targeted individuals in Germany using ads on Facebook and X, yielding 4,590 respondents. We compared these samples with high-quality probability samples (SOEP, ESS) through measurement equivalence analysis of shared measures between samples. Results show that our s…
Empathy During Crises
OBJECTIVE: In times of societal crises, it is pivotal to understand and share others' feelings. Yet, the role of empathy in fostering prosocial responses during societal crises has not gained enough attention. Our study uses the onset of Russia's war on Ukraine to examine three key questions: (1) Is empathy related to attitudes toward pro-refugee policies? (2) Does empathy correlate with a higher tolerance for diverse opinions on refugee policies…
Value orientations and social cohesion in organizational discourses
Against the backdrop of political polarization and societal fragmentation, liberal democracy, more than ever, rests on social cohesion. Civil-society organizations (CSOs) are pivotal in fostering this cohesion by building social capital and serving as catalysts of social change. However, civil society is also a space of ambivalence where conflicting values and priorities are negotiated and, at times, contested. Integrating insights from social ps…
Political science (10 works) · Sociology (10 works) · Psychology (8 works) · Social Psychology (8 works) · Social science (6 works) · Politics (5 works) · Social Media and Politics (5 works) · Social and Intergroup Psychology (4 works) · Computer Science (3 works) · Cultural Differences and Values (3 works)