T Zerback
Biographic Data
| ID | 69316 |
|---|---|
| NAME | T Zerback |
| GIVEN NAMES | T |
| FAMILY NAME | Zerback |
| SIGNATURE | ZERBACK T |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Zurich |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-2899-396X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 23 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 94 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 22 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2009 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Can political internet memes influence information selection of young adults? Examining the mediating roles of issue-specific interest, perceived issue importance, and humor
The Climate Change Generation: Vocal but Overconfident? How Young Adults Who Overestimate Their Climate Knowledge Use Social Media and Engage With Others
Research suggests that social media can cause users, especially young adults, to overestimate their knowledge about climate change. Knowledge overestimation may then lead users to communicate more frequently about climate change with others. We test these hypotheses with a four-wave panel survey of respondents aged 18-29 years. We find that social media exposure is positively associated with respondents' tendencies to overestimate their knowledge…
Noticed and appreciated? The role of argument diversity in enhancing news credibility and reader satisfaction
Although viewpoint diversity is a key value for audiences, journalism and media policy, not much is known about how audiences process and evaluate it. This is critical because any positive effect we might expect from a broad range of views (e.g., on opinion formation) requires that recipients recognize and appreciate it as a part of news content. The current study examines how news readers process and evaluate argument diversity as a specific asp…
Attitude extremity and perceived argument diversity exposure in the Covid-19 debate
This study investigates the relationship between attitude extremity and perceived exposure to diverse political arguments in the debate about COVID-19 health policy measures. Based on a comparative, cross-sectional survey in Germany and Switzerland, we show that extreme attitudes towards wearing face masks inhibit citizens’ perceived diversity of arguments regarding the issue in both countries. This tendency is slightly more pronounced for suppor…
They will hate us for this: Effects of media coverage on Islamist terror attacks on Muslims’ perceptions of public opinion, perceived risk of victimization, and behavioral intentions
While research has intensively studied the effects of media coverage of Islamist terror on non-Muslims, our knowledge about how it affects Muslims themselves is still limited. Following Sikorski et al. (2017), we distinguish between undifferentiated and differentiated news on Islamist terror, i.e., news reports that explicitly establish or deny a link between Muslims or Islam and Islamist terror. In a 1 × 4 randomized experiment, we exposed N = 4…
The role of affective and cognitive attitude extremity in perceived viewpoint diversity exposure
The current study examines the role of affective and cognitive attitude extremity on perceived exposure to diverse political viewpoints and investigates the possibility of a “primacy of affect.” Based on a multi-level analysis of panel survey data, we show that people with extreme attitudes toward immigrants experience less viewpoint diversity and that this tendency is especially pronounced for affective attitude extremity. However, even those ho…
Wandel der Kommunikation in der digitalen Gesellschaft: Einführung in das Special Issue zur Dach 21-Dreiländertagung für Kommunikationswissenschaft
Dass die Kommunikationswissenschaft einem kontinuierlichen Wandel unterworfen ist, unterscheidet sie nicht von anderen sozialwissen-schaftlichen Disziplinen. Das liegt nicht zuletzt daran, dass die großen Triebfedern hinter den Wandlungsprozessen überall die gleichen sind. Gesellschaftliche Megatrends wie Globalisierung, Individualisierung und Digitalisierung beeinflussen Politikwissenschaft oder Soziologie genauso wie die Kommunikationswissensch…
Appraisal patterns as predictors of emotional expressions and shares on political social networking sites
Emotions are considered important drivers of the diffusion of messages on social networking sites. Therefore, emotion-eliciting political communication yields the potential to reach broad audiences and to influence citizens’ attitudes and behavior. In this study, we investigate message characteristics that potentially trigger emotional reactions on part of the users of political social networking pages and test if this fosters the diffusion of po…
Total Recall? Examining the Accuracy of Poll Recall during an Election Campaign
Despite a considerable interest in the effects of polls published during election campaigns, we know little about how well people internalize and remember their results. This paper studies how accurately citizens recall poll results and factors potentially influencing this accuracy. Theoretically, we draw on research into the perception of polls and poll effects as well as into media effects on political knowledge in general. Empirically, we inve…
Forged Examples as Disinformation: The Biasing Effects of Political Astroturfing Comments on Public Opinion Perceptions and How to Prevent Them
Online astroturfing is a novel form of disinformation that relies on the imitation of citizen voices to create the false impression that a particular view or idea has widespread support in society. In this study, we test if political online astroturfing messages (i.e., forged user comments beneath digital news items) can influence perceptions of public opinion on three issues: the poisoning of the former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripa…
Was Lampedusa a key Event for Immigration News? An Analysis of the Effects of the Lampedusa Disaster on Immigration Coverage in Germany, Belgium, and Italy
In the current paper, we investigate how the Lampedusa shipwreck disaster in October 2013 affected newspaper coverage in three European countries (Belgium, Germany, and Italy). Based on data from a quantitative comparative content analysis, we conclude that Lampedusa can be regarded a key event for immigration coverage, but only in Italy, where journalists devoted a considerable amount of attention to the disaster. We also find that the structure…
Ordinary Citizens in the News: A Conceptual Framework
Over the past few decades, scholars have observed an increase in ordinary citizens as actors in everyday news coverage, mostly at the cost of elite actors. While this has been welcomed by most as democratization of news, it remains unclear in which functions citizens appear in news reports and whether they substantially add to public discourse. This special issue tries to gain greater insight into the role of ordinary citizens in the news and the…
The disconcerting potential of online disinformation: Persuasive effects of astroturfing comments and three strategies for inoculation against them
This study is the first to scrutinize the psychological effects of online astroturfing in the context of Russia’s digitally enabled foreign propaganda. Online astroturfing is a communicative strategy that uses websites, “sock puppets,” or social bots to create the false impression that a particular opinion has widespread public support. We exposed N = 2353 subjects to pro-Russian astroturfing comments and tested: (1) their effects on political op…
Exemplar Effects on Public Opinion Perception and Attitudes: The Moderating Role of Exemplar Involvement
The depiction of citizens expressing their opinions in the news is an increasingly popular feature of modern journalism, because they can serve as exemplars that illustrate abstract or complex issues. However, citizen exemplars differ regarding their level of personal involvement in the issue they talk about. Affected exemplars have some kind of personal experience with an issue (e.g. ill people) whereas unaffected citizens, as ordinary “people f…
The role of similarity in exemplification effect
Exemplification research has consistently shown that after reading news reports including individual cases, people tend to base their judgments on these so-called exemplars. Until today, it is not entirely clear why exemplars are so powerful in shaping recipients’ perception of public opinion and why they sometimes fail to influence personal opinion. Based on prior research, we assume that the influence of exemplars on both types of judgments is …
Measuring and Explaining the Diversity of Voices and Viewpoints in the News: A comparative study on the determinants of content diversity of immigration news
News media can be considered to fulfil their democratic role as a “marketplace of ideas” only if they present a diverse content that gives space to a wider range of ideas and viewpoints. But how can content diversity be assessed? And what determines actor and viewpoint diversity in the first place? By employing measurements of actor and viewpoint diversity at the article and newspaper level, this study provides a complete overview on the content …
Can online exemplars trigger a spiral of silence? Examining the effects of exemplar opinions on perceptions of public opinion and speaking out
In modern media environments, social media have fundamentally altered the way how individual opinions find their way into the public sphere. We link spiral of silence theory to exemplification research and investigate the effects of online opinions on peoples’ perceptions of public opinion and willingness to speak out. In an experiment, we can show that a relatively low number of online exemplars considerably influence perceived public support fo…
Who’s Hot and Who’s Not? Factors Influencing Public Perceptions of Current Party Popularity and Electoral Expectations
This study analyzes how perceptions of the popularity of political parties (i.e., the current opinion climate) and expectations about parties’ future electoral performance (i.e., the future opinion climate) are formed. Theoretically, the paper integrates research on the sources of public opinion perception and empirically draws on a representative survey carried out before the 2013 German federal election. We show that the perceived media slant a…
Die Wahrnehmung des Meinungsklimas im Bundestagswahlkampf 2013
a. 2011), spielen als weitere Wahrnehmungsquellen auch Meinungsverteilungen im persnlichen Umfeld (O'Gorman 1979; Uhlaner/Grofman 1986) sowie die Wahrnehmung des generellen Tenors der Medienberichterstattung eine Rolle (Gunther 1998). Zwar liegen zu fast allen genannten Einflssen bereits isoliert empirische Belege vor, eine ganzheitliche Betrachtung ihrer relativen Einflussstrke steht bislang allerdings noch aus
Die Spätentscheider
Helpful or Harmful? How Frequent Repetition Affects Perceived Statement Credibility: Helpful or Harmful
On the basis of experimental data, we study how repetition of a statement affects perceived statement credibility. We identify 2 counteracting effects: The first effect, known as “truth effect,” describes a positive relationship between repetition and statement credibility. People tend to ascribe higher credibility to messages that they repeatedly encounter. In contrast, the second effect occurs when repetition is taken too far. Here, an indirect…
Direct and indirect effects of media coverage
Der vorliegende Beitrag untersucht auf Basis einer Befragung direkte Medieneffekte auf 271 Staatsanwälte und 447 Richter sowie daraus resultierende indirekte Effekte auf die Angeklagten. Es zeigt sich, dass Befragte, über deren Verfahren in den Medien berichtet wird, die Berichterstattung aufmerksam und intensiv verfolgen. Außerdem nehmen sie starke Medieneffekte auf (a) die eigenen Emotionen, (b) die Wahrnehmung von Medienwirkungen auf Laien im …
Sozialforschung im Internet: Methodologie und Praxis der Online-Befragung
In den letzten Jahren hat die Online-Befragung als Forschungsmethode deutlich an Beliebtheit gewonnen. Es hat nicht zuletzt mit den offenkundigen Vorteilen dieses Erhebungsmodus gegenÃ1⁄4ber den etablierten Modi zu tun, dass vor allem Unternehmen und private Forschungsinstitute, aber auch Universitäten immer stärker davon Gebrauch machen. Allerdings ist das Portfolio an Einsatzmöglichkeiten derzeit noch beschränkt und die Fehleranfälligkeit hoch.…
Can online exemplars trigger a spiral of silence? Examining the effects of exemplar opinions on perceptions of public opinion and speaking out
In modern media environments, social media have fundamentally altered the way how individual opinions find their way into the public sphere. We link spiral of silence theory to exemplification research and investigate the effects of online opinions on peoples’ perceptions of public opinion and willingness to speak out. In an experiment, we can show that a relatively low number of online exemplars considerably influence perceived public support fo…
Measuring and Explaining the Diversity of Voices and Viewpoints in the News: A comparative study on the determinants of content diversity of immigration news
News media can be considered to fulfil their democratic role as a “marketplace of ideas” only if they present a diverse content that gives space to a wider range of ideas and viewpoints. But how can content diversity be assessed? And what determines actor and viewpoint diversity in the first place? By employing measurements of actor and viewpoint diversity at the article and newspaper level, this study provides a complete overview on the content …
The disconcerting potential of online disinformation: Persuasive effects of astroturfing comments and three strategies for inoculation against them
This study is the first to scrutinize the psychological effects of online astroturfing in the context of Russia’s digitally enabled foreign propaganda. Online astroturfing is a communicative strategy that uses websites, “sock puppets,” or social bots to create the false impression that a particular opinion has widespread public support. We exposed N = 2353 subjects to pro-Russian astroturfing comments and tested: (1) their effects on political op…
Exemplar Effects on Public Opinion Perception and Attitudes: The Moderating Role of Exemplar Involvement
The depiction of citizens expressing their opinions in the news is an increasingly popular feature of modern journalism, because they can serve as exemplars that illustrate abstract or complex issues. However, citizen exemplars differ regarding their level of personal involvement in the issue they talk about. Affected exemplars have some kind of personal experience with an issue (e.g. ill people) whereas unaffected citizens, as ordinary “people f…
Ordinary Citizens in the News: A Conceptual Framework
Over the past few decades, scholars have observed an increase in ordinary citizens as actors in everyday news coverage, mostly at the cost of elite actors. While this has been welcomed by most as democratization of news, it remains unclear in which functions citizens appear in news reports and whether they substantially add to public discourse. This special issue tries to gain greater insight into the role of ordinary citizens in the news and the…
Who’s Hot and Who’s Not? Factors Influencing Public Perceptions of Current Party Popularity and Electoral Expectations
This study analyzes how perceptions of the popularity of political parties (i.e., the current opinion climate) and expectations about parties’ future electoral performance (i.e., the future opinion climate) are formed. Theoretically, the paper integrates research on the sources of public opinion perception and empirically draws on a representative survey carried out before the 2013 German federal election. We show that the perceived media slant a…
Forged Examples as Disinformation: The Biasing Effects of Political Astroturfing Comments on Public Opinion Perceptions and How to Prevent Them
Online astroturfing is a novel form of disinformation that relies on the imitation of citizen voices to create the false impression that a particular view or idea has widespread support in society. In this study, we test if political online astroturfing messages (i.e., forged user comments beneath digital news items) can influence perceptions of public opinion on three issues: the poisoning of the former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripa…
Was Lampedusa a key Event for Immigration News? An Analysis of the Effects of the Lampedusa Disaster on Immigration Coverage in Germany, Belgium, and Italy
In the current paper, we investigate how the Lampedusa shipwreck disaster in October 2013 affected newspaper coverage in three European countries (Belgium, Germany, and Italy). Based on data from a quantitative comparative content analysis, we conclude that Lampedusa can be regarded a key event for immigration coverage, but only in Italy, where journalists devoted a considerable amount of attention to the disaster. We also find that the structure…
They will hate us for this: Effects of media coverage on Islamist terror attacks on Muslims’ perceptions of public opinion, perceived risk of victimization, and behavioral intentions
While research has intensively studied the effects of media coverage of Islamist terror on non-Muslims, our knowledge about how it affects Muslims themselves is still limited. Following Sikorski et al. (2017), we distinguish between undifferentiated and differentiated news on Islamist terror, i.e., news reports that explicitly establish or deny a link between Muslims or Islam and Islamist terror. In a 1 × 4 randomized experiment, we exposed N = 4…
The role of similarity in exemplification effect
Exemplification research has consistently shown that after reading news reports including individual cases, people tend to base their judgments on these so-called exemplars. Until today, it is not entirely clear why exemplars are so powerful in shaping recipients’ perception of public opinion and why they sometimes fail to influence personal opinion. Based on prior research, we assume that the influence of exemplars on both types of judgments is …
The role of affective and cognitive attitude extremity in perceived viewpoint diversity exposure
The current study examines the role of affective and cognitive attitude extremity on perceived exposure to diverse political viewpoints and investigates the possibility of a “primacy of affect.” Based on a multi-level analysis of panel survey data, we show that people with extreme attitudes toward immigrants experience less viewpoint diversity and that this tendency is especially pronounced for affective attitude extremity. However, even those ho…
Total Recall? Examining the Accuracy of Poll Recall during an Election Campaign
Despite a considerable interest in the effects of polls published during election campaigns, we know little about how well people internalize and remember their results. This paper studies how accurately citizens recall poll results and factors potentially influencing this accuracy. Theoretically, we draw on research into the perception of polls and poll effects as well as into media effects on political knowledge in general. Empirically, we inve…
Direct and indirect effects of media coverage
Der vorliegende Beitrag untersucht auf Basis einer Befragung direkte Medieneffekte auf 271 Staatsanwälte und 447 Richter sowie daraus resultierende indirekte Effekte auf die Angeklagten. Es zeigt sich, dass Befragte, über deren Verfahren in den Medien berichtet wird, die Berichterstattung aufmerksam und intensiv verfolgen. Außerdem nehmen sie starke Medieneffekte auf (a) die eigenen Emotionen, (b) die Wahrnehmung von Medienwirkungen auf Laien im …
Sozialforschung im Internet: Methodologie und Praxis der Online-Befragung
In den letzten Jahren hat die Online-Befragung als Forschungsmethode deutlich an Beliebtheit gewonnen. Es hat nicht zuletzt mit den offenkundigen Vorteilen dieses Erhebungsmodus gegenÃ1⁄4ber den etablierten Modi zu tun, dass vor allem Unternehmen und private Forschungsinstitute, aber auch Universitäten immer stärker davon Gebrauch machen. Allerdings ist das Portfolio an Einsatzmöglichkeiten derzeit noch beschränkt und die Fehleranfälligkeit hoch.…
Die Spätentscheider
Helpful or Harmful? How Frequent Repetition Affects Perceived Statement Credibility: Helpful or Harmful
On the basis of experimental data, we study how repetition of a statement affects perceived statement credibility. We identify 2 counteracting effects: The first effect, known as “truth effect,” describes a positive relationship between repetition and statement credibility. People tend to ascribe higher credibility to messages that they repeatedly encounter. In contrast, the second effect occurs when repetition is taken too far. Here, an indirect…
Direct and indirect effects of media coverage
Der vorliegende Beitrag untersucht auf Basis einer Befragung direkte Medieneffekte auf 271 Staatsanwälte und 447 Richter sowie daraus resultierende indirekte Effekte auf die Angeklagten. Es zeigt sich, dass Befragte, über deren Verfahren in den Medien berichtet wird, die Berichterstattung aufmerksam und intensiv verfolgen. Außerdem nehmen sie starke Medieneffekte auf (a) die eigenen Emotionen, (b) die Wahrnehmung von Medienwirkungen auf Laien im …
Die Wahrnehmung des Meinungsklimas im Bundestagswahlkampf 2013
a. 2011), spielen als weitere Wahrnehmungsquellen auch Meinungsverteilungen im persnlichen Umfeld (O'Gorman 1979; Uhlaner/Grofman 1986) sowie die Wahrnehmung des generellen Tenors der Medienberichterstattung eine Rolle (Gunther 1998). Zwar liegen zu fast allen genannten Einflssen bereits isoliert empirische Belege vor, eine ganzheitliche Betrachtung ihrer relativen Einflussstrke steht bislang allerdings noch aus
Who’s Hot and Who’s Not? Factors Influencing Public Perceptions of Current Party Popularity and Electoral Expectations
This study analyzes how perceptions of the popularity of political parties (i.e., the current opinion climate) and expectations about parties’ future electoral performance (i.e., the future opinion climate) are formed. Theoretically, the paper integrates research on the sources of public opinion perception and empirically draws on a representative survey carried out before the 2013 German federal election. We show that the perceived media slant a…
Can online exemplars trigger a spiral of silence? Examining the effects of exemplar opinions on perceptions of public opinion and speaking out
In modern media environments, social media have fundamentally altered the way how individual opinions find their way into the public sphere. We link spiral of silence theory to exemplification research and investigate the effects of online opinions on peoples’ perceptions of public opinion and willingness to speak out. In an experiment, we can show that a relatively low number of online exemplars considerably influence perceived public support fo…
The role of similarity in exemplification effect
Exemplification research has consistently shown that after reading news reports including individual cases, people tend to base their judgments on these so-called exemplars. Until today, it is not entirely clear why exemplars are so powerful in shaping recipients’ perception of public opinion and why they sometimes fail to influence personal opinion. Based on prior research, we assume that the influence of exemplars on both types of judgments is …
Measuring and Explaining the Diversity of Voices and Viewpoints in the News: A comparative study on the determinants of content diversity of immigration news
News media can be considered to fulfil their democratic role as a “marketplace of ideas” only if they present a diverse content that gives space to a wider range of ideas and viewpoints. But how can content diversity be assessed? And what determines actor and viewpoint diversity in the first place? By employing measurements of actor and viewpoint diversity at the article and newspaper level, this study provides a complete overview on the content …
Exemplar Effects on Public Opinion Perception and Attitudes: The Moderating Role of Exemplar Involvement
The depiction of citizens expressing their opinions in the news is an increasingly popular feature of modern journalism, because they can serve as exemplars that illustrate abstract or complex issues. However, citizen exemplars differ regarding their level of personal involvement in the issue they talk about. Affected exemplars have some kind of personal experience with an issue (e.g. ill people) whereas unaffected citizens, as ordinary “people f…
Was Lampedusa a key Event for Immigration News? An Analysis of the Effects of the Lampedusa Disaster on Immigration Coverage in Germany, Belgium, and Italy
In the current paper, we investigate how the Lampedusa shipwreck disaster in October 2013 affected newspaper coverage in three European countries (Belgium, Germany, and Italy). Based on data from a quantitative comparative content analysis, we conclude that Lampedusa can be regarded a key event for immigration coverage, but only in Italy, where journalists devoted a considerable amount of attention to the disaster. We also find that the structure…
Ordinary Citizens in the News: A Conceptual Framework
Over the past few decades, scholars have observed an increase in ordinary citizens as actors in everyday news coverage, mostly at the cost of elite actors. While this has been welcomed by most as democratization of news, it remains unclear in which functions citizens appear in news reports and whether they substantially add to public discourse. This special issue tries to gain greater insight into the role of ordinary citizens in the news and the…
The disconcerting potential of online disinformation: Persuasive effects of astroturfing comments and three strategies for inoculation against them
This study is the first to scrutinize the psychological effects of online astroturfing in the context of Russia’s digitally enabled foreign propaganda. Online astroturfing is a communicative strategy that uses websites, “sock puppets,” or social bots to create the false impression that a particular opinion has widespread public support. We exposed N = 2353 subjects to pro-Russian astroturfing comments and tested: (1) their effects on political op…
Appraisal patterns as predictors of emotional expressions and shares on political social networking sites
Emotions are considered important drivers of the diffusion of messages on social networking sites. Therefore, emotion-eliciting political communication yields the potential to reach broad audiences and to influence citizens’ attitudes and behavior. In this study, we investigate message characteristics that potentially trigger emotional reactions on part of the users of political social networking pages and test if this fosters the diffusion of po…
Total Recall? Examining the Accuracy of Poll Recall during an Election Campaign
Despite a considerable interest in the effects of polls published during election campaigns, we know little about how well people internalize and remember their results. This paper studies how accurately citizens recall poll results and factors potentially influencing this accuracy. Theoretically, we draw on research into the perception of polls and poll effects as well as into media effects on political knowledge in general. Empirically, we inve…
Forged Examples as Disinformation: The Biasing Effects of Political Astroturfing Comments on Public Opinion Perceptions and How to Prevent Them
Online astroturfing is a novel form of disinformation that relies on the imitation of citizen voices to create the false impression that a particular view or idea has widespread support in society. In this study, we test if political online astroturfing messages (i.e., forged user comments beneath digital news items) can influence perceptions of public opinion on three issues: the poisoning of the former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripa…
The role of affective and cognitive attitude extremity in perceived viewpoint diversity exposure
The current study examines the role of affective and cognitive attitude extremity on perceived exposure to diverse political viewpoints and investigates the possibility of a “primacy of affect.” Based on a multi-level analysis of panel survey data, we show that people with extreme attitudes toward immigrants experience less viewpoint diversity and that this tendency is especially pronounced for affective attitude extremity. However, even those ho…
Wandel der Kommunikation in der digitalen Gesellschaft: Einführung in das Special Issue zur Dach 21-Dreiländertagung für Kommunikationswissenschaft
Dass die Kommunikationswissenschaft einem kontinuierlichen Wandel unterworfen ist, unterscheidet sie nicht von anderen sozialwissen-schaftlichen Disziplinen. Das liegt nicht zuletzt daran, dass die großen Triebfedern hinter den Wandlungsprozessen überall die gleichen sind. Gesellschaftliche Megatrends wie Globalisierung, Individualisierung und Digitalisierung beeinflussen Politikwissenschaft oder Soziologie genauso wie die Kommunikationswissensch…
They will hate us for this: Effects of media coverage on Islamist terror attacks on Muslims’ perceptions of public opinion, perceived risk of victimization, and behavioral intentions
While research has intensively studied the effects of media coverage of Islamist terror on non-Muslims, our knowledge about how it affects Muslims themselves is still limited. Following Sikorski et al. (2017), we distinguish between undifferentiated and differentiated news on Islamist terror, i.e., news reports that explicitly establish or deny a link between Muslims or Islam and Islamist terror. In a 1 × 4 randomized experiment, we exposed N = 4…
Noticed and appreciated? The role of argument diversity in enhancing news credibility and reader satisfaction
Although viewpoint diversity is a key value for audiences, journalism and media policy, not much is known about how audiences process and evaluate it. This is critical because any positive effect we might expect from a broad range of views (e.g., on opinion formation) requires that recipients recognize and appreciate it as a part of news content. The current study examines how news readers process and evaluate argument diversity as a specific asp…
Attitude extremity and perceived argument diversity exposure in the Covid-19 debate
This study investigates the relationship between attitude extremity and perceived exposure to diverse political arguments in the debate about COVID-19 health policy measures. Based on a comparative, cross-sectional survey in Germany and Switzerland, we show that extreme attitudes towards wearing face masks inhibit citizens’ perceived diversity of arguments regarding the issue in both countries. This tendency is slightly more pronounced for suppor…
The Climate Change Generation: Vocal but Overconfident? How Young Adults Who Overestimate Their Climate Knowledge Use Social Media and Engage With Others
Research suggests that social media can cause users, especially young adults, to overestimate their knowledge about climate change. Knowledge overestimation may then lead users to communicate more frequently about climate change with others. We test these hypotheses with a four-wave panel survey of respondents aged 18-29 years. We find that social media exposure is positively associated with respondents' tendencies to overestimate their knowledge…
Can political internet memes influence information selection of young adults? Examining the mediating roles of issue-specific interest, perceived issue importance, and humor
Political science (18 works) · Psychology (14 works) · Politics (13 works) · Social Media and Politics (13 works) · Social Psychology (11 works) · Law (9 works) · Law (9 works) · Perception (9 works) · Social Psychology (9 works) · Sociology (9 works)