Christian Von Sikorski
Dados Biográficos
| ID | 91851 |
|---|---|
| NOME | Christian Von Sikorski |
| PRENOMES | Christian |
| SOBRENOME | Von Sikorski |
| ASSINATURA | VON SIKORSKI C |
| AFILIAÇÕES | Freie Universität Berlin |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3787-8277 |
| VERIFICADO | Sim |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 36 |
| TOTAL DE CITAÇÕES | 177 |
| OBRAS COMO AUTOR | 36 |
| OBRAS COMO EDITOR | 0 |
| PRIMEIRO ANO DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2016 |
| ANO MAIS RECENTE DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2026 |
| ÍNDICE H | 7 |
Who feels influenced? Investigating the (non-)political experiences of young adults with social media influencers using a latent profile analysis
Young people increasingly rely on social media influencers (SMI) for news and socially relevant information. Despite the growing importance of these communicators, the interplay between young people’s non-political and political experiences with SMI remains underexplored. That is, a nuanced, person-centered understanding of how recipients experience and are influenced by different types of SMIs (i.e., lifestyle and political) is still lacking. To…
Dealing With Uncertain Futures
This article systematically reviews research on public engagement with models of future developments, such as pandemic forecasting or climate change projections. It examines how different actors and stakeholders interpret (often motivated) and communicate (often strategically) scientific uncertainties. So far, lay decision-makers have been studied mostly as receivers. They can handle uncertainty best when expressed in numbers, such as probabiliti…
Claims of Victimhood Shield Politicians from Political Scandals
Can AI-generated news reduce hostile media perceptions? Findings from two experiments
Introduction The current debate regarding artificial intelligence (AI) raises the question of whether AI-generated news articles on controversial topics can reduce news consumers’ hostile media perceptions (HMP). In addition, there is a debate about people’s prior attitudes toward AI and how it influences people’s perceptions of AI-generated news articles. Methods Based on the theoretical foundation of the MAIN model and the Hostile Media Phenome…
Narratives are Key
News is often negative, problem-focused and concrete solutions to social challenges such as climate change are neglected. This can lead to perceived hopelessness, but also to people turning away from news. Initial studies show that solutions journalism can reduce such effects, but the results are in part ambiguous. We therefore investigate the underlying mechanisms to better understand the effects of solutions journalism and resolve existing ambi…
Disinformation in the Age of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
We explore the growing intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and disinformation, examining its implications for journalism and mass communication. We propose a working definition of AI disinformation, highlighting its role in the production, dissemination, and perception of misleading content. While AI technologies enable hyper-realistic synthetic media and targeted influence campaigns, empirical evidence on their impact remains mixed. We …
Political censorship feels acceptable when ideas seem harmful and false
People seem willing to censor disagreeable political and moral ideas. Five studies explore why people engage in political censorship and test a potential route to decreasing censorship. While Americans report being generally supportive of free speech and against censorship (Study 1), we find that people censor material that seems harmful and false (Study 2), which are often ideas from political opponents (Study 3). Building on work demonstrating …
Social media influencers can increase collective political beliefs and actions
The belief in the capabilities of one's own group is crucial for joining collective action aimed at addressing large-scale societal crises like climate change. Drawing from the two-step flow of communication theory and behavioral models of collective action, we conducted two experimental studies and an innovative quasi-experimental field study (total N = 2,960). Across these studies, influencer messages increased collective response efficacy beli…
The Political Role of Social Media Influencers
Social media influencers (SMIs) have become influential communicators of political and socially relevant content, especially among younger audiences increasingly disengaged from traditional news. While originally focused on commercial marketing, many SMIs now address topics such as elections, policy debates, and social justice issues. These messages are often shared strategically-to expand reach, maintain authenticity, or express personal convict…
Understanding news-related user comments and their effects
There has been growing interest in research on news-related user comments. Here we conduct the first systematic review of this literature—quantitatively and qualitatively (248 studies)—that covers the entire communication process (content analyses, surveys, experiments). Results indicate a focus on online news articles ( vs videos) and little consideration for major social media platforms (Instagram, TikTok). Research often assesses incivility in…
The polarizing content warning
Past research suggests that journalists can (unintentionally) exacerbate affective polarization when reporting on growing levels of polarization in society. However, is there a way for journalists to report on the realities of growing political polarization without dividing people further? In our research with five pre-registered experimental studies (N = 3,414), we develop the polarizing content warning which, based on inoculation theory, warns …
In the Eye of the Beholder
The hostile media phenomenon (HMP) refers to a process in which supporters and opponents of an issue perceive the identical coverage to be biased against their own views. Despite the relevance of visual communication in our field, scholars have treated hostile media perceptions as a text-based phenomenon ignoring the unique role of visuals. This paper makes the case for a visual hostile media phenomenon (VHMP). The VHMP posits that completely bal…
No Compassion for Muslims? How Journalistic News Coverage of Terrorist Crimes Influences Emotional Reactions and Policy Support Depending on the Victim’s Religion
Islamist terrorist attacks have become a salient threat to Western countries, and news coverage about such crimes is a key predictor of public emotional reactions and policy support. We examine the effects of two key characteristics of terrorism news coverage: (1) the victim’s religion and (2) first-person narratives that facilitate perspective taking. A quota-based experiment ( N = 354) revealed that irrespective of the narrative type, news repo…
Reducing Political Dehumanization by Pairing Facts With Personal Experiences
The media is increasingly blamed for inflaming political animosity, but it may also bridge partisan divides—with the right strategies. Past research highlights the outgroup‐experience effect: Sharing personal experiences (and not facts) helps to reduce partisan animosity. However, sharing facts is a pillar of good journalism and is essential for mediated political communication. Across four studies in two countries, we show that journalists, and …
National identity predicts public health support during a global pandemic
Changing collective behaviour and supporting non-pharmaceutical interventions is an important component in mitigating virus transmission during a pandemic. In a large international collaboration (Study 1, N = 49,968 across 67 countries), we investigated self-reported factors associated with public health behaviours (e.g., spatial distancing and stricter hygiene) and endorsed public policy interventions (e.g., closing bars and restaurants) during …
Do journalists differentiate between Muslims and Islamist terrorists? A content analysis of terrorism news coverage
We examined how Muslims are depicted in connection with Islamist terrorism and to what extent journalists use undifferentiated coverage – that actively links Muslims to terrorism – and differentiated coverage that actively differentiates Muslims from terrorism. Drawing from research in journalism studies and from terror management theory, we examined media-specific and event-specific predictors using a quantitative content analysis (12 quality/ta…
Predicting attitudinal and behavioral responses to Covid-19 pandemic using machine learning
At the beginning of 2020, COVID-19 became a global problem. Despite all the efforts to emphasize the relevance of preventive measures, not everyone adhered to them. Thus, learning more about the characteristics determining attitudinal and behavioral responses to the pandemic is crucial to improving future interventions. In this study, we applied machine learning on the multi-national data collected by the International Collaboration on the Social…
Visual Mis- and Disinformation, Social Media, and Democracy
The role of (social) media in political polarization
Visual polarisation
Previous research in political communication has shown that visual news coverage can affect news consumers’ evaluations of political candidates. Yet, so far, the effects of subtle (positive/negative) visual background cues on candidate evaluation remain largely unclear. Also, the role of individuals’ media trust has not been explored in this context. That is, trusting individuals may interpret subtle visual cues in different ways compared with mi…
Scandalous?! Examining the Differential Effects of News Coverage About (Non-)Severe Political Misconduct on Voting Intentions and News Source Evaluations
Scandal severity may affect public perceptions of both scandalous political actors and news sources reporting political misconduct. Yet, research that has empirically tested these assumptions is lacking. Drawing from theory on anchoring effects, the results of two experimental studies conducted using mediation analyses revealed that severe scandals hurt politicians (candidate evaluation) and weaken voting intentions. Although non-severe scandals …
Perceived threats from social bots
Trump against Germany
Donald Trump frequently attacks foreign countries such as Germany (e.g., via Twitter). Drawing from social identity theory and intergroup threat theory, I theorized that exposure to news about Trump’s anti-German utterances indirectly increases anti-Americanism in Germany. First, I theorized that Trump’s utterances result in negative attitudes toward Trump and, in turn, increase anti-Americanism (spillover effect). Second, I theorized that Trump’…
Integrative Framing Analysis
Throughout the last three decades, a large number of studies have explored how the news media frame a wide variety of issues and how frames affect public opinion and the evaluation of current event
Sexual Harassment in Politics. News about Victims’ Delayed Sexual Harassment Accusations and Effects on Victim Blaming
The #MeToo movement has restarted an extensive and worldwide debate about sexual harassment especially directed against women. When women publicly accuse an alleged perpetrator they often do so with a strong delay and frequently come forward with allegations years after a harassment occurred. Yet, we lack research on how news about delayed sexual harassment accusations affect victim blaming. Drawing from construal level theory and attribution the…
How Political Scandals Affect the Electorate. Tracing the Eroding and Spillover Effects of Scandals with a Panel Study
Political scandals are highly relevant for political decision‐making and democratic processes more generally. While most prior research employed experimental and cross‐sectional survey studies, we tested the effects of a political scandal in the context of the 2017 Austrian Parliamentary Elections using panel data (N = 559, both waves). Importantly, we used a unique data set collected before and just after a major scandal broke in the final elect…
A Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Cross-Cutting Exposure on Political Participation
Scholars have advanced many theoretical explanations for expecting a negative or positive relationship between individuals’ cross-cutting exposure—either through interpersonal or mediated forms of communication—and their political participation. However, whether cross-cutting exposure is a positive or negative predictor of participation is still an unsettled question. To help fill this gap, we conducted a meta-analysis of 48 empirical studies com…
Terror, Terror Everywhere? How Terrorism News Shape Support for Anti‐Muslim Policies as a Function of Perceived Threat Severity and Controllability
Terrorist attacks committed by the so‐called Islamic State are rising in Western countries. How the news media portray these attacks may crucially influence emotional responses and support for anti‐Muslim policies such as immigration bans. Based on the Extended parallel response model (EPRM, Witte, 1992), we theorize that specific features of terrorism news such as threat severity (e.g., high vs. low number of potential terrorist offenders) and t…
Muslims are not Terrorists”
Previous research shows that news about Islamist terrorism can seriously affect citizens’ fear reactions and influence non-Muslims’ out-group perceptions of Muslims. We argue that news coverage that explicitly links Islam to terrorism or terrorists of the Islamic State (IS) may trigger fears in non-Muslim individuals. In contrast, news differentiation (i.e., explicitly distinguishing between Muslims and Muslim terrorists) may dampen particular fe…
Scandal 2.0
Previous research shows that one-sided and uncivil reader comments posted below professionally edited online news articles may affect a recipient’s perception of the specific issue at hand. However, it remains largely unclear whether specific comments affect a reader’s perception of an individual actor depicted in an online news article. An online experiment showed substantial effects (e.g., attitudes, perceived responsibility, perceived opinion …
Who Differentiates between Muslims and Islamist Terrorists in Terrorism News Coverage? An Actor-based Approach
status: Published
Reducing Political Dehumanization by Pairing Facts With Personal Experiences
The media is increasingly blamed for inflaming political animosity, but it may also bridge partisan divides—with the right strategies. Past research highlights the outgroup‐experience effect: Sharing personal experiences (and not facts) helps to reduce partisan animosity. However, sharing facts is a pillar of good journalism and is essential for mediated political communication. Across four studies in two countries, we show that journalists, and …
Visual polarisation
Previous research in political communication has shown that visual news coverage can affect news consumers’ evaluations of political candidates. Yet, so far, the effects of subtle (positive/negative) visual background cues on candidate evaluation remain largely unclear. Also, the role of individuals’ media trust has not been explored in this context. That is, trusting individuals may interpret subtle visual cues in different ways compared with mi…
Are Unidentified Terrorist Suspects Always Muslims? How Terrorism News Shape News Consumers' Automatic Activation of Muslims as Perpetrators
Two experimental studies investigated how news reports about terrorist attacks committed by unidentified perpetrators influence beliefs about the perpetrators and Muslims in general. In Study 1, a quota-based sample of 354 Germans was exposed to terror news coverage describing either non-Muslim or Muslim victims with no reference to the perpetrators of the attacks. Upon stimulus exposure, participants were asked the likelihood that the perpetrato…
The effects of visual isolation on the perception of scandalized politicians
In their depictions of scandalized politicians, journalists frequently use news images that highlight the (alleged) isolation of politicians. To test how this way of portraying political actors affects a recipient’s attitudes and his/her guilt perception toward such a scandalized politician an experiment was conducted. All participants were exposed to the identical textual information. However, the visual information (degree of isolation) was sys…
Political censorship feels acceptable when ideas seem harmful and false
People seem willing to censor disagreeable political and moral ideas. Five studies explore why people engage in political censorship and test a potential route to decreasing censorship. While Americans report being generally supportive of free speech and against censorship (Study 1), we find that people censor material that seems harmful and false (Study 2), which are often ideas from political opponents (Study 3). Building on work demonstrating …
The polarizing content warning
Past research suggests that journalists can (unintentionally) exacerbate affective polarization when reporting on growing levels of polarization in society. However, is there a way for journalists to report on the realities of growing political polarization without dividing people further? In our research with five pre-registered experimental studies (N = 3,414), we develop the polarizing content warning which, based on inoculation theory, warns …
Populist Twitter Posts in News Stories
Research in information processing suggests that the journalistic practice of embedding right-wing populist Twitter posts in news may stimulate political polarization. To test this notion, we conducted an online experiment (N = 379). We investigated how highlighted right-wing populist statements affected individuals from different ideological stances and whether potential effects were determined by Twitter-specific characteristics (Twitter frame,…
The Political Role of Social Media Influencers
Social media influencers (SMIs) have become influential communicators of political and socially relevant content, especially among younger audiences increasingly disengaged from traditional news. While originally focused on commercial marketing, many SMIs now address topics such as elections, policy debates, and social justice issues. These messages are often shared strategically-to expand reach, maintain authenticity, or express personal convict…
Trump against Germany
Donald Trump frequently attacks foreign countries such as Germany (e.g., via Twitter). Drawing from social identity theory and intergroup threat theory, I theorized that exposure to news about Trump’s anti-German utterances indirectly increases anti-Americanism in Germany. First, I theorized that Trump’s utterances result in negative attitudes toward Trump and, in turn, increase anti-Americanism (spillover effect). Second, I theorized that Trump’…
Sexual Harassment in Politics. News about Victims’ Delayed Sexual Harassment Accusations and Effects on Victim Blaming
The #MeToo movement has restarted an extensive and worldwide debate about sexual harassment especially directed against women. When women publicly accuse an alleged perpetrator they often do so with a strong delay and frequently come forward with allegations years after a harassment occurred. Yet, we lack research on how news about delayed sexual harassment accusations affect victim blaming. Drawing from construal level theory and attribution the…
Scandal 2.0
Previous research shows that one-sided and uncivil reader comments posted below professionally edited online news articles may affect a recipient’s perception of the specific issue at hand. However, it remains largely unclear whether specific comments affect a reader’s perception of an individual actor depicted in an online news article. An online experiment showed substantial effects (e.g., attitudes, perceived responsibility, perceived opinion …
Muslims are not Terrorists”
Previous research shows that news about Islamist terrorism can seriously affect citizens’ fear reactions and influence non-Muslims’ out-group perceptions of Muslims. We argue that news coverage that explicitly links Islam to terrorism or terrorists of the Islamic State (IS) may trigger fears in non-Muslim individuals. In contrast, news differentiation (i.e., explicitly distinguishing between Muslims and Muslim terrorists) may dampen particular fe…
The “Spiral of Silence” Revisited
The key assumption of spiral of silence theory is that opinion climate perceptions affect political opinion expression. We meta-analyzed the strength of this relationship and clarified the impact of theoretically relevant moderators. Sixty-six studies collectively including more than 27,000 participants were located. We observed a significant positive relationship ( r = .10; Zr = .10) between opinion climate and opinion expression. This relations…
The effects of visual isolation on the perception of scandalized politicians
In their depictions of scandalized politicians, journalists frequently use news images that highlight the (alleged) isolation of politicians. To test how this way of portraying political actors affects a recipient’s attitudes and his/her guilt perception toward such a scandalized politician an experiment was conducted. All participants were exposed to the identical textual information. However, the visual information (degree of isolation) was sys…
Are Unidentified Terrorist Suspects Always Muslims? How Terrorism News Shape News Consumers' Automatic Activation of Muslims as Perpetrators
Two experimental studies investigated how news reports about terrorist attacks committed by unidentified perpetrators influence beliefs about the perpetrators and Muslims in general. In Study 1, a quota-based sample of 354 Germans was exposed to terror news coverage describing either non-Muslim or Muslim victims with no reference to the perpetrators of the attacks. Upon stimulus exposure, participants were asked the likelihood that the perpetrato…
Media framing of political scandals
This chapter describes the main idea of framing as well as the core problems of the approach. It provides an overview of the research on media framing of political scandals. The chapter suggests that an approach on how to assess two general frames often used in scandal coverage: the attack frame and the defense frame. There is evidence that media coverage of political scandals—defined as “intense public communication about a real or imagined defe…
Populist Twitter Posts in News Stories
Research in information processing suggests that the journalistic practice of embedding right-wing populist Twitter posts in news may stimulate political polarization. To test this notion, we conducted an online experiment (N = 379). We investigated how highlighted right-wing populist statements affected individuals from different ideological stances and whether potential effects were determined by Twitter-specific characteristics (Twitter frame,…
Terror, Terror Everywhere? How Terrorism News Shape Support for Anti‐Muslim Policies as a Function of Perceived Threat Severity and Controllability
Terrorist attacks committed by the so‐called Islamic State are rising in Western countries. How the news media portray these attacks may crucially influence emotional responses and support for anti‐Muslim policies such as immigration bans. Based on the Extended parallel response model (EPRM, Witte, 1992), we theorize that specific features of terrorism news such as threat severity (e.g., high vs. low number of potential terrorist offenders) and t…
A Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Cross-Cutting Exposure on Political Participation
Scholars have advanced many theoretical explanations for expecting a negative or positive relationship between individuals’ cross-cutting exposure—either through interpersonal or mediated forms of communication—and their political participation. However, whether cross-cutting exposure is a positive or negative predictor of participation is still an unsettled question. To help fill this gap, we conducted a meta-analysis of 48 empirical studies com…
Scandalous?! Examining the Differential Effects of News Coverage About (Non-)Severe Political Misconduct on Voting Intentions and News Source Evaluations
Scandal severity may affect public perceptions of both scandalous political actors and news sources reporting political misconduct. Yet, research that has empirically tested these assumptions is lacking. Drawing from theory on anchoring effects, the results of two experimental studies conducted using mediation analyses revealed that severe scandals hurt politicians (candidate evaluation) and weaken voting intentions. Although non-severe scandals …
Perceived threats from social bots
Trump against Germany
Donald Trump frequently attacks foreign countries such as Germany (e.g., via Twitter). Drawing from social identity theory and intergroup threat theory, I theorized that exposure to news about Trump’s anti-German utterances indirectly increases anti-Americanism in Germany. First, I theorized that Trump’s utterances result in negative attitudes toward Trump and, in turn, increase anti-Americanism (spillover effect). Second, I theorized that Trump’…
Integrative Framing Analysis
Throughout the last three decades, a large number of studies have explored how the news media frame a wide variety of issues and how frames affect public opinion and the evaluation of current event
Sexual Harassment in Politics. News about Victims’ Delayed Sexual Harassment Accusations and Effects on Victim Blaming
The #MeToo movement has restarted an extensive and worldwide debate about sexual harassment especially directed against women. When women publicly accuse an alleged perpetrator they often do so with a strong delay and frequently come forward with allegations years after a harassment occurred. Yet, we lack research on how news about delayed sexual harassment accusations affect victim blaming. Drawing from construal level theory and attribution the…
Who Differentiates between Muslims and Islamist Terrorists in Terrorism News Coverage? An Actor-based Approach
status: Published
How Political Scandals Affect the Electorate. Tracing the Eroding and Spillover Effects of Scandals with a Panel Study
Political scandals are highly relevant for political decision‐making and democratic processes more generally. While most prior research employed experimental and cross‐sectional survey studies, we tested the effects of a political scandal in the context of the 2017 Austrian Parliamentary Elections using panel data (N = 559, both waves). Importantly, we used a unique data set collected before and just after a major scandal broke in the final elect…
Visual Mis- and Disinformation, Social Media, and Democracy
The role of (social) media in political polarization
Visual polarisation
Previous research in political communication has shown that visual news coverage can affect news consumers’ evaluations of political candidates. Yet, so far, the effects of subtle (positive/negative) visual background cues on candidate evaluation remain largely unclear. Also, the role of individuals’ media trust has not been explored in this context. That is, trusting individuals may interpret subtle visual cues in different ways compared with mi…
National identity predicts public health support during a global pandemic
Changing collective behaviour and supporting non-pharmaceutical interventions is an important component in mitigating virus transmission during a pandemic. In a large international collaboration (Study 1, N = 49,968 across 67 countries), we investigated self-reported factors associated with public health behaviours (e.g., spatial distancing and stricter hygiene) and endorsed public policy interventions (e.g., closing bars and restaurants) during …
Do journalists differentiate between Muslims and Islamist terrorists? A content analysis of terrorism news coverage
We examined how Muslims are depicted in connection with Islamist terrorism and to what extent journalists use undifferentiated coverage – that actively links Muslims to terrorism – and differentiated coverage that actively differentiates Muslims from terrorism. Drawing from research in journalism studies and from terror management theory, we examined media-specific and event-specific predictors using a quantitative content analysis (12 quality/ta…
Predicting attitudinal and behavioral responses to Covid-19 pandemic using machine learning
At the beginning of 2020, COVID-19 became a global problem. Despite all the efforts to emphasize the relevance of preventive measures, not everyone adhered to them. Thus, learning more about the characteristics determining attitudinal and behavioral responses to the pandemic is crucial to improving future interventions. In this study, we applied machine learning on the multi-national data collected by the International Collaboration on the Social…
In the Eye of the Beholder
The hostile media phenomenon (HMP) refers to a process in which supporters and opponents of an issue perceive the identical coverage to be biased against their own views. Despite the relevance of visual communication in our field, scholars have treated hostile media perceptions as a text-based phenomenon ignoring the unique role of visuals. This paper makes the case for a visual hostile media phenomenon (VHMP). The VHMP posits that completely bal…
No Compassion for Muslims? How Journalistic News Coverage of Terrorist Crimes Influences Emotional Reactions and Policy Support Depending on the Victim’s Religion
Islamist terrorist attacks have become a salient threat to Western countries, and news coverage about such crimes is a key predictor of public emotional reactions and policy support. We examine the effects of two key characteristics of terrorism news coverage: (1) the victim’s religion and (2) first-person narratives that facilitate perspective taking. A quota-based experiment ( N = 354) revealed that irrespective of the narrative type, news repo…
Reducing Political Dehumanization by Pairing Facts With Personal Experiences
The media is increasingly blamed for inflaming political animosity, but it may also bridge partisan divides—with the right strategies. Past research highlights the outgroup‐experience effect: Sharing personal experiences (and not facts) helps to reduce partisan animosity. However, sharing facts is a pillar of good journalism and is essential for mediated political communication. Across four studies in two countries, we show that journalists, and …
Political science (26 obras) · Psychology (22 obras) · Law (19 obras) · Politics (17 obras) · Social Psychology (15 obras) · Law (13 obras) · Social Media and Politics (13 obras) · Social Psychology (13 obras) · Sociology (12 obras) · Media Studies and Communication (11 obras)