Selective Exposure in the Internet Age
The Interaction between Anxiety and Information Utility
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6336237 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Nicholas A Valentino (0000-0001-6767-4841, University of Michigan), Antoine J Banks (0000-0003-4655-7376, University of Maryland, College Park), Vincent L Hutchings (0000-0003-4826-0584, University of Michigan), Anne K Davis (University of Michigan) |
| Year | 2009 |
| Volume | 30 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 591-613 |
| Publication date | 2009-08-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Political Psychology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0162-895X • E-ISSN: 1467-9221 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1467-9221.2009.00716.x |
| OpenAlex | W2012245301 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 128 |
| References cited | 50 |
The rise of the Internet forces scholars to reevaluate the frequency and nature of political information seeking in the contemporary period. The functionality of the Internet makes passive exposure more difficult, and selective information seeking easier, than in the past. However, people may also use the Internet in a new and directed way—to arm themselves with information to express and defend their views either online or in the real world. The central question we explore in this paper is what explains balanced versus biased information seeking in the era of the Internet? We combine insights fromSears and Freedman (1967) with newer work on emotion to predict motivated selectivity: focusing specifically on the interaction between anxiety and information utility. Our central theoretical claim is that anxiety does not simply boostanyinformation seeking; it triggers information seeking that isuseful for addressing the problem at hand. Anxiety alone, therefore, does not guarantee abalancedinformation search. When counterattitudinal information is useful for some reason—for example, to defend their own opinions to others who may disagree—anxious citizens should seek it out. As a consequence, these subjects should learn more specific information about where each candidate stands on the issues. In an experiment we find support for these hypotheses. We conclude that while today's flexible Internet environment may permit selectivity, balanced seeking should still occur under a fairly common set of circumstances
Anxiety · Freedman · Information retrieval · Information seeking · Information seeking behavior · Internet privacy · Political science · Politics · Set (abstract data type · The Internet · World Wide Web · Computer Science · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Misinformation and Its Impacts · Psychology · Social Media and Politics · Social Psychology
Believing Facts in the Fog of War
Selective Exposure to Cable News and Immigration in the U.S.
Interested in Diversity
Selective Exposure in the Age of Social Media
The Emergence of Covid-19 in the US
Exposure to ideologically diverse news and opinion on Facebook
The Oxford handbook of American public opinion and the media
The madness of misperceptions
Broadcast Versus Viral Spreading
Just a Glance, or More? Pathways from Counter-Attitudinal Incidental Exposure to Attitude (De)Polarization Through Response Behaviors and Cognitive Elaboration
Confirmation Bias in the Era of Mobile News Consumption
Google, how should I vote? How users formulate search queries to find political information on search engines
Risk perception, affect, and information avoidance during the 2016 U.S. Presidential election
Collective Emotions on Social Media
From silence to action
Epistemic Egocentrism and Processing of Vaccine Misinformation (Vis-à-vis Scientific Evidence)
Covid-19 information seeking behavior versus value perception among U.S. ethnic/racial minorities
Putting the affect into affective polarisation
Attentional bias to situational and implicational information and individual differences in anxiety reactivity and perseveration
The effect of cross-cutting exposure on attitude change
Selective Exposure in a Changing Political and Media Environment
From Selective Exposure to Selective Information Processing
Navigating Political Disagreement on Social Media
The echo chamber is overstated
Partisan Paths to Exposure Diversity
Politically Motivated Reinforcement Seeking
Partisan Selective Sharing
Digital media vs mainstream media
La esfera pública postmediática
Anxious Politics
Cross-Border Media and Nationalism
Cross-border media and nationalism
Cross-Border Media and Nationalism
Better Ask Your Neighbor
Techniques for Measuring Selective Exposure
Technology and Tolerance in Japan
Does Considering the Consequences of Selective Exposure Help Reduce Selective Exposure Behaviors
From sparks to action
Selective Exposure, Extended Exposure, and Sidetracked Exposure
Party or policy? Examining news consumption and affective polarization in Italy
Selective exposure and the authoritarian dynamic
Spiraleffekte in der neuen Medienwelt
Individual Differences in Selective Attention to Information Graphics in Televised Sports
Back up or Backfire? The Impact of Human Rights Sanctions on Target Citizens’ Attitudes Toward Human Rights and Mobilizations
The Generalizability of Online Experiments Conducted During the Covid-19 Pandemic
Emotional Responses to Disturbing Political News
Terrorism and voter turnout in seven urban centers in the United States
Digital Technologies and Selective Exposure
Selection in a Snapshot? The Contribution of Visuals to the Selection and Avoidance of Political News in Information-Rich Media Settings
Engaging to Oppose
What Drives Media Use in Authoritarian Regimes? Extending Selective Exposure Theory to Iran
Migrants, Caravans, and the Impact of News Photos on Immigration Attitudes
From reading comments to seeking news
Quantifying Political Behavior on Mobile Devices over Time
Generic or Specific Search Terms
Political information search in “noisy” online environments
The limits of social media as a source of political information during routine and crisis times across 17 countries
Using Open-Source Tools to Measure Online Selective Exposure in Naturalistic Settings
Selective Exposure
Digital information diversity and political engagement
Partisan Media Selectivity and Partisan Identity Threat
Personality Basis for Partisan News Media Use
Why Do People (Sometimes) Become Selective About News? The Role of Emotions and Partisan Differences in Selective Approach and Avoidance
Filtering out the other side? Cross-cutting and like-minded discussions on social networking sites
Implications of online incidental and selective exposure for political emotions
Online emotional appeals and political participation
Evidence of political moderation over time
Incidental Exposure, Selective Exposure, and Political Information Sharing
Local Experience, National Media, and Misperceptions of the Covid-19 Pandemic
Terrorism concern and persistence of negative attitudes towards Islam and Muslims
Risk communication and community preparedness in the context of biotechnological hazards
Media Effects in an Era of Rapid Technological Transformation
Metacognitive Model of Ambivalence
Misinformation, economic threat and public support for international trade
The Spiral of Silence and the Internet
Bringing people closer to the elites
The Relevance of Emotions in Presidential Public Appeals
Public support for development aid during the Covid-19 pandemic
Do audiences receive diverse ideas from news media? Exposure to a variety of news media and personal characteristics as determinants of diversity as received
Echo-chambers in online news consumption
Resisting Political Fragmentation on the Internet
The power of context
Approaching the 2012 U.S. Presidential Election From a Diversity of Explanatory Principles
Candidate Vulnerability and Exposure to Counterattitudinal Information
Losers’ consent and emotions in the aftermath of the Brexit referendum
Election Night’s Alright for Fighting
What Makes Us Click? Demonstrating Incentives for Angry Discourse with Digital-Age Field Experiments
Political Advantage, Disadvantage, and the Demand for Partisan News
All the News That’s Fit to Ignore
The Anxious and Ambivalent Partisan
How the internet and social media reduce government approval
Moving Away From Partisanship
Gaffe Appeal A Field Experiment on Partisan Selective Exposure to Election Messages
Fear and Implicit Racism
It's All Under Control
Anxiety, Immigration, and the Search for Information
The Role of Anger in the Biased Assimilation of Political Information
The Political Relevance of Emotions
Emotional Rescue
Anger Mediates the Effects of Fear on Support for the Far Right—A Rejoinder
Conflict, decision, and dissonance.
Campaigning Oniline
A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance
Emotion And Adaptation
The Web Of Politics
Post-Broadcast Democracy
Information and Expression in a Digital Age
The effects of mass communication
Campaigning for Hearts and Minds
Politically Motivated Reinforcement Seeking
On the Distinct Political Effects of Anxiety and Anger
Recent Research on Selective Exposure to Information
Selective Exposure
Strong Democracy
A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance
Netizens
Selective Exposure to Information
Selective exposure to information
Confidence, utility, and selective exposure
Mood and memory
Which Public Goods are Endangered
The People's Choice
The Rise and Fall of the Media Establishment
The Effects of Efficacy and Emotions on Campaign Involvement
Selective Exposure to a Presidential Campaign Appeal
A Longitudinal Test of the Selective Exposure Hypothesis
The Internet and Political Transformation
Information and Political Engagement in America
Is a Worried Citizen a Good Citizen? Emotions, Political Information Seeking, and Learning via the Internet
Threat as a Motivator of Political Activism
Threat, Authoritarianism, and Selective Exposure to Information
Connecting" and "Disconnecting" With Civic Life
Patterns of Internet and Traditional News Media Use in a Networked Community
Media Use and Political Predispositions
Motivated Skepticism in the Evaluation of Political Beliefs
Emotions, Issue Importance, and Political Learning
Patterns of cognitive appraisal in emotion
Fear, anger, and risk
What Triggers Public Opposition to Immigration? Anxiety, Group Cues, and Immigration Threat
The Kennedy assassination and the American Public
Postdecision affinity for incompatible information
Facilitating Communication across Lines of Political Difference
Social Implications of the Internet
| Unique citing works | 128 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 7,53 |
| Citation span | 2009 - 2026 (18) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | Yes |
| Citation types | Neutral: 127 |