W phillips davison biography definition
W phillips davison biography definition
W phillips davison biography definition dictionary!
Third-person effect
Hypothesis in social sciences related to the perception of media effects
Not to be confused with third man factor, a presence reportedly providing comfort in distress, or the philosophical third man argument.
The third-person effect[1]hypothesis predicts that people tend to perceive that mass media messages have a greater effect on others than on themselves, based on personal biases.
The third-person effect manifests itself through an individual's overestimation of the effect of a mass communicated message on the generalized other, or an underestimation of the effect of a mass communicated message on themselves.
These types of perceptions stem from a self-motivated social desirability (not feeling influenced by mass messages promotes self-esteem), a social-distance corollary (choosing to dissociate oneself from the others who may be influenced), and a perceived exposure to a message (others choose to be influenced by persuasive communication).