Self-Consistency and Self-Enhancement Motivation Impacts on Selective Exposure to Politics — A SESAM Model Application

ABSTRACT

Building on the SESAM model, influences of self-consistency motivation (evident in bias toward partisanship-consistent messages) and self-enhancement motivation (evident in same-group bias) on selective exposure to political messages were hypothesized. A selective exposure experiment (N = 113) displayed political messages on eight topics, with messages associated either with male or female authors. Selective exposure patterns demonstrated both partisan bias and same-gender bias. Corroborating the notion that self-enhancement motivation affects exposure to even political content, identity importance and perceptions of public esteem were associated with longer exposure times for messages from same-gender authors.

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Notes on contributors

Axel Westerwick

Axel Westerwick (Ph.D., RWTH Aachen University, 1999) is a senior lecturer at the School of Communication at The Ohio State University. His research focuses on how source perceptions influence selection and effects of mediated messages. His work pertains to the intersection of political communication, health communication, and new communication technologies.

Daniel Sude

Daniel Sude (Ph.D., The Ohio State University) is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Dan Department of Communication at Tel Aviv University. His research examines social influences on selective exposure to and persuasion by political messages.

Dana Brooks

Dana Brooks graduated from The Ohio State University with a double major in Computer Science and Engineering with a specialization in game design and graphics.

Berkay Kaplan

Berkay Kaplan received his B.S. from The Ohio State University in Computer Science and Engineering with Honors in 2019.

Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick

Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick (Ph.D., Hanover University of Music, Drama, and Media, 1999) is a professor in the School of Communication at The Ohio State University and serves as co-editor of Communication Research. Her research interests include the selection, processing, and effects of mediated communication. A key thread in her work pertains to antecedents and consequences of selective exposure to mediated messages.