Peers Versus Pros: Confirmation Bias in Selective Exposure to User-Generated Versus Professional Media Messages and Its Consequences

ABSTRACT

Political information is now commonly consumed embedded in user-generated content and social media. Hence, peer users (as opposed to professional journalists) have become frequently encountered sources of such information. This experiment tested competing hypotheses on whether expo`sure to attitude-consistent versus -discrepant political messages (confirmation bias) depends on association with peer versus professional sources, through observational data and multi-level modeling. Results showed the confirmation bias was differentiated, as attitude importance fostered it only in the peer sources condition: When consuming user-generated posts on political issues, users showed a greater confirmation bias the more importance they attached to a specific political issue. Furthermore, exposure generally affected attitudes in line with message stance, as attitude-consistent exposure reinforced attitudes, while attitude-discrepant exposure weakened them (still detectable a day after exposure). Attitude impacts were mediated by opinion climate perceptions.

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Notes on contributors

Axel Westerwick

Dr. Axel Westerwick teaches at the School of Communication at The Ohio State University. His research focuses on how source perceptions influence selection and effects of mediated messages. It has appeared in Journal of Communication, Communication Research, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Communication Monographs, among others. His book publications include Mediated Communication & You: An Introduction to Internet and Media Effects (with Dr. Knobloch-Westerwick, 2020, Oxford University Press).

Daniel Sude

Daniel Sude is a Ph.D. Candidate at The Ohio State University. His research areas include selective exposure, communication technologies, and political communication. His work has appeared in Communication Monographs and Political Communication.

Melissa Robinson

Melissa J. Robinson is an instructor in the Department of Communication, Design, and Culture at California University of Pennsylvania. Her research examines the psychological and behavioral effects of mediated health communication on the individual, often considering the role of media selection in these effects.

Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick

Dr. Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick  is a professor at the School of Communication at The Ohio State University and co-editor of Communication Research, a flagship journal of communication science. Dr. Knobloch-Westerwick’s research examines the selection, processing, and effects of mediated communication. Her book publications include Mediated Communication & You: An Introduction to Internet and Media Effects (with Dr. Westerwick, 2020, Oxford University Press) and Choice and Preference in Media Use: Advances in Selective Exposure Theory and Research (2015, Routledge).