Subduing attitude polarization?

Area of Science:

• Political Communication
• Media Psychology
• Social Psychology

Background:

• Attitude polarization poses a threat to democratic societies.
• The online news environment facilitates exposure to both like-minded and contrary news.
• Understanding the impact of heterogeneous news exposure is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effects of exposure to heterogeneous partisan news bundles on attitude polarization.
• To examine attitude polarization as a direct effect and an indirect effect mediated by hostile media perceptions.
• To assess these effects concerning the contentious issue of assisted suicide.

Main Methods:

• A between-subjects experimental design was employed.
• Participants were exposed to partisan news bundles containing both like-minded and contrary news.
• Attitude polarization and hostile media perceptions were measured.

Main Results:

• Exposure to the partisan news bundle had a significant effect on hostile media perceptions.
• However, both direct and indirect effects of the partisan news bundle on attitude polarization were found to be null.
• No significant attitude polarization was observed.

Conclusions:

• Heterogeneous partisan news bundles, even when perceived negatively, do not necessarily lead to attitude polarization.
• Hostile media perceptions do not mediate the relationship between mixed news exposure and attitude polarization.
• The study suggests a potential resilience of attitudes against polarization from mixed news exposure.