Third-Person Effect in Public Relations and Social Comparison Theory

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Third-Person Effect in Public Relations

Thesis: The study examines third-person effects in a news release, which could be different from other media content already studied. “This study explores the third-person effect in public relations and examines situational variables such as a message topic, message valence, perceived desirability of being affected by the message, and receiver characteristics.”

Synopsis/Support: The main goal of this study is examining the third-person effect in public relations, and the factors of it through using the social comparison theory. The third-person effect “occurs when an individual believes that mass media content has greater influence on other people than on himself or herself, a belief that often leads to subsequent action.” The article described two components of the third-person effect, which are perception and behavior. Perception is about the belief that the media impacts other people more than we think it impacts ourselves. The behavior component either “prevents harmful communication or support for beneficial communication.”

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