A Social Comparison Explanation for the Third-Person Perception

Lijiang Shen, Jason Palmer, Laura Min Mercer Kollar, Sarah Comer

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

24 Scopus citations

Abstract

This study proposes the third-person perception (TPP) can be viewed as a type of comparative social judgment in the domain of media influence, in that it is a function of assimilation, contrast, and anchoring mechanisms in the process of social comparison. The derived hypotheses were tested with web-based experimental data (N = 511). Results showed some evidence that TPP was a function of assimilation and contrast effects. There was also evidence that there were anchoring effects, and such effects tended to emerge when self was the anchor. Implication and directions for future research on TPP were discussed.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)260-280
Number of pages21
JournalCommunication Research
Volume42
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 16 2015

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Communication
  • Language and Linguistics
  • Linguistics and Language

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