Exposure to partisan news can shift sociopolitical attitudes over time, according to new research published in PLOS One. The findings suggest that the association between partisan news consumption and partisan views is not merely a matter of self-selection. Instead, consuming news from partisan sources appears to alter perceptions of reality and sociopolitical attitudes.
“This project was led by my former graduate student, Megan Earle. There is considerable interest in psychology (and other disciplines), and in the wider public, about the role of news media in shaping public opinion,” said study author Gordon Hodson (@GordonHodsonPhD), a professor at Brock University and director of the Brock Intergroup Attitudes Scholarship (BIAS) Lab.
“Whereas news outlets historically considered objectivity to be a goal, news outlets seem increasingly partisan in nature these days. We were interested in how this might shape opinions in the public. We already know that people on the left are drawn to news from the left, and people on the right are drawn to news from the right, so we sought to examine this question in ways that would account for, or get around, that self-selection issue.”
Discover more from News Facts Network
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
