Discrepancy between Perceived First-Person and Perceived Third-Person Mass Media Effects

Surveys conducted in two midwestern cities investigated the hypothesis that says people will perceive effects of mass media as being greater on others than on themselves. Findings demonstrate this, with almost 90% of respondents judging they were less influenced than were others. Respondents with more education saw others as being even more influenced, but not themselves so much. Older respondents were most likely to feel mass media influenced them less than others, perhaps because older people feel they have other sources of information.