| ID | 179000 |
| Title Proper | When Unfamiliarity Breeds Contempt |
| Other Title Information | How Partisan Selective Exposure Sustains Oppositional Media Hostility |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Peterson, Erik ; Kagalwala, Ali |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | Partisans hold unfavorable views of media they associate with the other party. They also avoid out-party news sources. We link these developments and argue that partisans assess out-party media based on negative and inaccurate stereotypes. This means cross-cutting exposure that challenges these misperceptions can improve assessments of out-party media. To support this argument, we use survey-linked web browsing data to show that the public has hostile views of out-party news sources they rarely encounter. We conduct three survey experiments that demonstrate cross-cutting exposure to nonpolitical or neutral political stories, forms of news widely available from online partisan sources, reduces oppositional media hostility. This explains how perceptions of rampant bias from out-party media coexist with more modest differences in the online content of major partisan news outlets. More broadly, we illustrate how negative misperceptions can sustain animus towards an out-group when people avoid encounters with them. |
| `In' analytical Note | American Political Science Review Vol. 115, No.2; May 2021: p.585 - 598 |
| Journal Source | American Political Science Review 2021-06 115, 2 |
| Key Words | Partisan Selective Exposure Sustains ; Media Hostility |