Does Information about Bias Attenuate Selective Exposure? The Effects of Implicit Bias Feedback on the Selection of Outgroup-Rich News. (24th February 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kroon, Anne C; van der Meer, Toni G L A; Pronk, Thomas
• Is Part Of: Human communication research. Volume 48:Number 2(2022)
• Page Start: 346
• Page End: 373
• Publication Date: 2022-02-24
• Subjects: Selective Exposure -- Outgroups -- Media Literacy -- Implicit prejudice -- Implicit Bias Training; Communication -- Periodicals; 302.2
• DOI: 10.1093/hcr/hqac004
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0360-3989

Abstract

Abstract: People's news diets are shaped by a diverse set of selection biases that may be unconscious in nature. This study investigates whether providing individuals with information about such unconscious biases attenuates selective exposure. More specifically, in two selective-exposure experiments among Dutch ingroup members focusing on ethnic (N = 286) and religious (N = 277) minorities, we expose individuals to their unconscious prejudices as measured by the Implicit Association Test (IAT) before documenting their news-selection patterns. Findings indicate that the effectiveness of this awareness-inducing strategy depends upon existing levels of implicit and explicit prejudice and overly expressed acceptance of the IAT scores. This implies that raising awareness of implicit prejudice works as an effective strategy for fighting biased news selection for some, but may backfire for others, and should therefore only be implemented with caution and attention for explicit considerations.