Media Channels & Social Distance

Research Focus

This experimental study investigates how message types (positive vs. negative news) and information transmission media affect audience involvement during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing from the Third-Person Effect theory and social psychology literature, the research examines how perceived social distance mediates the relationship between message valence and audience involvement, and how different media channels (paper vs. personal mobile phones) moderate this effect.

Research Questions and Hypotheses

Primary Research Question: How do message types and information transmission media affect audience involvement through the mechanism of perceived social distance?

Research Hypotheses:

H1: Bad news (compared to good news) has a significant negative impact on involvement
H2: Perceived social distance mediates the relationship between message type and involvement
H3: Information transmission media moderates the effect of bad news on involvement - the effect exists when using paper media but disappears when using personal mobile phones

Methodology

Study Overview

This research comprised three experiments: a pre-test to validate experimental materials, Experiment 1 to test the main hypotheses, and Experiment 2 to rule out alternative explanations.

Pre-test (N = 63)

Objective: Validate that good and bad news materials produce equivalent utility changes to isolate the effect of message valence.

Materials:

Good news: Mathematics curriculum reform reducing credit hours from 6 to 3 credits
Bad news: Mathematics curriculum reform increasing credit hours from 6 to 9 credits

Results: No significant difference in absolute utility change between conditions (F = 4.273, p = .315), confirming material validity.

Experiment 1 (N = 160)

Design: 2 (Message Type: Good vs. Bad) × 2 (Media: Paper vs. Personal Mobile Phone) between-subjects design

Participants: 160 Xiamen University undergraduate students randomly assigned to four conditions

Procedure:

Participants instructed to imagine being incoming freshmen
Exposure to curriculum change news via assigned medium
Completion of questionnaire measuring perceived social distance and involvement
Attention check and debriefing

Measures:

Involvement: 7-point Likert scale measuring importance, impact, and behavioral intentions
Perceived Social Distance: 7-point scales assessing similarity, group membership, and psychological proximity to affected students
Manipulation Check: Content comprehension questions

Experiment 2 (N = 80)

Objective: Rule out media size effects as alternative explanation

Design: Between-subjects comparison of news presentation on A2 vs. A3 paper sizes

Dependent Variable: Word count of written responses as involvement measure

Results: No significant difference in writing length between paper sizes (F = 0.814, p = .370)

Statistical Analysis

Main Effects: ANOVA with planned contrasts
Mediation Analysis: Baron & Kenny (1986) causal steps approach with Sobel test
Effect Size: Partial eta-squared for ANOVA effects

Study 1 results showing interaction effects between message type and media channel on involvement levels.

Theoretical Framework

Third-Person Effect Theory

Building on Davison’s (1983) seminal work, this research examines the Third-Person Effect - the tendency for individuals to overestimate mass media’s influence on others while underestimating its impact on themselves. The study extends this theory by investigating how message valence and media channels interact with this cognitive bias.

The research integrates self-enhancement theory with social distance concepts, examining how people maintain psychological distance from negative events through perceived dissimilarity with affected groups. This mechanism helps explain why individuals engage less with threatening information.

Media Psychology and Self-Focus

Drawing from recent work by Song & Sela (2023), the study explores how personal mobile phone use enhances self-focus, potentially counteracting the third-person effect’s tendency to create psychological distance from negative information.

Experimental Stimuli

Good News Condition: Mathematics Curriculum Simplification

Participants in the good news condition received a university notice announcing a mathematics curriculum reform for 2024. The notice detailed the integration of three previously separate courses (Probability & Statistics, Linear Algebra, and Calculus) into a single streamlined “University Mathematics” course. This reform reduced the total credit requirement from 6 credits to 3 credits, creating a more efficient learning experience. The new structure maintained comprehensive coverage of all three mathematical modules while optimizing the teaching system. Students would attend 3 classes per week over 18 weeks, totaling 54 classes for the semester.

Bad News Condition: Mathematics Curriculum Expansion

Participants in the bad news condition received a notice announcing the opposite reform. Rather than integration, each of the three mathematics courses (Probability & Statistics, Linear Algebra, and Calculus) would be expanded into separate, more intensive courses. The total credit requirement increased from 6 credits to 9 credits, with each course worth 3 credits individually. Students would be required to take all three courses simultaneously, attending 3 classes per week for each course over 18 weeks. This created a demanding schedule of 9 mathematics classes per week, significantly increasing the academic workload for incoming students.

Research Skills Demonstrated

Experimental Design Expertise

Multi-study approach: Systematic validation of materials, main hypothesis testing, and alternative explanation ruling
Control group implementation: Proper randomization and attention checks across all studies
Material validation: Pre-testing to ensure equivalent utility changes across conditions

Third-person effect measurement: Adaptation of established scales to novel contexts
Mediation analysis: Classical Baron & Kenny approach with Sobel test validation
Moderation testing: Complex interaction effects between message type and media channel

Contemporary Relevance

COVID-19 context application: Examining psychological mechanisms during public health crisis
Digital media integration: Investigating personal mobile phone effects on information processing
Cross-cultural considerations: Study conducted with Chinese university population

Key Findings

Primary Results

Main Effect of Message Type (Paper Media): Good news presented via paper significantly increased involvement compared to bad news (F = 4.380, p < .001). This confirms the hypothesized third-person effect where individuals distance themselves from negative information.

Media Channel Moderation: When news was presented via personal mobile phones, the difference between good and bad news involvement disappeared (F = 8.423, p = .947), supporting the hypothesis that personal device use enhances self-focus and counters psychological distancing.

Mediation Analysis Results: Perceived social distance significantly mediated the relationship between message type and involvement using the Baron & Kenny approach:

Message type significantly predicted involvement (B = -2.208, SE = 0.070, t = -31.454, p < .001)
Message type significantly predicted perceived social distance (B = -1.021, SE = 0.053, t = -19.419, p < .001)
When both predictors were included, social distance effect became non-significant (B = .171, SE = .119, t = 1.433, p = .156)
Sobel test confirmed significant partial mediation (z = -16.162, p < .001)

Alternative Explanation Ruled Out: Experiment 2 confirmed that media size differences did not affect involvement (p = .370), supporting the self-focus explanation for mobile phone effects rather than physical presentation differences.

Theoretical Implications

1. Third-Person Effect Mechanisms Results confirm that people distance themselves from bad news through perceived dissimilarity with affected groups, providing empirical support for the psychological mechanisms underlying the third-person effect.

2. Media Psychology and Self-Focus Findings support recent work showing that personal mobile phone use enhances self-attention, which can counteract typical psychological distancing mechanisms when processing negative information.

3. Social Distance as Mediator The study demonstrates that perceived social distance serves as a key mediating mechanism explaining how message valence affects audience involvement, extending social psychology theory to media consumption contexts.

Practical Applications

Public Health Communication When delivering important negative health information, authorities should consider using personal mobile channels rather than traditional paper media to increase audience engagement and prevent psychological distancing.

Crisis Communication Strategy Organizations should leverage personal digital devices for crisis communications to enhance self-relevance and prevent the third-person effect from reducing message effectiveness.

Media Ethics Considerations The findings raise questions about media practices of amplifying negative news on social media platforms, as this may not achieve intended behavioral change due to psychological distancing mechanisms.

Limitations and Future Research Directions

Current Limitations

Sample Specificity: Study limited to Xiamen University students, reducing generalizability
Media Comparison: Did not test effects of using others’ mobile phones vs. personal devices
Methodological Approach: Used statistical mediation rather than process evidence for mechanism testing
Individual Differences: Small sample size prevented adequate examination of individual difference effects

Future Research Opportunities

1. Boundary Conditions Examine when third-person effects exist versus disappear, particularly investigating how prior experience with negative events (e.g., COVID-19 exposure) affects responses to related bad news.

2. Mobile Phone Mechanisms Investigate specific psychological mechanisms by which personal mobile phone use affects information processing and involvement, potentially through enhanced self-focus or device attachment.

3. Cross-Cultural Validation Replicate findings across different cultural contexts to assess the universality of third-person effect mechanisms and media channel moderators.

4. Real-World Applications Test findings in naturalistic settings with actual health or crisis communications to validate laboratory-based results.

The Impact of Perceived Social Distance and Media Channels on Audience Involvement: A Third-Person Effect Study