El efecto tercera persona en la campaña electoralAnálisis desde la perspectiva de la conformidad superior del yo

Resumo

The tendency for individuals to perceive a lesser impact of media messages on oneself than on others (third-person effect) has been explained in attribution theory as a self-serving bias contradictory with the false consensus effect. In this study an explanation of the third-person effect based on the superior conformity of self behavior or "primus inter pares" effect is tested. Cialdini's (1985) principles of persuasion were taken to construct six sets of items tapping different types of media content in the electoral campaign. 419 young voters answered the questionnaire rating the impact on self and other. Comparison others varied on three conditions: young people who vote the same party as self; average young people, or young people who vote the contrary party to the one voted by self. Results confirmed a primus inter pares effect. There was a direct relationship between the perceived influence on self and the perceived influence on others. A third-person effect was found in all the types of messages except in the one based on consistency. It was also found that the less normative the media content, the more pronounced was the effect. Finally, perceived self-other differences varied in terms of comparison others.