Citation

Magee RG, Kalyanaraman S. Media Psychol. 2009; 12(2): 171-194.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/15213260902849919

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Individual differences in media effects research have yielded a trove of insights into how media content can have varying effects. One such variable is worldview?a philosophy of life that enables a person to make sense of one's experience?but the notion has largely been unexamined in media effects research. A person's worldview can moderate the way a persuasive message is processed?sometimes in the opposite direction of that intended by communicators. Building on the construct of worldview and terror management theory, two experiments (N = 149 and N = 151) examined the question with worldview as a measured variable and mortality salience as a two-level factor. Worldview had a main effect on global evaluations of ads, as participants who tended toward a relativist worldview had lower evaluations of the ads and lower behavioral intentions, while participants who tended toward a positivist worldview had higher evaluations of the ads and higher behavioral intentions. Also, mortality salience was found to moderate participants' worldview, presumably making their worldview more accessible to exert a greater influence. The importance of worldview as a construct in media effects research, as well as theoretical implications for persuasion and terror management theory, are discussed.
Individual differences in media effects research have yielded a trove of insights into how media content can have varying effects. One such variable is worldview?a philosophy of life that enables a person to make sense of one's experience?but the notion has largely been unexamined in media effects research. A person's worldview can moderate the way a persuasive message is processed?sometimes in the opposite direction of that intended by communicators. Building on the construct of worldview and terror management theory, two experiments (N = 149 and N = 151) examined the question with worldview as a measured variable and mortality salience as a two-level factor. Worldview had a main effect on global evaluations of ads, as participants who tended toward a relativist worldview had lower evaluations of the ads and lower behavioral intentions, while participants who tended toward a positivist worldview had higher evaluations of the ads and higher behavioral intentions. Also, mortality salience was found to moderate participants' worldview, presumably making their worldview more accessible to exert a greater influence. The importance of worldview as a construct in media effects research, as well as theoretical implications for persuasion and terror management theory, are discussed.