Examining influences of personal factors on the first- and third-person evaluations of public health issues among young adults.

Both health and the environment are critical public health issues that have a considerable impact on young adults. However, they have different characteristics that influence how messaging is received. In our study, we examine the influence of three personal factors (issue involvement, behavioral change intention, and product use) on young adults' perception of messages for these two public health issues from both first- and third-person perspectives. We found various patterns when comparing the two public health issues, first-person and third-person measures, and the perceived threat and likelihood of contributing to the issues. We also discuss practical implications and suggestions based on our findings.

How scared are Americans of the Zika virus? The role of threat, efficacy, and third-person perception to induce protective behaviors.

This study examines how public perception of threat and efficacy (on self and others) influence their tendency to take preventive action against the Zika virus by surveying 1,152 U.S. adults in Texas and Florida. Findings show that individuals were likely to take protective actions when they: (1) saw a high risk of the disease (high threat) and were confident about their ability to reduce the danger (high efficacy); and (2) perceived others as having a high risk (high threat), but lacked the ability to reduce the danger (low efficacy). Further, the study discusses practical implications for the design of public health campaigns.

Bottom-up actions: Examining perceived influence of pandemic news, information relevance, perceived media credibility, and pro-community participation.

Objective: When hyper-infectious diseases sweep over the world, pro-community participation has been found to effectively curb the spread of viruses. This study explores the associations among media-related perceptions and media users' pro-community participation during the peak of the 2022 COVID-19 outbreaks in China. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 976 Chinese media users in April 2022 to collect data on their pro-community participation and perceptions of pandemic news influence, information relevance, and credibility of traditional media and social media. Hierarchical regression analyses were run to analyze the associations between these perceptual variables and pro-community participation. Results: The findings revealed that information relevance was positively associated with perceived news influence on oneself and pro-community participation. Perceived credibility of traditional media was positively associated with perceived news influence on both oneself and others. Perceived credibility of social media was positively associated with perceived news influence on others. Additionally, perceived credibility of traditional media positively moderated the association between information relevance and perceived news influence on others. Conclusions: Information relevance and perceived media credibility play significant roles in shaping media user' perceptions of news influence and their subsequent pro-community behaviors. Higher perceived media credibility can produce a broader impact on perceived news influence on both media users themselves and others, highlighting its importance in public health communication strategies. These insights can inform media practices and public health policies to enhance community participation during public health crises.

The impact of third-person effect on social networking sites privacy risks and protective measures adoption among Yemeni students in Malaysia.

This investigation utilized the Third-Person Effect (TPE) theory to comprehend how individuals perceive the impact of Social Networking Sites (SNS) privacy risks on themselves versus others. The TPE theory posits that individuals tend to believe that media messages, particularly negative ones, exert a diminished or negligible influence on themselves but wield a substantial impact on others. First introduced by Davison in 1983, this theory has historically been employed to examine perceived negative influences in media content, such as stereotyping and pornography. The current study focuses on the perceptions of individuals regarding the influence of SNS privacy risks, specifically among Yemeni students in Malaysia. The study aimed to achieve three primary objectives: Firstly, to investigate whether individuals perceive SNS privacy risks as affecting others more than themselves. Secondly, to examine the connection between the difference in perceived risk between oneself and others and the likelihood of recommending SNS privacy protective measures to others, and Thirdly, to evaluate the relationship between the difference in perceived risk between oneself and others and the likelihood of adopting SNS privacy protective measures for oneself. Through judgmental sampling, a total of 387 participants took part in the study, involving the distribution of an online questionnaire as the primary data collection instrument. The results of the study indicate a pronounced Third-Person Effect concerning SNS privacy risks among Yemeni students. Additionally, the study revealed that these students not only recommended privacy-protective measures to others but did not adopt the same measures for themselves. In summary, the findings support the validity of the Third-Person Effect (TPE) theory in the context of SNS privacy risks, suggesting that individuals tend to perceive the impact more on others than on themselves when experiencing fear.

TikTok as a Source of Health Information and Misinformation for Young Women in the United States: Survey Study.

BACKGROUND: TikTok is one of the most-used and fastest-growing social media platforms in the world, and recent reports indicate that it has become an increasingly popular source of news and information in the United States. These trends have important implications for public health because an abundance of health information exists on the platform. Women are among the largest group of TikTok users in the United States and may be especially affected by the dissemination of health information on TikTok. Prior research has shown that women are not only more likely to look for information on the internet but are also more likely to have their health-related behaviors and perceptions affected by their involvement with social media. OBJECTIVE: We conducted a survey of young women in the United States to better understand their use of TikTok for health information as well as their perceptions of TikTok's health information and health communication sources. METHODS: A web-based survey of US women aged 18 to 29 years (N=1172) was conducted in April-May 2023. The sample was recruited from a Qualtrics research panel and 2 public universities in the United States. RESULTS: The results indicate that the majority of young women in the United States who have used TikTok have obtained health information from the platform either intentionally (672/1026, 65.5%) or unintentionally (948/1026, 92.4%). Age (959/1026, 93.47%; r=0.30; P<.001), education (959/1026, 93.47%; ρ=0.10; P=.001), and TikTok intensity (ie, participants' emotional connectedness to TikTok and TikTok's integration into their daily lives; 959/1026, 93.47%; r=0.32; P<.001) were positively correlated with overall credibility perceptions of the health information. Nearly the entire sample reported that they think that misinformation is prevalent on TikTok to at least some extent (1007/1026, 98.15%), but a third-person effect was found because the young women reported that they believe that other people are more susceptible to health misinformation on TikTok than they personally are (t1025=21.16; P<.001). Both health professionals and general users were common sources of health information on TikTok: 93.08% (955/1026) of the participants indicated that they had obtained health information from a health professional, and 93.86% (963/1026) indicated that they had obtained health information from a general user. The respondents showed greater preference for health information from health professionals (vs general users; t1025=23.75; P<.001); the respondents also reported obtaining health information from health professionals more often than from general users (t1025=8.13; P<.001), and they were more likely to act on health information from health professionals (vs general users; t1025=12.74; P<.001). CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that health professionals and health communication scholars need to proactively consider using TikTok as a platform for disseminating health information to young women because young women are obtaining health information from TikTok and prefer information from health professionals.

Perceived offensiveness to the self, not that to others, is a robust positive predictor of support of censoring sexual, alcoholic, and violent media content.

Introduction: Harm and offense are two important notions in legal discussions on the extent to which one's freedom may be limited. Prior research on the third-person effect found that perceived media harm on others, not perceived media harm on the self, is a robust positive predictor of support of censoring socially undesirable media content (e.g., pornography). In comparison, how offensiveness perceptions predict censorship support is not clear. Drawing on moral foundations theory, we test here how perceived media offensiveness to the self compared with 1) perceived media offensiveness to others and 2) perceived media harm on others would predict censorship support. Method: We conducted two cross-sectional survey studies in the U.S. to address this question with sexual, alcoholic, and violent media content as test cases. In Study 1 (N = 544 undergraduates), we measured perceived media offensiveness to the self, that to others, and censorship support. In Study 2 (N = 727 non-student adults), we also measured perceived media harm on the self and others. Results: As in prior research, we found that people perceive sexual, alcoholic, and violent media content to harm other viewers more strongly than it harms themselves, and the perception of how much others are harmed predicts perceivers' censorship support. In contrast, while people also perceive the three types of media content to offend other viewers more strongly than they offend the self, the perception of how much others are offended predicts censorship support to a significantly lesser extent or does not predict this at all. Instead, the perception of how much the self is offended does. Discussion: These findings add to the work on moral foundations theory that distinguishes between how the care/harm and sanctity/degradation foundations relate to moral judgments. These findings also suggest that the current theorizing of the third-person effect needs to expand to reconcile the seemingly inconsistent results on how harm and offensiveness perceptions differently relate to censorship support. The care/harm and sanctity/degradation foundations may underlie how harm and offensiveness perceptions predict censorship support. However, several "anomalous" findings need to be accounted for before moral foundations provide a comprehensive explanation of the third-person effect.

Exposure to Healthy Weight Information on Short-Form Video Applications to Acquire Healthy Weight-Control Behaviors: A Serial Mediation Model.

This study explored the effects of Chinese college students' (20-34 years old) exposure to healthy weight information on short-form video applications on their intention to acquire healthy weight-control behaviors (reducing high-fat diet intake, accessing physical activity to control body weight, etc.). Specifically, this study investigated the direct and mediated effect on such a relationship via healthy weight awareness, the first-person effect, and perceived herd. The data were collected using a web-based survey and thoroughly tested questionnaire with a sample of 380 Chinese college students. Hierarchical regression, parallel mediation, and serial mediation analysis were applied to test the hypotheses. The results indicated that healthy weight awareness, first-person effect, and perceived herd all played mediator roles that induced the relationship between Chinese college students' exposure to healthy weight information and their intention to acquire healthy weight-control behaviors. In addition, healthy weight awareness and the first-person effect sequentially mediated this relationship.

I've Got a Girl Crush: Parents' Responses to Stories about Sexuality in Children's Television.

People harbor unique biases about the relative influence of popular media on themselves compared to others. Broadly, they expect others to experience greater harm from exposure to negative depictions (e.g., violent content) and to derive fewer benefits from exposure to positive depictions (e.g., educational content). The current experiment examined if these biases impact how parents monitor their children's television exposure, specifically programs about same-sex attraction. Parents (N = 702) watched a cartoon about a young girl who expresses romantic interest in another girl. Although biases emerged with regard to parents' beliefs that this content would harm or benefit their own (vs. other) children, these biases did not influence their monitoring intentions. Instead, parents with conservative (vs. liberal) attitudes perceived the show as more threatening and less valuable for all children, which enhanced their desire to criticize, restrict, and censor that content.

Communicating Air Quality Index Information: Effects of Different Styles on Individuals' Risk Perception and Precaution Intention.

Air Quality Index (AQI) is information about atmospheric pollutants, which is essential for governments to inform the public about the current air quality and potential health risks. By analyzing the AQIs from 11 countries (regions), we discovered considerable variations in the design of AQI information, which may open up room for unintended interpretation from the public. Therefore, as an attempt to address the inefficiency of some common styles of AQI information in promoting the public's precaution against bad air and better design such information, an online experiment with a 2 (descriptor: neutral vs. negatively valenced) × 2 (target groups in AQI warning messages: vague vs. specific) factorial design was conducted to test the effects of such information on individuals' risk perception and precaution intention. The results indicated that AQI information with a neutral descriptor was associated with lower self-risk perception and precaution intention levels than with a negatively valenced one. Among the individuals not included in the at-risk groups, those who read the warning messages with vague target groups had a higher third-person perception toward smog risk than those targeting specific population groups. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.

Throwing Shade at Cyrus: Willingness to Censor Teen Homosexuality in Disney's Andi Mack.

The inclusion of a gay 13-year-old main character (Cyrus Goodman) on the Disney television series Andi Mack prompted social conservatives to call for the show's cancellation due to the alleged negative impact that Cyrus would have on the show's child audience. The present study explored individuals' support for the censorship of television portrayals of teen homosexuality in a sample of 232 United States residents who viewed clips from the series detailing Cyrus' storyline. Results found that censorship support was explained by homonegativity, conservative ideology, and authoritarianism, as well as perceptions that such depictions have a negative impact on the self and others. Response surface modeling also found evidence for a severity third-person effect (others more negatively impacted than the self) being related to increased censorship support. Directions for future research on the role of authoritarianism and sexual orientation beliefs in willingness to censor depictions of homosexuality are discussed.

Digital Disinformation About COVID-19 and the Third-Person Effect: Examining the Channel Differences and Negative Emotional Outcomes.

Expanding third-person effect (TPE) research to digital disinformation, this article investigates the impact of COVID-19 digital fake news exposure on individuals' perceived susceptibility of influence on themselves, their close others, and their distant others. Findings from a survey of 511 Chinese respondents suggest that, overall, individuals would perceive themselves to be less vulnerable than close others and distant others to the impact of COVID-19 digital disinformation. The highest self-other perceptual discrepancy is found when individuals receive disinformation on mobile social networking apps. Also, individuals who practice more active fact-checking perceive themselves to be less susceptible. The perception of disinformation effects on self as well as the self-other perceptual discrepancy is both positively related to emotional responses (anxiety, fear, and worry) to the COVID-19 pandemic. This study contributes to existing research by linking exposure to disinformation in different digital channels, the TPEs, and emotional outcomes in the context of a public health crisis. It also highlights the importance of educating and enabling fact-checking behaviors on digital media, which could help to reduce negative emotional impact of the disinformation.

Who Will be a Bystander? An Exploratory Study of First-Person Perception Effects on Campus Bystander Behavioral Intentions.

Purpose: The purpose was to explore the underlying mechanisms that drive relationships between knowledge, attitudes and intervening bystander behavior to improve bystander violence prevention program effectiveness. Perceptual effects theory was used to understand third-person and first-person perceptions (TPP and FPP) as related to bystander intervention programs and to what extent perceptual gaps influence one's intention to intervene. Methods: A web-based survey was conducted with 379 undergraduate students recruited from a large, Northeastern University. The survey covered demographics, previous bystander training, self-efficacy to engage in bystander behavior, social desirability of bystander intervention training programs, and perceived effects on self and others. Participants indicated how they would act in six hypothetical dating violence/bullying and sexual violence scenarios, and how they thought an average student on campus would act. Perceived ambiguity and risk for each of the scenarios were also measured. Results: Descriptive statistics, paired-sample t-tests, and multilevel model analyses were conducted. Results showed that a robust first-person perception effect existed (i.e., the student perceived themselves being more influenced by bystander interventions/messages than their peers). The magnitude of FPP was increased by sex (significantly larger gap among female students) and previous training. Conclusions: Results show promise to further tailor and refine bystander interventions and provide directions to improve program effectiveness. Despite study limitations, the results indicate the first-person effect warrants further consideration for programming and messaging. Tailoring bystander training or repeated exposure may increase bystander behaviors. More research is needed to fully uncover TPP/FPP effects, predictors, and impacts on bystander intervention programs.

The relationship between sexual sensation seeking and problematic Internet pornography use: A moderated mediation model examining roles of online sexual activities and the third-person effect.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Internet pornography consumption is prevalent among college students and problematic for some, yet little is known regarding the psychological constructs underlying problematic Internet pornography use (PIPU). Drawing on the Interaction of Person-Affect-Cognition-Execution model, this study tested a model that sexual sensation seeking (SSS) would impact PIPU through online sexual activities (OSAs) and that this relationship would be influenced by the third-person effect (TPE; a social cognitive bias relating to perceived impacts on others as compared to oneself) in a gender-sensitive manner. METHODS: A total of 808 Chinese college students (age range: 17-22 years, 57.7% male) were recruited and surveyed. RESULTS: Men scored higher than women on OSAs and PIPU and on each scale's component factors. The relationship between SSS and PIPU was mediated by OSAs, and the TPE moderated this relationship: the predictive path (SSS to PIPU) was significant only in participants with high TPE. The moderated mediation model was not invariant across gender groups, with data suggesting that it accounted for a greater proportion of the variance in men as compared with women. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that SSS may operate through participation in OSAs to lead to PIPU, and this relationship is particularly relevant for college-aged males scoring high on the TPE. These findings have implications for individuals who might be particularly vulnerable to developing PIPU and for guiding educational efforts and targeting interventions in college-aged students. The extent to which these findings extend to other age groups and cultures warrants further examination.

Is Support of Censoring Controversial Media Content for the Good of Others? Sexual Strategies and Support of Censoring Pro-Alcohol Advertising.

At least in the United States, there are widespread concerns with advertising that encourages alcohol consumption, and previous research explains those concerns as aiming to protect others from the harm of excessive alcohol use.1 Drawing on sexual strategies theory, we hypothesized that support of censoring pro-alcohol advertising is ultimately self-benefiting regardless of its altruistic effect at a proximate level. Excessive drinking positively correlates with having casual sex, and casual sex threatens monogamy, one of the major means with which people adopting a long-term sexual strategy increase their inclusive fitness. Then, one way for long-term strategists to protect monogamy, and thus their reproductive interest is to support censoring pro-alcohol advertising, thereby preventing others from becoming excessive drinkers (and consequently having casual sex) under media influence. Supporting this hypothesis, three studies consistently showed that restricted sociosexuality positively correlated with support of censoring pro-alcohol advertising before and after various value-, ideological-, and moral-foundation variables were controlled for. Also as predicted, Study 3 revealed a significant indirect effect of sociosexuality on censorship support through perceived media influence on others but not through perceived media influence on self. These findings further supported a self-interest analysis of issue opinions, extended third-person-effect research on support of censoring pro-alcohol advertising, and suggested a novel approach to analyzing media censorship support.

Weight-gain misperceptions and the third-person effect in Black and White college-bound females: potential implications for healthy weight management.

Elements of social norm theory and communication theory on the third-person effect may prove useful in efforts to prevent excessive weight gain among emerging adults entering college. The present study explored the associations of race/ethnicity and BMI status with these socio-cognitive factors that may affect first-year weight regulation in a sample of Black (N = 247) and White (N = 94) college-bound females. Participants completed an online survey assessing first-year weight-gain perceived norms along with weight-change expectations and concerns. Results provided evidence of the persistence of the myth of the "Freshman 15", belief in the typicality of gaining weight during the first year of college, and significant concern about first-year weight gain. Initial findings further revealed a robust third-person effect whereby despite nearly 90% of the sample endorsing that first-year weight gain was common, only 12% expected they would experience weight gain. Main effects of race/ethnicity, BMI status, and their interaction further uncovered distinct patterns of findings. Preliminary results highlight the need for college health officials at both predominantly White as well as minority-serving institutions to adequately address the significant concern over first-year weight gain in conjunction with the desire to lose weight expressed by an appreciable number of incoming college females. Findings also advocate the utility of evaluating social norm theory and the third-person perceptual bias in the context of first-year weight gain to potentially enhance the design and effectiveness of healthy weight management initiatives among ethnically-diverse young women entering college.