Abstract Affective polarization has been primarily studied as a phenomenon between partisans. Recently, Hobolt, Leeper, & Tilley (2021) showed in the context of Brexit that affective can also materialize around opinion-based groups, is, political identities form extraordinary issues and cut through partisan lines. We generalize their findings by documenting emergence new conflict national low discord. Specifically, we study divisions government response to COVID-19 pandemic Germany,...

People with mental disorders such as schizophrenia do not only suffer from the symptoms of their but also stigma attached to it. Although direct intergroup contact is an effective tool reduce stigmatization, it rare in real life and costly be established interventions, success traditional media campaigns debatable. We propose Virtual Reality (VR) a low-threshold alternative for establishing since involves less barriers affected unaffected persons. In 2 + 1 experiment (n = 114), we compared...

Journal Article Bridging Segregation Via Media Exposure? Ingroup Identification, Outgroup Distance, and Low Direct Contact Reduce Appearance in Repertoires Get access David Schieferdecker, Schieferdecker 1Institute for Communication Studies, University of Mannheim, 68159 Germany Search other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Hartmut Wessler Communication, Volume 67, Issue 6, 1 December 2017, Pages 993–1014, https://doi.org/10.1111/jcom.12338 Published: 02 November 2017

ABSTRACT Objective In times of societal crises, it is pivotal to understand and share others' feelings. Yet, the role empathy in fostering prosocial responses during crises has not gained enough attention. Our study uses onset Russia's war on Ukraine examine three key questions: (1) Is related attitudes toward pro‐refugee policies? (2) Does correlate with a higher tolerance for diverse opinions refugee (3) linked perceived interpersonal closeness social in‐ outgroups, including refugees?...

Abstract Background At present, evidence is inconclusive regarding what factors influence vaccine intent, and whether there are widespread disparities across populations time. The current study provides new insights intent potential differences 23 countries over Methods Our data come from a unique longitudinal survey that contains responses Facebook users (N=1,425,172) the four continents collected in 18 waves July 2020 through March 2021. Results We find varies significantly Across...

In many countries, intense political contestation unfolded around the question of how Sars-CoV-2 should be contained. this case study, I try to understand why members German public came vastly differing judgements on containment policies. summer 2020, conducted 48 semi-structured interviews investigate respondents' belief systems, attitude structures, and communicative practices. found that disparate policy preferences were partly based incompatible interpretations crisis went hand in with...

Abstract Russia’s war on Ukraine came as a shock to the Western world. In this context, study of public opinion change is crucial for understanding dynamics political attitudes and societal polarization. Using Germany an exemplary case study, we investigate how changed regarding defense, energy supply, migration three policy domains in first year war. representative eight-wave online panel survey map general population among supporters different parties, tracing their development over time....

Segmented media audiences often reflect deeper divides within a society. As the relationship between race and class is dynamically changing in South Africa, I investigate to what extent students from different racialised socio-economic backgrounds differ their consumption habits. conducted survey (n = 1221) two focus group interviews (N 14) at relatively integrated prestigious university. Bi- multivariate analysis revealed that both background genuinely affected formation of Students all...

Abstract Prior research has suggested three explanations why levels of voluntary engagement rise and fall over time within societies. A social structural explanation considers individual resources crucial for argues that a redistribution those may bring about changes in engagement. cohort-based socialisation experiences formative years as the uptake Finally, period-based extraordinary events, external shocks, crises to be So far, these have mainly been tested separately little is known...

Mediated intergroup contact can reduce recipients’ prejudice. However, prior studies have mainly examined the effects of carefully selected stimuli, contents, and genres. We investigated whether outgroup exposure on level real-life, multi-channel media diets is associated with reduced Prior scholarship offers contradictory expectations: tested this survey data from South Africa where numeric group constellation system should make blatant stereotyping in traditional less likely. While social...

When media users are exposed to the suffering of distant others, they often deeply moved and feel urge help. Yet, tend stay passive. Communication scholars have not produced a sufficient succinct understanding this gap between media-induced awareness behavioral non-response. Our knowledge is dispersed across (a) interpretative audience reception studies on mediated (b) post-positivist effects research persuasion processes attitude-action-gaps. By synthesizing work from both traditions, I...

Transnational solidarity is essential during global crises, particularly for resource-deprived countries. This study investigated whether messages about rising COVID−19 infections in the Global South can raise awareness and trigger among audiences North an acute domestic crisis. Moreover, it tested effects depend on message framing. In two 2 + 1 experiments first months of pandemic, participants from Germany were exposed to that informed them India. I found exposure made threat population...

ABSTRACT High and rising levels of economic inequality come at a tremendous cost to societies, yet the public is often hesitant confront these inequalities. Prior research has attempted explain this paradox, pointing how it driven by individuals' misperceptions extent inequality, broader narratives that justify distrust in government intervention redistribution. These beliefs attitudes are not simply reflection individual predispositions; they also product societal debates. The limited...

Abstract Scholars have called to study how social cohesion is discursively negotiated and produced in communication behavior. However, empirical evidence remains scarce. In this study, we investigate what extent civil society organizations (CSOs), part of the backbone integration modern democracies, make references their public self-portrayals. We develop a standardized measure for content analyzing manifestation along three theoretical dimensions: relations, connectedness, orientation...

Trust in governmental communication is critical to the successful containment of public health crises. However, highly politicised crises, trust varies as a function partisanship. This research report examines relationship between political preferences and during Covid-19 pandemic Germany. We pay particular attention interaction (a) different dimensions vulnerability virus (b) distrust rooted partisan preferences. Using original data from representative, four-wave online survey conducted...

Despite the abundance of literature on vaccine hesitancy, how public opinion changes during and after authorization a new remains an open question. The COVID-19 pandemic offers unique case since development roll-out first generation vaccines happened at unprecedented speed. To understand public’s intent to get vaccinated changed around emergency authorizations vaccines, we ran secondary analysis survey data that consisted rolling cross-sections Facebook users in 23 countries (N = 375,627)...