Effects of “In-Your-Face” Television Discourse on Perceptions of a Legitimate Opposition

Abstract

How do Americans acquire the impression that their political foes have some understandable basis for their views, and thus represent a legitimate opposition? How do they come to believe that reasonable people may disagree on any given political controversy? Given that few people talk regularly to those of opposing perspectives, some theorize that mass media, and television in particular, serve as an important source of exposure to the rationales for oppositional views. A series of experimental studies suggests that television does, indeed, have the capacity to encourage greater awareness of oppositional perspectives. However, common characteristics of televised political discourse cause audiences to view oppositional issue perspectives as less legitimate than they would have otherwise. I discuss the broader implications of these findings for assessments of the impact of television on the political process, and for the role that televised political discourse may play in encouraging polarized political views.

Watching Closely

“…Studies have shown that characters depicted in closeups compared to middle-shots evoked higher empathy, care (Cao, 2013) and stronger memory (Mutz, 2007). Mutz also found that closer shots intensified the liking of a positive and disliking of a negative character (Mutz, 2007). It is noteworthy that in Cao's (2013) study empathy was measured by items focussing on perspective-taking (e.g.…”

“…Shot type distribution was found to be a key element in the arousal aspect of film experience (Canini et al, 2011). Studies have shown that characters depicted in closeups compared to middle-shots evoked higher empathy, care (Cao, 2013) and stronger memory (Mutz, 2007). Mutz also found that closer shots intensified the liking of a positive and disliking of a negative character (Mutz, 2007).…”

“…The findings of previous studies are in line with this model. For example, it has been shown that decreased apparent distance increased physiological arousal (Codispoti and De Cesarei, 2007;De Cesarei and Codispoti, 2010;Mutz, 2007), self-reported arousal (Detenber and Reeves, 1996), attention (Reeves, Lang, Kim, and Tatar, 1999), memory (Bellman, Schweda, and Varan, 2009), emotions (De Cesarei and Codispoti, 2006, immersion (Baranowski and Hecht, 2014), and presence (Hou, Nam, Peng, and Lee, 2012;Lombard, Ditton, Grabe, and Reich, 1997;Lombard, Reich, Grabe, Bracken, and Ditton, 2000). Spatial distance also has an impact on character engagement.…”

“…In addition, the way story information is formally constructed has been shown to have an influence on audiences` character engagement (Cao, 2013;Mutz, 2007;Oliver, Dillard, Bae, and Tamul, 2012), however our knowledge is still limited in this regard. Addressing this research gap the present study aims to explore how spatial distance (as a function of shot scale) influences theory of mind responding in viewers of animation films.…”

The Mainstreaming of Verbally Aggressive Online Political Behaviors

“…5,6 The prominence of these tactics has led some to voice concern that these types of programs contribute to the increasingly partisan environment in which people perceive political opponents with disdain. [5][6][7][8][9] Research has shown that watching uncivil programming creates a toxic political environment in which the public loses trust and respect for government institutions and leaders. 8,9 Furthermore, research shows that uncivil media consumption can lead to an increase in the expression of incivility when expressing political opinions.…”