Emotional Influences on News Processing: The Effects of Pride and Shame on Attention

• In Event: ICA Plenary Interactive Paper/Poster Session and Reception
  In Interactive Paper Session: Mass Communication Interactive Poster Session

Abstract

Very few studies researched the effects of individuals’ discrete emotions, such as pride and shame, on information processing, in general, and attention in particular. Therefore, using the limited capacity model, the present study examined the relationships between discrete emotions (pride and shame) and attention to mediated messages. Attention was conceptualized as memory recall. The study also investigated the role of self-esteem as a mediator and need for cognition as a moderator of the relationships between pride, shame, and attention to mediated messages. An experimental design was used and participants were college students from a northeastern university in the U.S. Data was collected through an Internet survey service. The results demonstrated that pride positively influenced participants’ performance in the memory-recall task, whereas shame negatively influenced memory recall. Self-esteem mediated the relationship between pride and attention, and shame and attention, and need for cognition moderated the relationship between shame and attention.

Authors

• Amna Al-Abri, University of Connecticut

• Anne Marie Borsai, University of Connecticut

• Sara Picklesimer, University of Connecticut