Political Online Information Searching Before the 2013 German Federal Election: Confirmation Bias, Source Credibility, and Attitude Impacts

• In Event: Political Information Online: Its Content and Consequences

Abstract

Before the 2013 German federal election, 121 participants completed a two-session online study. They browsed online search results pertaining to four political issues while selective exposure was unobtrusively measured. In a 4x2x2 (topic x issue stance x source credibility) within-subjects design, the search results indicated either issue support or opposition, associated with low- or high-credibility sources. Hypotheses were derived from cognitive dissonance, approach-avoidance, and motivated cognition models. Findings yielded a confirmation bias. Participants with high attitude importance spent more time on content from low-credibility sources than participants with low or medium attitude importance. Attitude-consistent exposure uniformly reinforced attitudes; attitude-discrepant exposure uniformly weakened attitudes. Analyses with parallel U.S. data showed a stronger confirmation bias in the U.S. than in Germany.

Authors

• Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick, Ohio State U

• Cornelia Mothes, Ohio State University

• Benjamin K. Johnson, VU U

• Axel Westerwick, Ohio State U

• Wolfgang Donsbach, Technical U - Dresden