Conflict or Compatibility: Perceptions of Bias and Influence in News Coverage About Science and Religion

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

Abstract

People vary in how they approach some of life’s core questions, opting for either a religious approach, or looking at life through a scientific lens. These complex worldviews are the focus of this experimental study, which explores how religious and scientific viewpoints influence perceptions of bias in news coverage about the issue.

Consistent with research on the hostile media perception, we find that those with strong preferences for either science or religion perceive news coverage about the issue as biased against them, even as the story is framed (focusing on conflict or compatibility) in terms that might appeal to a particular worldview.

Additionally, this study explores the relationships between perceptions of media influence on others, perceptions of bias, and the negative emotions that might arise from those perceptions. We provide evidence that assuming a story will influence others evokes negative emotions, but this process is mediated through hostile media perceptions.

Authors

• Mallory R Perryman, University of Wisconsin - Madison

• Albert C. Gunther, U of Wisconsin-Madison