Intergenerational Stereotypes and Perceptions of Others’ Vulnerability to the Influence of Media

• In Event: Exemplars, Stereotypes, Stigmas in Media

Abstract

Since the publication of Davison’s seminal work about the third-person effect (TPE) in 1983, scholars have been interested on people’s media perceptions and their behavioural consequences. Traditionally, research on TPE has used survey as method, and has focused on the different factors and variables that can impact on people’s perceptions about the influence of media. However, the present research uses focus group as a method to measure to what extend people perceive a different between the impact of media on oneself and on the other. We performed four focus groups with young people and four with adult people in different cities in Spain. The results show that TPE emerged spontaneously. Young people perceived adults as being more vulnerable to media effects because of their lack of knowledge, and on the contrary adult people perceived young people as being more vulnerable because of their lack of experience. The study also shows how critical perspectives about media manipulation persist across generations. Participants also propose corrective strategies to compensate the influence of media, such as guiding children in interpreting media contents.

Author

• Frederic Guerrero Sole, Universitat Pompeu Fabra de Barcelona