The Combined Impact of News Coverage of Outgroups on Outgroup Derogation and Ingroup Favoritism

• In Event: News, Politics, and Stereotyped Portrayals

Abstract

Previous research on racially biased portrayals of minorities in the news has so far concentrated on assessing the impact of news coverage on evaluations of outgroups among members of the ingroup. Drawing from findings in social psychology, we argue that media coverage on outgroups should also lead to effects on ingroup evaluation. In an experiment we, therefore, investigate the impact of positive and negative news portrayals of Russians in Switzerland as an outgroup on attitudes toward that group and attitudes toward the ingroup (i.e., the Swiss). The results indicate that negative outgroup depictions in the news increase outgroup devaluation while positive portrayals of the outgroup improve the image of the social group. Additionally, negative and positive portrayals of Russians boost ingroup attitudes as compared to a control group. The findings are discussed against the background of intergroup relations theories.

Authors

• Christian Schemer, University of Mainz

• Philipp Mueller, U of Mainz