Third-Person Effect Survey
The third-person effect survey measures W. Phillips Davison's 1983 observation that people tend to believe persuasive media messages affect other people more than themselves. The perceptual component documents this self–other gap, while the behavioral component tests whether the gap leads people to support censorship, corrective action, or other responses aimed at protecting the supposedly more-influenced others.
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Sources
- Davison, W. P. (1983). The third-person effect in communication. Public Opinion Quarterly, 47(1), 1–15. DOI: 10.1086/268763 ↗
- Sun, Y., Pan, Z., & Shen, L. (2008). Understanding the third-person perception: Evidence from a meta-analysis. Journal of Communication, 58(2), 280–300. DOI: 10.1111/j.1460-2466.2008.00385.x ↗
How to cite this page
ScholarGate. (2026, June 22). Third-Person Effect Survey Methodology. ScholarGate. https://scholargate.app/en/communication/third-person-effect-survey
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