This study represents the first cross-cultural investigation of the third person effect hypothesis, which states that individuals overestimate mass media effect on others (Davidson, 1983). It is predicted that the difference between perceived effects of the media on self vs. other will be greater in an individualistic than collectivistic culture, because in the latter self and other are not as separate and the motivation for self-enhancement is not as salient as in the former. Survey data were collected from 671 South Korean (n=351) and U.S. (n=320) college students regarding their perceptions about the effects of beer commercials, liquor advertisements, television news about AIDS, and television news about the effects of smoking. The third person effect of undesirable media content emerged from both American and Korean samples, but the size was consistently greater among Americans compared to Koreans. Likewise, the first person effect was greater among Americans rather than Koreans.
Cited by (18)
Cited by 18 other publications
Moser, Klaus, Karsten I. Paul, Roman Soucek, Anett Eskofier, Nathalie Galais & Ali B. Mahmoud
2024. The first-person effect. A reconsideration of two meta-analyses. PLOS ONE 19:12 ► pp. e0311155 ff.
Moser, Klaus, Roman Soucek, Nathalie Galais, Karsten I Paul & George Gunnesch-Luca
2024. The first-person effect: A test of the reflection hypothesis. International Journal of Public Opinion Research 37:1
Wei, Ran, Zongya Li, Ven-Hwei Lo & Xiaodong Yang
2024. A Cross-Cultural Study of the Role of Efficacious Beliefs and Perceived Media Effects on Threat Perception in Predicting COVID-19 Compliance in China and the United States. Media Psychology 27:2 ► pp. 271 ff.
Zheng, Xia & Yanqin Lu
2023. Don’t you know it’s risky and influential? Antecedents and consequences of perceived fake news risks and influences. The Social Science Journal► pp. 1 ff.
Dohle, Marco, Ole Kelm, Uli Bernhard & Björn Klein
2021. Interplay between media-related perceptions and perceptions of hostility in international conflicts: Results from a study of German and Greek citizens. International Communication Gazette 83:6 ► pp. 567 ff.
Cingel, Drew P. & Supreet Mann
2020. Influence of Social Context on Media Selection and Use. In The International Encyclopedia of Media Psychology, ► pp. 1 ff.
Ramasubramanian, Srividya & Omotayo O Banjo
2020. Critical Media Effects Framework: Bridging Critical Cultural Communication and Media Effects through Power, Intersectionality, Context, and Agency. Journal of Communication 70:3 ► pp. 379 ff.
Detenber, Benjamin H. & Sonny Rosenthal
2017. Public Support for Censorship in a Highly Regulated Media Environment: The Influence of Self-Construal and Third-Person Perception Over Time. International Journal of Public Opinion Research► pp. edw029 ff.
Eisend, Martin
2017. The Third-Person Effect in Advertising: A Meta-Analysis. Journal of Advertising 46:3 ► pp. 377 ff.
Zhang, Jinguang
2017. Is Support of Censoring Controversial Media Content for the Good of Others? Sexual Strategies and Support of Censoring Pro-Alcohol Advertising. Evolutionary Psychology 15:4
Zhang, Jinguang
2023. Perceived offensiveness to the self, not that to others, is a robust positive predictor of support of censoring sexual, alcoholic, and violent media content. Frontiers in Psychology 14
Hong, Seong Choul
2015. Do Cultural Values Matter? A Cross-Cultural Study of the Third-Person Effect and Support for the Regulation of Violent Video Games. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 46:7 ► pp. 964 ff.
Hong, Seong Choul
2020. Presumed Effects of “Fake News” on the Global Warming Discussion in a Cross-Cultural Context. Sustainability 12:5 ► pp. 2123 ff.
Park, Sun-A & Jeesun Kim
2013. Social categorization and cross-cultural exploration of the third-person effect: Perceived impact of North Korea's nuclear test on the self and comparison targets. Studies in Communication Sciences 13:1 ► pp. 50 ff.
Pan, Po-Lin, Juan Meng & Shuhua Zhou
2012. Examining Third-Person Perceptions in the Context of Sexually Oriented Advertising. Journal of Promotion Management 18:2 ► pp. 189 ff.
Shin, Dong-Hee & Jun Kyo Kim
2011. Alcohol Product Placements and the Third-Person Effect. Television & New Media 12:5 ► pp. 412 ff.
Huck, Inga & Hans-Bernd Brosius
2007. Der Third-Person-Effekt — Über den vermuteten Einfluss der Massenmedien. Publizistik 52:3 ► pp. 355 ff.
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