Third-Person Effect Symposium in latest Mass Communication and Society

Over half of the October-December 2008 issue of Mass Communication and Society (Volume 11, Number 4) is devoted to third-person effect research. The special symposium is edited by Stephen A. Banning.

"This special symposium section not only celebrates the third-person effect/perception, examining where the hypothesis is today, it seeks to push boundaries and cause scholars to question what avenues are yet to be explored. With this purpose in mind, four articles are presented. Jeffres, Neuendorf, Bracken and Atkin look at evidence that theories of third-person perception, agenda-setting, and cultivation can be interrelated and reveal how the third-person effect may interface with a panoply of other communication theories. Boyle, Schmierbach, and McLeod cast a critical eye on measurements of the third-person effect, testing the effectiveness of the diamond model against more common measures with surprising results. Frederick and Neuwirth examine new possibilities in regard to the second-person effect, applying the second-person effect to public relations theory. Golan and Day look at the first-person effect in a different light than previous researchers, suggesting it may be more than just the opposite of the third-person effect." --Stephen A. Banning, from the Symposium Introduction

The issue is available online from the Library web.