TY - JOUR
T1 - Subconscious Gatekeeping
T2 - The Effect of Death Thoughts on Bias Toward Outgroups in News Writing
AU - Cuillier, David
PY - 2012/1
Y1 - 2012/1
N2 - This study contributes to gatekeeping theory by examining the importance of individual-level subconscious psychological factors in news story fact selection, specifically whether the thought of death increases biased writing toward outgroups. An experiment (N = 79), based on terror management theory from social psychology, indicated that college journalists primed to think about death injected into their news stories 66% more negative facts toward a rival university than those in a control condition. Implications for mass media research, particularly individual-level psychological factors overriding routine gatekeeping forces, are discussed.
AB - This study contributes to gatekeeping theory by examining the importance of individual-level subconscious psychological factors in news story fact selection, specifically whether the thought of death increases biased writing toward outgroups. An experiment (N = 79), based on terror management theory from social psychology, indicated that college journalists primed to think about death injected into their news stories 66% more negative facts toward a rival university than those in a control condition. Implications for mass media research, particularly individual-level psychological factors overriding routine gatekeeping forces, are discussed.
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U2 - 10.1080/15205436.2011.568317
DO - 10.1080/15205436.2011.568317
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84855915245
SN - 1520-5436
VL - 15
SP - 4
EP - 24
JO - Mass Communication and Society
JF - Mass Communication and Society
IS - 1
ER -