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International Journal of Public Opinion Research 2008 20(3):375-385; doi:10.1093/ijpor/edn031
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© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The World Association for Public Opinion Research. All rights reserved.

Does a Perceptual Discrepancy Lead to Action? A Meta-analysis of the Behavioral Component of the Third-Person Effect

Jie Xu and William J. Gonzenbach

Address correspondence to Jie Xu, Department of Communication, Villanova University, Villanova, PA 19085, USA, E-mail: jie.xu@villanova.edu

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The third-person effect consists of two hypotheses. The perceptual hypothesis states that people assume that communications influence others more than themselves. The behavioral component suggests that people's overestimation of media impact on others lead them to take action or to have some relevant behavioral intentions, perhaps in the hopes to thwart the predicted effects (Peiser & Peter, 2000). The major point of the behavioral component is that the magnitude of third-person perception is a salient, if not the best, predictor of behavioral outcomes.

What energizes practitioners and intrigues researchers is the behavioral hypothesis, which suggests that perceptions can hypothetically influence behavior intentions or even actual behavior. To a certain degree, the hypothesis is vague and simplistic in that it ignores the underlying mechanisms that mediate the perception-behavior relationship. Nonetheless, when considering the practical implication, we can appreciate the possibility that perceptions of effects (especially harmful consequences) on third persons . . . [Full Text of this Article]


   LITERATURE REVIEW
 
PERCEPTUAL COMPONENT OF THE THIRD-PERSON EFFECT
BEHAVIORAL COMPONENT OF THE THIRD-PERSON EFFECT

   METHOD
 

   RESULTS
 
OVERALL EFFECT SIZE
HOMOGENEITY TEST
MODERATOR ANALYSIS

   DISCUSSION
 

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