PERCEIVED SIMILARITY AND THIRD-PERSON EFFECT: MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE SHOOTING INCIDENT AT VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE AND STATE UNIVERSITY

Abstract

We compared the perceptions of Korean Americans, Koreans in the US, and Koreans in Korea, of the media coverage of the fatal shooting of 32 people at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in April 2007. This comparison was based on the third-person effect, according to which people perceive media coverage to have a greater influence on others than on themselves. Results showed that perception of individuals in the participant groups was that the media coverage had a greater influence on the Korean public in Korea (comparison group) than on themselves in terms of generating negative feelings about Korean Americans and Americans (object groups). In addition, the more that Korean Americans perceived themselves to be similar to the Korean public in Korea, the more they overestimated the influence of the media on the Korean public in Korea.