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Is the news making us unhappy? The influence of daily news exposure on emotional states
Author(s) -
Hoog Natascha,
Verboon Peter
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
british journal of psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.536
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 2044-8295
pISSN - 0007-1269
DOI - 10.1111/bjop.12389
Subject(s) - psychology , neuroticism , affect (linguistics) , extraversion and introversion , personality , relevance (law) , perception , social psychology , big five personality traits , developmental psychology , clinical psychology , communication , neuroscience , political science , law
There is evidence that exposure to negative news is making people feel bad, but not much is known about why this only affects some people or whether this also applies to everyday news exposure. This study examined the direct and indirect effects of daily news exposure on people's affective states. Using ecological momentary assessment (EMA), 63 respondents (24 men and 39 women) reported their news exposure and affective states five times a day for 10 days. In addition, personal relevance of the news and personality characteristics, neuroticism and extraversion, were assessed. Results showed that negative news perceptions were related to more negative affect and less positive affect, and these effects were moderated by personal relevance, but not personality characteristics. The implications of these outcomes are discussed.