Selective Exposure Theory

Criticism of selective exposure
Although empirical evidence of selective exposure has been documented in countless studies conducted in a wide range of research area, there have also been plentiful reports of lack of evidence supporting the existence of selective exposure. For instance, in a study conducted by Feather (1962), evidence of the effect of selective exposure on participants’ choices was not found. In specific, smokers and non-smoker participants did not display any significant preference on either articles of the two used. The first article suggested that lung cancer can be linked to smoking and the second article denied any link between smoking and lung cancer. Likewise, in another study, Mills and Ross (1964) asked participants
The main hypothesis of selective exposure derived from Festinger’s (1957) theory of cognitive dissonance. According to Festinger’s theory, people that are in a state of disagreement tend to seek matching information to their own views and stands as a means of reducing dissonance and attempt to avoid information that does not correspond with their views. He stated that selective exposure plays a vital role in reducing dissonance. As supporting evidence and based on the theory of cognitive dissonance, Cotton and Hieser (1980) found that through a range of manipulations that lead to the varying of the degree of dissonance, participants searched for consonant information and avoided dissonant information that contradicted their
Specifically, Schwarz, Frey & Kumpf (1980) stated that people feel obligated to shield prior opinions or attitudes as a means of remaining faithful to their initial commitment. Also when people want to maintain a positive self-image and consider themselves as good deciders (Kunda 1990), that need operates as a self-enhancement mechanism. Lastly, selective exposure expressed as a need for self-enhancement can take the form of one wanting to defend their personal views and opinions of the world (Jonas, Greenberg & Frey,