Topic-Relevant Reference Groups and Dimensions of Distance

This article argues for using topic-relevant reference groups in examining first and third-person effects. It also proposes using topic-relevant dimensions of distance to assess relationships not only between self and target groups but also relationships both have with communicators. The study showed 2000 presidential primary ads from Al Gore and George W. Bush to a combined sample of student and nonstudent partisans (N = 140). Participants perceived greater effects on the out-group and on the general public then on themselves for ads from the out-group candidate. A third-person effect was also observed for ads from the in-group candidate in self-in-group and self-public comparisons. The only first-person effect was found for the self-out-group comparison of responses to the in-group candidate ads. Self-candidate political distance, an analogue of message desirability, was negatively related to perceived effects on self and target groups, whereas self-group and group-candidate distance measures showed only sporadic relationships to perceived effects.

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