Author: Shabahang, Reza; Hwang, Hyeyeon; Thomas, Emma F.; Aruguete, Mara S.; McCutcheon, Lynn E.; Orosz, Gabor; Hossein Khanzadeh, Abbas Ali; Mokhtari Chirani, Benyamin; Zsila, Agnes
Description: The media’s adherence to “if it bleeds, it leads” has resulted in global dominance of negative news (e.g., stories of corruption, fraud, shootings, terrorism, and war). The appetite for negative news is fueled by negativity bias, which compels people to prioritize negative over positive stories. This cross-cultural study, inspired by media effect theories such as Cultivation Theory, explored the links between problematic consumption of negative news (doomscrolling), existential anxiety, pessimistic views about human nature, and belief about a just world in two distinct cultures. Participants included convenience samples of Iranian (n = 620) and American (n = 180) university-student social media users. Doomscrolling was associated with elevated levels of existential anxiety in both samples. Additionally, misanthropy was positively associated with doomscrolling only in the Iranian sample. Aligned with the Media-induced PTSD Hypothesis and the Shattered Assumption Theory, our findings suggest that prolonged exposure to negative news can contribute to the development of existential anxiety. Current news framing with its overemphasis on negativity could fuel doomscrolling-inspired existential concerns.
Subject headings: Belief in a just world; Cross-cultural; Doomscrolling; Existential anxiety; Misanthropy; Social media
Publication year: 2024
Journal or book title: Computers in Human Behavior Reports
Volume: 15
Pages: 100438
Find the full text: https://www.strategian.com/fulltext/Shabahang2024.pdf
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Serial number: 4145