ABSTRACT
The third-person effect (TPE) places the power of the media not in direct effects, but rather, in the manner in which individuals perceive others in society will be influenced by the content (Davison, 1983). Ongoing research through this perspective has resulted in a large body of literature in the fields of communication, public opinion and psychology (see Paul, Salwen, & Dupagne, 2000; Perloff, 2002 for reviews). Davison’s original hypothesis includes both a perceptual and a behavioral component. The perceptual component predicts that people will tend to overestimate the influence that mass communications have on the attitudes and behaviors of others (Davison, 1983, p. 3). The behavioral component hypothesizes that these perceptions lead people to take action.
