Is the news making us unhappy?: The influence of daily news exposure on emotional states

Natascha de Hoog; Peter Verboon

doi:10.1111/bjop.12389

Is the news making us unhappy? The influence of daily news exposure on emotional states

Natascha de Hoog^*, Peter Verboon

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

25 Citations (Web of Science)

Abstract

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.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	157-173
Number of pages	17
Journal	British Journal of Psychology
Volume	111
Issue number	2
Early online date	21 Mar 2019
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/bjop.12389
Publication status	Published - May 2020

Keywords

APPRAISAL
BAD-NEWS
EXPERIENCE SAMPLING RESEARCH
EXTROVERSION
INDIVIDUAL-DIFFERENCES
NEGATIVE NEWS
NEUROTICISM
POSTTRAUMATIC-STRESS
RESPONSES
STRESS
TELEVISION
daily news
negative affect
personal relevance
positive affect

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10.1111/bjop.12389Licence: CC BY-NC-ND

Cite this

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abstract = "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.",

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author = "{de Hoog}, Natascha and Peter Verboon",

year = "2020",

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doi = "10.1111/bjop.12389",

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journal = "British Journal of Psychology",

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AU - de Hoog, Natascha

AU - Verboon, Peter

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AB - 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.

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KW - RESPONSES

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KW - positive affect

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Is the news making us unhappy? The influence of daily news exposure on emotional states

Abstract

Keywords

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