Third-Person Effect
We believe media influences others much more than it influences ourselves.
The third-person effect is a psychological hypothesis that people tend to perceive that mass media messages have a greater effect on others than on themselves, based on personal biases. This leads to support for censorship (others need protection) and reduced self-scrutiny about media influence on one's own beliefs and behavior.
What it looks like in the wild.
- Media Propaganda Immunity When surveyed about political advertising, nearly everyone believes it influences 'most people' more than themselves, even when their own views have measurably shifted after exposure.
Recognising a definition is not the same skill as spotting it.
Two scenarios from the app, with distractors drawn from the same family of biases — which is what makes them hard.
She scrolls past a social media influencer's post about a new diet, thinking 'People will be tricked into buying that junk,' while she feels completely unaffected by the same ad.
She hears a podcast about a new productivity hack and thinks, 'That's going to stress everyone out trying to do it all,' while she plans to try it herself, feeling she can manage it without stress.
Biases rarely arrive alone.
Understand more. Assume less.
188 biases, 18,869 scenarios, and a record of how you actually decide.
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