The media portray various social groups stereotypically, and studying the effects of these portrayals on prejudice is paramount. Yet, audience selectivity—inherent within today’s high-choice media environments—has largely been disregarded. Relatedly, the predominance of forced-exposure designs is a source of concern. This article proposes the integration of audience selectivity into media stereotype effects research. Study 1 (N = 1,166) indicated that prejudiced individuals tended to approach prejudice-consistent stereotypical news and avoid prejudice-challenging counter-stereotypical news. Using a forced-exposure experiment, study 2 (N = 380) showed detrimental effects of prejudice-consistent news and beneficial effects of prejudice-challenging news. Relying on a self-selected exposure paradigm, study 3 (N = 1,149) provided evidence for preference-based reinforcement. Study 4’s “net-effect perspective” (N = 937) indicated that operationalizing exposure as forced or self-selected can lead to different interpretations of actual societal effects. The findings emphasize the key role played by audience selectivity when studying media effects.

中文翻译：

---

媒体刻板印象、偏见和基于偏好的强化：通过整合受众选择性来实现自我强化效果的动态

媒体刻板地刻画各种社会群体，研究这些刻画对偏见的影响至关重要。然而，受众选择性——在当今高度选择的媒体环境中固有的——在很大程度上被忽视了。相关地，强制曝光设计的主导地位是一个令人担忧的问题。本文提出将受众选择性整合到媒体刻板印象效应研究中。研究 1（N = 1,166）表明，有偏见的人倾向于接近与偏见一致的陈规定型新闻，并避免挑战偏见的反陈规定型新闻。使用强制曝光实验，研究 2 (N = 380) 显示了偏见一致新闻的不利影响和偏见挑战新闻的有益影响。依靠自选曝光范例，研究 3（N = 1，149）为基于偏好的强化提供了证据。研究 4 的“净效应视角”（N = 937）表明，将暴露操作化为强迫或自我选择可能导致对实际社会影响的不同解释。研究结果强调了受众选择性在研究媒体效果时所起的关键作用。