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The authors tested the limitations of paternalism as an explanation for the third-person effect's behavioral aspect, suggesting that the theory of reasoned action better explains why people are sometimes motivated to act on the third-person effect. This study ( N = 600) revealed that the third-person effect can motivate people toward socially desirable action that is not corrective in nature, supporting the theory of reasoned action as a theoretical basis for the behavioral aspect of the third-person effect.

The current study builds on previous knowledge of international public opinion by examining the role that the evaluation of a nation's leader may have on evaluations of the nation by a foreign public. More specifically, the study examines the impact of the so-called Obama effect on attitudes toward the United States in the nation of Pakistan. The study analyzed a large subset of data ( N = 1,254) from the Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project. The results of the analysis point to significant relationships among confidence in Obama's leadership, approval of Obama's foreign policies, U.S.–Pakistan relations, and favorability toward the United States. The study discusses the theoretical implications of the findings along with the contextual implications on U.S. public diplomacy.

Grounded in scholarship on both the perceptual and behavioral components of the third-person effect, the present experimental study examined the effects of perceived impact of political parody videos on self and on others, by varying the perceived intent of the video producer and perceived level of exposure. Building on previous research on the behavioral consequences of such presumed influence, we tested a hierarchical regression model to show how perceived influence on others predicted individuals' willingness to engage in social media activism (i.e., corrective actions). Results demonstrated that participants in our study showed greater perceived influence of the political parody video when it was presented by a source of highly persuasive intent than by a source of low persuasive intent. Unlike our prediction for the effect of perceived exposure, we did not find the effect of perceived level of exposure on the presumed influence on others. Finally, the results of a hierarchical regression analysis showed that the perception of influence on others was positively associated with participants' willingness to take a corrective action—the likelihood of engaging in political social media activism.

The current study brought together two important areas of scholarship in mass communications: media credibility, and religion and the media. Although both areas have been widely investigated by scholars, there have not been many empirical investigations that examine the potential impact of religion on individual perceptions of media credibility. The authors' data analysis revealed mixed evidence for an association between religiosity and perceived media credibility. Although the study did not find consistent and overwhelming evidence of a significant single association between religiosity and media credibility, the authors did find strong evidence of a significant association between some form of media credibility and the Internet. Although these associations were multidirectional, they were nevertheless numerous and significant.