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"This chapter reviews research on emotional effects of political news and ads. Starting with definitions of affects, moods, emotions, and arousal, political media effects on affective reactions are conceptualized. It is argued that both specific content and formal features can elicit affective responses via three different processes: empathetic responding, contagion, and emotion induction. These processes can result in affects, arousal, and various specific emotions (e.g., fear, anger, sadness). Although research has identified several moderating factors the chapter also points to the fact that affective reactions to media content are not without consequence on, for example, political attitudes and behavior. Furthermore, affective effects are not only short-term, but can also have long-term consequences. Because of that, from a normative perceptive, the affective influence of political information is a double-edged sword that deserves more scholarly attention in the future." (publisher's description)

The present study investigates self-reinforcing spirals processes between the negative affect toward asylum seekers and the attention to political advertising in a campaign dealing with the issue of the asylum law restriction. Based on data from a three-wave panel survey, the study found evidence of such reciprocal influences. Specifically, the initial attention to political advertising elicited negative affective reactions, such as fear or anxiety toward asylum seekers in the course of the campaign. At the same time, these affective reactions enhanced people's attention to subsequent political ads. Not only do the findings indicate the presence of reinforcing spirals processes but also do the data suggest that the spirals process is mainly fueled by cues emanating from the political campaign.

Current approaches explain the effects of news frames on judgments in terms of cognitive mechanisms, such as accessibility and applicability effects. We investigated the emotional effects of two news frames—an "anger" frame and a "sadness" frame—on information processing and opinion formation. We found that the two frames produced different levels of anger and sadness. Furthermore, the anger frame increased the accessibility of information about punishment and the preference for punitive measures in comparison with the sadness frame and the control group. In contrast, the sadness frame increased the accessibility of information about help for victims and the preference for remedial measures. More importantly, these effects were mediated by the anger and sadness that were elicited by the news frames.

Even though studies have intensively investigated personalization in the media, little is known about the effects of personal information on the perception of politicians (privatization). Especially if politicians share information about their private life, gender might play an important role. To test this assumption, we conducted two experiments (2 × 3 between-subjects design, Nstudy1 = 472; Nstudy2 = 739) varying gender of a politician (male/female) and the disclosure of personal information (no information/hobby/family) in a fictitious news interview. Results show that gender can play a crucial role depending on the form of privatization. While we see no significant changes in the politician's perception when they are mentioning their hobby, we find that, for a male politician, sharing information about family life in a traditional manner leads to a decline in trust and reduces perceptions of warmth. For a female politician, the different kinds of self-presentation do not affect image perception and voting outcomes.

Even though studies have intensively investigated personalization in the media, little is known about the effects of personal information on the perception of politicians (privatization). Especially if politicians share information about their private life, gender might play an important role. To test this assumption, we conducted two experiments (2 × 3 between-subjects design, Nstudy1 = 472; Nstudy2 = 739) varying gender of a politician (male/female) and the disclosure of personal information (no information/hobby/family) in a fictitious news interview. Results show that gender can play a crucial role depending on the form of privatization. While we see no significant changes in the politician's perception when they are mentioning their hobby, we find that, for a male politician, sharing information about family life in a traditional manner leads to a decline in trust and reduces perceptions of warmth. For a female politician, the different kinds of self-presentation do not affect image perception and voting outcomes.