平衡信息接触能否帮助人们打破信息茧房?信息感知与态度变化的关系研究

Can Balanced Information Exposure Help People Break the Information Cocoons?The Relationship Between Information Perception and Attitude Change

平衡信息接触往往被视为打破信息茧房的关键措施。然而,人们寄希望于平衡信息接触从信息获取行为层面打破信息茧房外壳的同时,忽视了选择性感知这一内在认知机制所发挥的态度防御作用。目前,平衡信息接触是否能真正促使态度改变、彻底破除信息茧房仍然众说纷纭,缺乏实证依据。本研究招募了39位参与者,要求其在模拟健康知识问答平台中阅读一个争议性话题下两个立场相反的答案,对与自己态度一致、态度不一致信息的感知可信度、说服力、重要性进行打分,并在实验前后填写问卷以报告先验态度与后验态度。实验结果表明,平衡信息接触可以缓解甚至改变一部分人群的先验态度,并避免态度极化。然而,仍有少部分态度不变人群激活了选择性感知,未能真正打破信息茧房。并且,在平衡信息接触情景中,当态度不一致信息的感知可信度与说服力较高时,可以有效缓解态度极化;而当态度不一致信息的感知可信度、说服力、重要性较高,同时态度一致信息的感知说服力、重要性较低时,可以有效促进态度反转。本研究为平衡信息接触研究提供了理论启示与方法论贡献,为通过平衡信息接触打破信息茧房提供了实践指导。

Balanced information exposure has been regarded as an effective approach to break the information cocoon.However,while people hope this new way to require information will completely break the information cocoon,they ignore that the selective perception mechanism rooted in people’s hearts can still make them be resistant to change their attitudes.Until now,there is still a lack of empirical evidence on whether balanced information exposure can really promote attitudinal change and play an effective role in breaking the information cocoon.A total of 39 participants were recruited to browse a mocked health knowledge Q&A platform and read two answers from opposite positions on a controversial topic.After finishing reading,they were asked to evaluate the perceived credibility,persuasiveness,and importance of each answer.Besides,their prior and posterior attitudes were collected through questionnaires before and after the experiment.The results reveal that balanced information exposure can alleviate and change some people’s attitudes,and avoid polarization for everyone.However,the selective perception phenomenon is found in a small number of people,which plays a key role in resisting attitudinal change and breaking the information cocoon.According to the results of this study,the effective way for balanced information exposure to alleviate polarization is to improve people’s perceived credibility and persuasiveness of the counter-attitudinal information.Besides,when trying to change the valence of attitudes,it’s necessary to not only improve people’s perceived credibility,persuasiveness,and importance of counter-attitudinal information but also decrease people’s perceived persuasiveness and importance of the pro-attitudinal information.This study provides theoretical implications and methodological guidance for future research,as well as some practical implications for breaking the information cocoons and correcting online rumors.