Perception of U.S. Media Influences on Self and Others Among Malaysian Youth

Abstract

This study investigated the third-person perception effect of mediated U.S. culture and violence on self and others among Malaysian youth. A total of 425 university students participated in the survey. As expected, most respondents believed that the U.S media have negative effects on people in Malaysia and that others are more heavily influenced than the respondents themselves. The third-perception effect of U.S. media was not influenced by respondents’ level of exposure to U.S. media. The third-person perception effect of mediated U.S. culture seemed to be more pronounced among Muslim than non-Muslims. However, no differences emerged between the Muslim and non-Muslim on perception of third-person effect of mediated U.S. violence. Overall, the findings support the conclusion that the third-person effect hypothesis observed in studies in the west can be applied to perceptions of U.S. media influence abroad.