Affective Priming During the Processing of News Articles

Abstract

The present study investigates the role of affective priming during the processing of news articles. It is assumed that the valence of the affective response to a news article will influence the processing of subsequent news articles. More specifically, it is hypothesized that participants who read a positive article will recall subsequent positive information better than negative information. Similarly, participants who read a negative article will recall subsequent negative information better. To test this assumption, an experimental study was conducted (N = 87). Findings show that participants who read an initial positive article recalled more positive than negative information from six subsequent news articles. Participants who read an initial negative article recalled more negative information than positive information from subsequent news messages. Findings suggest that affective states induced by a news article influence how subsequent articles are processed and which information is learned.