Effects of Image-Issue and Positive-Negative Scene Orders in Broadcast News
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Effects of Scene Order 10 when both positive and negative traits were presented together, regardless of order, the negative trait had greater weight than the positive traits. Levin and Schmidt (1969) conducted an experimental study that examined sequential effects of six adjectives on impression formation. In the experiment, participants were shown six sequentially presented personality trait adjectives. After each adjective, people were asked to indicate whether they liked or disliked the person being described. For all five positions beyond the first, there was a tendency for participants to be influenced more by the negative adjectives than by the positive adjectives. Overall, the study found that negative adjectives were given greater weight and thus, were more influential in changing impressions than are positive adjectives, and the weight attached to a positive adjective tended to decrease progressively over ordinal position. In psychological research contexts, many studies found that when both positive and negative messages are presented, negative and unfavorable traits received more attention than positive and favorable traits (e.g. Briscoe, Woodyard, & Shaw, 1967; Levin & Schmidt, 1969; Miller & Rowe, 1967; Wyer, 1970). This phenomenon is explained by the theoretical construct of “negativity effect,” which has its origins in the psychology literature. The negativity effect suggests that negative information stands out, therefore, is much more likely to be noticed and processed (Anderson, 1974; Fiske, 1980; Hamilton & Huffman, 1971; Wyer, 1970; Levin & Schmidt, 1969). Kellermann (1984) stated that negative information “is weighted more heavily than positive information in the initial formation of impressions, [and it] exhibits a greater capacity to alter existing impressions” (pp. 37-38). Furthermore, a negative first impression is more difficult to alter than a positive first impression (Cusumano & Richey, 1970). In some studies, negative information is found to be viewed as more credible than positive information
