ABSTRACT

When media users are exposed to the suffering of distant others, they are often deeply moved and feel the urge to help. Yet, they tend to stay passive. Communication scholars have not produced a sufficient and succinct understanding of this gap between media-induced awareness and behavioral non-response. Our knowledge is dispersed across (a) interpretative audience reception studies on mediated distant suffering and (b) post-positivist media effects research on persuasion processes and attitude-action-gaps. By synthesizing work from both traditions, I develop an integrated model and provide an explanation for passivity despite media-induced awareness. I demonstrate how cross-fertilization between these two bodies of literature can instigate theory development within both fields. Finally, my model can catalyze future interdisciplinary research on the subject.

摘要

当媒体用户暴露于遥远的其他人的痛苦时，他们常常感动万千，并渴望提供帮助。但是，他们倾向于保持被动。传播学者尚未对媒体引起的意识与行为无反应之间的这种差距产生足够而简洁的理解。我们的知识分散在（a）关于介导的远距离苦难的解释性受众接受研究和（b）关于说服过程和态度-行动差距的实证主义后媒体效果研究上。通过综合两种传统的工作，我开发了一个集成模型，并提供了尽管媒体引起了关注却对被动性的解释。我展示了这两个文学主体之间的交叉受精如何在两个领域内促进理论发展。最后，