Abstract

This study examined what type of response to commenters who disagree led to more positive attitudes toward a news organization’s Facebook page. Results of two experiments, one in Germany (n = 764) and one in the United States (n = 763), found that a high-person-centered (HPC) response, which acknowledges people’s emotions, led to more positive attitudes toward the news organization’s Facebook page, compared with a low-person-centered (LPC) response, which dismisses people’s feelings. This held true for both German and American participants, regardless of whether the comments were civil or not. In both countries, positive evaluations of the organization’s Facebook page were heightened if journalists, rather than news users, responded to the commenters. Results are discussed in relation to the verbal person-centered (VPC) theory of social supportive outcomes.

摘要

这项研究调查了对不同意评论者的何种回应导致对新闻机构 Facebook 页面的更积极态度。两项实验的结果，一项在德国（n  = 764），一项在美国（n = 763), 发现承认人们情绪的高以人为中心 (HPC) 响应导致对新闻机构的 Facebook 页面的更积极的态度, 与低以人为中心 (LPC) 的响应相比, 不理会人们的情绪情怀。这对德国和美国的参与者都是如此，无论这些评论是否是民事的。在这两个国家，如果记者而不是新闻用户对评论者做出回应，那么对该组织 Facebook 页面的积极评价就会提高。讨论结果与社会支持结果的口头以人为本 (VPC) 理论有关。