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Communication Research
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Coping or Escaping?

Effects of Life Dissatisfaction on Selective Exposure

Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick

The Ohio State University

Matthias R. Hastall

University of Erfurt

Maik Rossmann

Dresden University of Technology

A quasiexperiment tested competing hypotheses regarding escapist media use and alternative coping motivations in media selection behavior. For 287 participants, personal satisfaction levels for five life domains were assessed. In an ostensibly unrelated study, the participants browsed through online content in which some section topics corresponded to the life domains. Selective exposure was unobtrusively logged by software. Lower satisfaction with college and career situation and with personal financial situation was associated with longer exposure to information about college and career issues. Among respondents in a romantic relationship, higher satisfaction with personal romantic situation led to longer reading times for articles about romance issues, whereas among single respondents, lower satisfaction with one's romantic situation was connected to longer reading of such content. Satisfaction with own health and exposure to health information showed a curvilinear pattern, as low and high satisfaction produced lower exposure than moderate satisfaction.

Key Words: selective exposure • coping • life satisfaction • escapism

This version was published on April 1, 2009

Communication Research, Vol. 36, No. 2, 207-228 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0093650208330252
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