Samenvatting
Recent research findings about whether mass media reports influence risk- related judgments have not been consistent. One reconciliation of the differing findings is the impersonal impact hypothesis. That hypothesis suggests that media impact occurs with societal level judgments about general problem importance or frequency but not with judgments about personal risks. Three studies were conducted to test this hypothesis. The results of the studies support the impersonal impact hypothesis by suggesting that personal and societal level judgments are distinct and that media reports exert their primary influence on societal, not personal judgments.