The Times has an interesting story showing the media outlets that are most liberal and conservative. They look at the differences between the two and find that outlets on both sides cover basically the same stories BUT differ in the volume of stories written on a given topic. The thesis is that people prefer to avoid bad news. So, for example, liberal readers read lots of stories about Trump's false claims about the crowd size at this inauguration while conservatives read few.
This is certainly consistent with my own behavior. I have had a really great basketball season by not following IU so have read hardly any stories on that topic! I think we see this same kind of behavior on this board. After the election the board was packed with BIRG posts from conservatives while liberals seemed absent. Which group will be particularly active on the board in a given day seems to follow the CORF and BIRG pattern as a function of the news. A good deal of topic changing goes on here as well as folks shift the narrative from one that is CORF to one that is BIRG.
"But another explanation is simpler, and consistent with decades of research in psychology: People don’t like to hear bad news. “Generally, people prefer information consistent with their beliefs, views and prior behaviors, and avoid information that’s inconsistent,” said James Shepperd, a professor of psychology at the University of Florida who has written extensively on information avoidance.
Examples of this behavior abound in everyday life. You may not want to see the results of a biopsy, know your grade after a difficult final exam or look at your credit card bill after a spending binge. One study of Belgian and Dutch soccer fans found that readers were significantly less interested in online news about their favorite team after a loss. Losers tend to “cut off reflected failure” (CORF) while winners prefer “basking in reflected glory” (BIRG). Regardless of our political views, all of us CORF and BIRG to some extent, and online political news is no exception."
Examples of this behavior abound in everyday life. You may not want to see the results of a biopsy, know your grade after a difficult final exam or look at your credit card bill after a spending binge. One study of Belgian and Dutch soccer fans found that readers were significantly less interested in online news about their favorite team after a loss. Losers tend to “cut off reflected failure” (CORF) while winners prefer “basking in reflected glory” (BIRG). Regardless of our political views, all of us CORF and BIRG to some extent, and online political news is no exception."
This is certainly consistent with my own behavior. I have had a really great basketball season by not following IU so have read hardly any stories on that topic! I think we see this same kind of behavior on this board. After the election the board was packed with BIRG posts from conservatives while liberals seemed absent. Which group will be particularly active on the board in a given day seems to follow the CORF and BIRG pattern as a function of the news. A good deal of topic changing goes on here as well as folks shift the narrative from one that is CORF to one that is BIRG.
