Is Partisan Selective Exposure an American Peculiarity? A Comparative Study of News Browsing Behaviors in the United States, Japan, and Hong Kong

Abstract

While partisan selective exposure has been robustly observed in controlled settings, its cross-national differences have been understudied. Many earlier studies were conducted in the United States (US); however, partisan selective exposure is weak outside the US. This study measured browsing behavior using comparable mock news sites in the US, Japan, and Hong Kong to probe the antecedents of cross-national differences in partisan selective exposure. Two observational studies showed that partisan selective exposure is robustly detected in the US but weak or almost absent in Hong Kong and Japan, and that affective polarization toward political out-groups partially explains the cross-national differences observed between the US and Japan, as well as between Hong Kong and Japan. Perceived media credibility and dialectical self did not explain cross-national differences. The universality of partisan selective exposure and its mechanisms are discussed.