Meaning & use
selective exposure
Last updated
Meaning
noununcountabletechnical
The tendency to look for and pay attention to information that matches what you already believe, while avoiding what challenges it.
Grammar: Usually without an article: selective exposure shapes news habits.
Patterns
- selective exposure to something
- selective exposure in something
Selective exposure explains why some people only read news that agrees with them.
Online algorithms can increase selective exposure by showing more of the same content.
Researchers measured selective exposure by tracking which articles volunteers chose to read.
Common combinations
- selective exposure theory
- Selective exposure theory is often taught in media courses.
- avoid selective exposure
- To avoid selective exposure, read sources from different viewpoints.
- selective exposure to news
- Selective exposure to news can deepen political divides.
- evidence of selective exposure
- The study found evidence of selective exposure among voters.
- cause selective exposure
- Echo chambers can cause selective exposure.
Synonyms and how they differ
- confirmation bias
- Confirmation bias covers how people interpret evidence, whereas selective exposure is about which sources they choose.
- echo chamber
- An echo chamber is the environment where one's views are repeated, while selective exposure is the behavior of choosing it.
- filter bubble
- Filter bubble blames algorithms for limiting what we see, but selective exposure also includes personal choice.
- cherry-picking
- Cherry-picking means choosing only favorable facts to support an argument, and is more deliberate and critical.
Opposites
Word family
- selection noun
- the act of choosing
- selectively adverb
- in a way that chooses certain things
- exposure noun
- the state of being exposed to something
- expose verb
- to make visible or to subject to something
Commonly confused: selective exposure or selective perception?
selective exposure vs selective perception
Selective perception is about noticing and interpreting only some of what you see, while selective exposure is about which material you seek out.
Practice
A woman only watches channels that agree with her political views and switches off the rest. This is an example of ____.
Choose one answer.
She chooses sources that match her beliefs, which is selective exposure. Media literacy is tempting but refers to understanding media critically.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “selective exposure”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.