Psychological aspects of perception of negative news on the Internet


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Abstract

News is an integral part of the life of a modern human. Viewing news sources and social media became the leading way people spend their free time in many countries. Some researchers state that audiences deliberately choose to read negative news. The information influence is psychological in nature. The development of digital technologies creates both opportunities and threats. The purpose of the study is to determine the structural components of the perception of negative news on the Internet and record their psychological content. The authors used a qualitative research method. Using a semi-structured interview, a maximally variable sample of respondents was surveyed. To process the interview data, thematic analysis was used. The study involved 13 people aged 20–45 years. This age category most actively consumes news content from the Internet. Data validity was achieved by meeting the criteria of structural justifiability, consistency of interpretive procedures, and referent adequacy. The study identified a multi-level model consisting of cognitive, emotional and psychophysiological aspects of the perception of negative news. The following negative impact of negative news on the mental sphere of life was established: intense negative emotional sufferings, depressed mood, disturbance of sleep, asthenia. When experiencing long-term negative emotional and psychophysiological symptoms, the respondents use the strategy of avoiding and rejecting negative news.

About the authors

Ivan Sergeevich Frolov

Volgograd Institute of Management – Branch of the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation,
Volgograd

Author for correspondence.
Email: Vanyafrol88@mail.ru
ORCID iD: 0009-0000-5853-7175

graduate student of Faculty of State and Municipal Administration

Russian Federation

Aleksandr Yurievich Chernov

Volgograd Institute of Management – Branch of the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation, Volgograd.
Volgograd State Physical Education Academy,Volgograd

Email: fake@neicon.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-3850-3055

Doctor of Sciences (Psychology), professor of Chair of Sociology, General and Legal Psychology, professor of Chair of Pedagogy, Psychology and Communications

Russian Federation

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