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Personality Filters for Online News Interest and Engagement Cover

Personality Filters for Online News Interest and Engagement

Nordicom Review
Volume 40 (2019): Issue s1 (June 2019)
By: Ragnhild Eg and  Arne Krumsvik  
Open Access
|Jun 2019

Figures & Tables

Figure 1

The five dimensions of the Big Five inventoryComment: The five dimensions of the Big Five inventory, ranging from one extreme to another. Each dimension score gives an indication of an individual’s tendency to act according to his or her standing on the particular trait.
The five dimensions of the Big Five inventoryComment: The five dimensions of the Big Five inventory, ranging from one extreme to another. Each dimension score gives an indication of an individual’s tendency to act according to his or her standing on the particular trait.

Figure 2

Average reading engagement scores for individuals who tend towards either neuroticism or emotional stabilityComment: The error bars correspond to 95 per cent confidence intervals
Average reading engagement scores for individuals who tend towards either neuroticism or emotional stabilityComment: The error bars correspond to 95 per cent confidence intervals

Figure 3

Average likelihood of reading a news story presented with or without a photo for those scoring at the lower and higher ends of the agreeableness scaleComment: The error bars correspond to 95 per cent confidence intervals
Average likelihood of reading a news story presented with or without a photo for those scoring at the lower and higher ends of the agreeableness scaleComment: The error bars correspond to 95 per cent confidence intervals

Correlations between REI-40 and BFI-20 factors and news categorized by participants, along with engagement modes and likelihoods for high and low scorers

StoryCategoryEngagement modeCorrelateStatisticsMean engagement scores
Low scorersHigh scorers
2InformativeReadExtraversionr(88)=.27, p=.0102.593.37
5InformativeReadRational engagementr(87)=.37, p<.0011.582.54
5InformativeReadExperiential abilityr(87)=−.43, p<.0012.421.57
5InformativeReadExperiential engagementr(87)= −.23, p=.0362.211.72

Summary of the results from two multivariate ANOVAs, run separately for age and gender groups (note that one participant did not report gender and three did not report age)

ReadLikeShare
AgeF-statisticF(2,168)=1.96, nsF(2,168)=0.22, nsF(2,168)=0.45, ns
Mean 18–24 (n=104)M=2.64 (SD=0.64)M=1.15 (SD=0.33)M=1.15 (SD=0.38)
Mean 25–34 (n=49)M=2.57 (SD=0.62)M=1.17 (SD=0.45)M=1.14 (SD=0.28)
Mean 35–71 (n=21)M=2.86 (SD=0.76)M=1.14 (SD=0.26)M=1.22 (SD=0.36)
GenderF-statisticF(1,168)=0.79, nsF(1,168)=0.88, p=.047F(1,168)=0.75, p=.040
Mean females (n=114)M=2.60 (SD=0.62)M=1.11 (SD=0.31)M=1.12 (SD=0.26)
Mean males (n=60)M=2.70 (SD=0.71)M=1.22 (SD=0.43)M=1.23 (SD=0.46)

Five news stories selected for an exploratory analysis of the correlation between individual stories and personality characteristics, all with high agreement on the news category

Experimental conditionMost frequent category selectionParticipant agreementNorwegian versionEnglish translation
Crime, tabloidVulgar68.54%1. Avkledd og avslørt1. Undressed and exposed
Personal story, informativeAlluring68.54%2. Fant mynter for 5,5 millioner, får ingenting2. Found coins worth 5.5 million, gets nothing
Lifestyle, informativeInformative77.53%3. Vask baderomsvifta for bedre luftkvalitet3. Clean the bathroom fan to improve air quality
Finance, tabloidAlluring66.67%4. Koster nesten en million kroner, men ingen får overnatte4. It costs nearly one million kroner, but nobody can stay overnight
Local politics, informativeInformative71.11%5. Nøkkelproblemer og IT-systemer som feilet var noen av grunnene til kaos da Veireno tok over5. Key troubles and failing IT systems were some of the reasons for the chaos that came with Veireno taking over

Summary of interaction effects from four repeated-measures ANOVAs, run separately to investigate interactions between the personality inventories and presentation mode and news angle, respectively

Presentation modeNews angle
ReadLikeShareReadLikeShare
Big Five InventoryExtraversionF(1,163)=1.81nsF(1,163)=2.37nsF(1,163)=1.16nsF(1,163)=0.48nsF(1,163)=0.43nsF(1,163)=0.19ns
AgreeablenessF(1,163)=6.76p=.01ηp2=.04F(1,163)=0.85nsF(1,163)=0.21nsF(1,163)=0.16nsF(1,163)=0.78nsF(1,163)=0.08ns
ConscientiousnessF(1,163)=.03nsF(1,163)=0.20nsF(1,163)=0.001nsF(1,163)=0.54nsF(1,163)=0.04nsF(1,163)=0.01ns
Emotional stabilityF(1,163)=.083nsF(1,163)=0.31nsF(1,163)=0.21nsF(1,163)=3.08nsF(1,163)=0.81nsF(1,163)=0.12ns
Openness to experienceF(1,163)=0.07nsF(1,163)=1.12nsF(1,163)=0.55nsF(1,163)=0.24nsF(1,163)=0.01nsF(1,163)=0.13ns
Rational–Experiential InventoryRational abilityF(1,163)=0.01nsF(1,163)=1.91nsF(1,163)=0.38nsF(1,163)=3.37nsF(1,163)=0.84nsnsF(1,163)=4.75p=.03ηp2=.03
Rational engagementF(1,163)=1.16nsF(1,163)=0.37nsF(1,163)=0.21nsF(1,163)=0.52nsF(1,163)=2.35nsF(1,163)=1.12ns
Experiential abilityF(1,163)=0.02nsF(1,163)=0.59nsF(1,163)=0.79nsF(1,163)=4.77p=.03F(1,163)=0.06nsF F (1,163)=4.38p=.04
Experiential engagementF(1,163)=0.35nsF(1,163)=1.05nsF(1,163)=0.35nsF(1,163)=0.13nsF(1,163)=0.28nsF(1,163)=3.41ns

j_nor-2019-0021_apptab_001

Experiment AExperiment B
SectionPresentation modeRhetorical angleGenre and story numberPresentation modeRhetorical angleGenre and story number
3VerbalTabloidCrime 1Verbal+visualInformativeLifestyle 2
3VerbalInformativeSports 2Verbal+visualTabloidCelebrity 1
3VerbalTabloidUS affairs 1Verbal+visualInformativeCrime 2
3VerbalInformativeLifestyle 2Verbal+visualTabloidPersonal story 1
3VerbalTabloidAccident 1Verbal+visualTabloidLifestyle 1
3VerbalInformativeCelebrity 2Verbal+visualInformativeCelebrity 2
3VerbalInformativeCrime 2Verbal+visualTabloidLocal politics 1
3VerbalInformativeInternational 2Verbal+visualTabloidUS affairs 1
3VerbalInformativeAccident 2Verbal+visualTabloidAccident 1
3VerbalTabloidLocal politics 1Verbal+visualTabloidInternational 1
3VerbalInformativeUS affairs 2Verbal+visualInformativeUS affairs 2
3VerbalInformativeLocal politics 2Verbal+visualTabloidFinance 1
3VerbalTabloidInternational 1Verbal+visualInformativePersonal story 2
3VerbalInformativeFinance 2Verbal+visualInformativeSports 2
3VerbalTabloidSports 1Verbal+visualInformativeFinance 2
3VerbalTabloidCelebrity 1Verbal+visualTabloidCrime 1
3VerbalTabloidPersonal story 1Verbal+visualInformativeInternational 2
3VerbalTabloidLifestyle 1Verbal+visualInformativeLocal politics 2
3VerbalInformativePersonal story 2Verbal+visualTabloidSports 1
3VerbalTabloidFinance 1Verbal+visualInformativeAccident 2
5Verbal+visualTabloidLocal politics 2VerbalTabloidCrime 2
5Verbal+visualInformativeFinance 1VerbalInformativeCrime 1
5Verbal+visualTabloidUS affairs 2VerbalInformativeLocal politics 1
5Verbal+visualInformativeAccident 1VerbalInformativePersonal story 1
5Verbal+visualTabloidCrime 2VerbalTabloidInternational 2
5Verbal+visualInformativeSports 1VerbalTabloidFinance 2
5Verbal+visualInformativePersonal story 1VerbalTabloidAccident 2
5Verbal+visualInformativeInternational 1VerbalInformativeSports 1
5Verbal+visualTabloidCelebrity 2VerbalTabloidLocal politics 2
5Verbal+visualInformativeCrime 1VerbalTabloidPersonal story 2
5Verbal+visualInformativeLifestyle 1VerbalInformativeAccident 1
5Verbal+visualTabloidFinance 2VerbalTabloidLifestyle 2
5Verbal+visualTabloidAccident 2VerbalInformativeLifestyle 1
5Verbal+visualInformativeCelebrity 1VerbalTabloidUS affairs 2
5Verbal+visualTabloidPersonal story 2VerbalTabloidCelebrity 2
5Verbal+visualTabloidSports 2VerbalTabloidSports 2
5Verbal+visualInformativeLocal politics 1VerbalInformativeUS affairs 1
5Verbal+visualTabloidLifestyle 2VerbalInformativeFinance 1
5Verbal+visualTabloidInternational 2VerbalInformativeCelebrity 1
5Verbal+visualInformativeUS affairs 1VerbalInformativeInternational 1

Participants’ primary news source

News sourceFrequency
Online news: 81%Digital media99
Social media44
Offline news: 19%TV5
Radio6
Printed news20
Other (friends/family)4
Total178

Experimental design with a counterbalanced task order

Experiment AExperiment B
Section 1Information and consentInformation and consent
Section 2Demographics and news interest questionnaireDemographics and news interest questionnaire
Section 3Engagement task, verbal presentation modeEngagement task, verbal+visual presentation mode
Section 4BFI-20BFI-20
Section 5Engagement experiment, verbal+visual presentation modeEngagement experiment, verbal presentation mode
Section 6REI-40REI-40
Section 7Categorization task (same stimuli as section 3)Categorization task (same stimuli as section 5)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/nor-2019-0021 | Journal eISSN: 2001-5119 | Journal ISSN: 1403-1108
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Language: English
Page range: 177 - 194
Published on: Jun 28, 2019
Published by: University of Gothenburg Nordicom
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 2 issues per year
Keywords:
personality,
news,
engagement,
targeting,
personalization
Related subjects:
Social sciences,
Communication science,
Public and political communication,
Mass communication

© 2019 Ragnhild Eg, Arne Krumsvik, published by University of Gothenburg Nordicom
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

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