Does Personality Dictate Your Interest in Political News?
Tijana MilosevicFeb 08, 2011
In my own experience as a native of Serbia, I was always under the impression that some people who enjoy the political scheming found in Serbian tabloids, and who easily memorize such intricacies, find it to be a useful distraction from life hurdles; a way to live out personal conflicts through identification with political characters. And it certainly provides some material for heated water cooler arguments. Items found in Serbian media often center on political gamboling and accusations of treachery and corruption. Those resemble an elaborate piece of dramaturgy, rather than a thorough examination of public interest. But little seems to differ cross-culturally, as recent research I describe below suggests. To explain, at the height of the Egyptian turmoil and in the aftermath of perennial clamor surrounding the State of the Union address, I began wondering why some people embark on a news hunt the moment they open their eyelids in the morning, while others get the news only if it eventually gets them, when it dons the front page of virtually every media outlet available?