Adolescents’ Trust in News Media: A Typology of (Un)reflected Trust and the Role of Socialization
We examine what types of news media trust can be identified among adolescents based on their trust levels and the degree of elaboration about media. Moreover, we investigate the role of socialization contexts (family, peers, and schools) in the development of adolescents’ media trust and ability to elaborate. Through qualitative interviews with 50 German adolescents aged 14 to 19, we find 5 types, with only a minority of adolescents showing highly elaborated media trust. With minor differences between the types, parents appear to be the most influential socialization agents in shaping how young people use, perceive, and trust news media.
Authors
- Marc Ziegele (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2710-0955)
- Nayla Fawzi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5580-452X)
- Katherine M. Engelke (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4532-7125)
- Nina Steindl (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3733-2936)
- Nikolaus Jackob
- Fabian Prochazka (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8678-101X)
- Tilman Klawier (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5399-8762)
- Dorothee Arlt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0575-6969)
- Ilka Jakobs (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8093-4644)
- Magdalena Obermaier (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3055-3744)
- Henriette P. Pohle
- Wolfgang Schweiger
- Marco Dohle
Institutions
- University of Hohenheim (DE)
- Technische Universität Ilmenau (DE)
- Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (DE)
- University of Erfurt (DE)
- University of Münster (DE)
- LMU Klinikum (DE)
- Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (DE)
- Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly
- Published
- 2026-03-04
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1177/10776990261425240
- Primary Topic
- Media Influence and Health
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00