Understanding media socialization in democratizing countries: Mobilization and malaise in Central and Eastern Europe

Survey data from the mid-1990s in Central and Eastern Europe provide empirical evidence that individuals' perceptions of their own efficacy benefit from mass media chiefly through deliberate, information-seeking media consumption. Grounded in the media mobilization/ malaise debate, the findings suggest that individuals can benefit from mass media less through what or how much they consume than through the intention of their consumption. They also demonstrate a theoretical means to export western media theory by stressing the contextual imperatives of transition that motivate individuals' information-seeking behavior in order to better understand the role of media in political socialization.