Chapter Eighteen

1
Chapter Eighteen
Social Effects of Mass Communication

• The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1999

McGraw-Hill College
2
Why is it difficult to discover the effects of
mass communication?
Slide 18-1
Survey
Experiment
research methods
3
Media and Socialization Agencies of
Socialization and Observational Learning
Slide 18-2
Mass Media
Family
Personal experience
Religion
School
Friends
4
The Mediais a Primary Source of Information
Slide 18-3
Where do you get your ideas about whats the
best way to live?
5
Shaping Attitudes,Perceptions, and Beliefs
Slide 18-4

• TV will be an influential force when
• Ideas, people and behaviors are presented in a
  stereotyped manner
• A child is heavily exposed to TV content
• A child has limited interaction with parents and
  other socializing agents and lacks an alternate
  set of beliefs

6
Cultivation Analysis Methodology
Slide 18-5
Identify predominant themes and messages
What do viewers absorb?
7
Cultivation Analysis Research Findings
Slide 18-6

• Findings (for frequent viewers)
• TV cultivates distorted perceptions of the real
  world
• The effect is on adults as well as children
• Three problems
• 1. It is difficult to determine cause and effect
• 2. People differ in ways other then their TV
  habits mainstreaming resonance
• 3. Technical decisions about how TV viewing and
  attitudes are measured have an impact on decisions

8
Children and Television Advertising
Slide 18-7

• Children deserve special consideration because
• Children are a vulnerable audience
• TV makes some products seem more desirable that
  they really are
• Long-term effects of exposure to TV ads might
  have a negative effect on a child's socialization
  as a future consumer

9
Agenda Setting
Slide 18-8
Agenda setting effect
Framing
Agenda building
10
Television and Cognitive Skills
Slide 18-9
Better Academic Skills
More TV
11
Media Effects on BehaviorA Capsule History
Slide 18-10

• 1929, the production code of the Motion Pictures
  Producers and Distributors of America was
  strengthened to make sure that gangsters weren't
  portrayed in a favorable light
• 1940s, research attention on the political
  impact of the mass media, especially radio
• 1950s and 1960s, research on potential negative
  effects of violent portrayals in television and
  comic books on children
• 1970s, research minimized the negative effects of
  TV violence, creating controversy
• 1990s, broadcasters agreed to air advisories
• Telecommunications Act of 1996 v-chip TV14 TVMA

12
The Impact of Televised Violence
Slide 18-11
Relationship between viewing of violence and
aggression is weak Pattern of circularity
Being aggressive caused some children to watch
more violent TV
Viewing violence causes some children to be more
violent
13
Experimental Results
Slide 18-12

• The Catharsis vs. Stimulation Debate
• Catharsis theory (little evidence) viewing
  less violence
• Stimulation theory (bulk of evidence supports)
  viewing more violence
• Bandura's Experiment
• Children who had just finished watching violent
  content on TV or film were much more likely to be
  aggressive in follow up situations that were
  children who had not been exposed

14
Complicating Factors
Slide 18-13
Use of specially made films or video tapes
A person's age, sex, social class, and prior
level of aggressions
Influence of other people's reactions
15
Field Experiments A Summary
Slide 18-14

• No single survey can provide a conclusive answer,
  but there appears to be a thread of consistency
  running throughout the studies
• Studies have shown a relationship between viewing
  violent programs and aggressive behavior
• Experiments have shown that watching violence
  increases the possibility of behaving
  aggressively
• Viewing TV violence is only one of many factors
  that might prompt a person to behave aggressively
  and it is a relatively weak relationship

16
Encouraging Prosocial Behavior
Slide 18-15
Not all effects are negative!

• Developing self-control
• Cooperation, sharing and helping
• Studies imply that the relationship between
  prosocial behavior and viewing is weaker than the
  relationship between violent behavior and viewing

17
Media Effects on Political Behavior
Slide 18-16

• Voter turnout no conclusive media link to
  declining drop in voter turnout, but frequency of
  reading a newspaper was strongly related to voter
  turnout which radio and television exposure were
  not
• Negative political advertising does not seem to
  have much of an effect above reinforcing already
  polarized views
• Party conversions are unlikely
• Reinforcement
• Crystallization
• Televised debates research suggests they may
  affect a small number of previously undecided or
  neutral voters

18
Televisionand the Political Behavior of
Politicians
Slide 18-17
Nominating conventions are now scheduled to suit
TV's prime time TV has dramatically increased the
cost of campaigning TV is now the medium around
which most campaigns are organized Campaign
staffs now routinely include TV consultants and
image makers
19
Effects of Obscenity and Pornography
Slide 18-18

• 1970s, Commission on Obscenity and Pornography
  findings
• Most frequents users were middle-class and
  middle-age males
• No evidence that viewing was related to
  antisocial behavior or attitudes
• 1980s, National Commission of Pornography
• established in reaction to more abundant and
  extreme pornography
• concluded that violent pornography was harmful
• Other studies
• Link exposure to pornography and feelings of
  callousness toward women
• 1990s, conclusions of 30 experiments
• exposure to erotic material containing only
  nudity related to diminished subsequent
  aggressive behavior
• a small connection exists between exposure to
  nonviolent pornography and aggression
• a stronger link exists between violent
  pornography and aggressive behavior

20
Television and Behavior Disorders
Slide 18-19

• Eating disorders
• The more people watch TV, the more likely they
  are to be overweight
• There is no compelling research to link anorexia
  and bulimia to TV watching
• Suicide
• No definitive evidence shows that viewing TV
  causes suicidal behavior
• There is enough evidence to suggest that more
  studies need to be done

21
Research about the Internet
Slide 18-20

• Online news hasn't replaced traditional news
  channels
• First wave of research has focused on usage
  statistics
• People in newsgroups do make new friends on the
  Net

22
Communication in the FutureSocial Impact
Slide 18-21

• Threat to privacy
• Fragmentation and isolation the "cocoon effect"
  - the risk that people will stay only within
  their own interest groups and be ignorant of the
  rest of the world
• Information overload
• Escape what if media generated-reality becomes
  more fun than real life?

23
Questions for Discussion
Slide 18-22
Why is it difficult to discover the effects of
mass communication?
Young children are not the only ones who
experience socialization. College students are
also socialized into college life. How
influential are the media (including college
newspapers and radio stations) when it comes to
learning the ropes in college?
Cultivation analysis starts with an examination
of consistent and stereotypical portrayals in TV
content. In addition to the topics mentioned in
the text, what are some other stereotyped
portrayals that might be linked to a cultivation
effect?
Make a list of important issues on your campus or
in your community. Next, examine coverage of
these issues in your campus or community paper.
Any evidence of an agenda-setting effect?
Why has the debate over the impact of TV violence
gone on so long? Will we ever find answers that
will satisfy everybody? Why or why not?
The first televised debate was in 1960. The next
one didn't occur until 16 years later. What might
account for this gap?
What sort of research projects should be designed
to study the impact of the Internet?