By: Kala Whyte, Jamie Wagner, Katie Fisher, Carly Evers, Daina Yousif
Who Introduced the Theory?
George Gerbner
Dr. Gerbner came to the United States in 1939 where received his B.A. in Journalism from the University of California and his M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Southern California. He was a media critic and a Professor and Dean of the The Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania from 1964 through 1989 among other institutions. In 1968 Gerbner founded the Cultural Indicators Research Project, which tracked and catalogued the content of television programs, and surveyed viewers to record the impact of that programming on their perceptions and attitudes. In 1990, he founded the Cultural Environment Movement, an advocacy group working for greater diversity in media.
Larry Gross
Larry Gross is the director of the School of Communication at the University of Southern California Annenberg. Previously he taught at the University of Pennsylvania where he co-directed the Cultural Indicators Project with George Gerbner from 1971 to 1991. The Cultural Indicators Project introduced the cultivation theory.
What is Cultivation Theory?
Cultivation Theory states exposure to television, over time, subtly “cultivates” viewers’ perceptions of reality. This theory was first discovered in 1969 by George Gerbner and Larry Gross at the University of Pennsylvania. They founded the Cultural Indicators Research Project in 1968 to track changes in television content and how those changes affect viewers' perceptions of the world. Its database has information on more than 3,000 television programs and 35,000 characters. This theory was explored because Gerbner believed that television was becoming the main source of storytelling in society and that it was falsely exaggerating violence which was, in turn, creating a more fearful populace. Gerbner stated that heavy viewers of television, those who watch more than 4 hours a day, are exposed to more violence and are therefore more susceptible to what he described as the “Mean World Syndrome.” The Mean World Syndrome is an idea that the world is more dangerous and cruel than it actually is. Gerbner believed that viewers’ have no choice whether or not they become effected by the violence, so he thought by exposing them to a theory that explains the process so clearly, he could prevent, or at least help diminish, the belief that the world is a violent, dangerous place. This theory also tries to explain how unrepresented groups of individuals are in society, as well as how stereotyped other groups are as far as race, ethnicity, and religion.
Some events going on in 1969 that media were heavily covering included the Vietnam War and the “Helter Skelter” event involving the death of actress Sharon Tate and six others by Charles Manson and his cult. As you can probably imagine, this was a lot of death and violence being covered in the media which scared many people at this point in time, forcing them to believe that the world was full of chaos and death which made many people scared to leave their homes and continue on with their everyday lives. Now was as good a time as any to see how media coverage of violence effected the views of those watching.
Main Concepts of the Theory
One main conclusion of the cultivation theory is the Mean World Syndrome. Heavy television viewers are exposed to more media violence. This results in viewers being convinced that world is more dangerous than it actually is. Cultivation can take place in two ways: Mainstreaming and Resonance. With heavy television viewers, TV symbols begin to take precedent over real life symbols. “Consequently, people's constructed social realities move toward the mainstream. In other words, the culturally dominant reality is more similar to the reality television portrays than the objective, external reality”( Ricci, 2009). Gerbner described resonance as, “The pertinent ideas and themes on television that hold relevance for viewers” (Gulisano, 2008). If a viewer has a real life experience, and then witness it while watching TV, the theme gets reinforced. This leads the viewer to believe that this experience is commonplace.
Conducted Studies Using the Cultivation Theory
1. Television News and the Cultivation of Fear of Crime by Aday, Jamieson, and Romer - This study was conducted using to see the extent to which people are actually effected by watching television in regards to their beliefs of crime in reality.
2. Television Viewing and Ethnic Stereotypes: Do College Students Form Stereotypical Perceptions of Ethnic Groups as a Result of Heavy Television Consumption? by Moon J. Lee, et al. - The purpose of the study discussed in this article was to determine whether heavy television viewing could lead college students to form racial stereotypes.
3. Examining Effects of Television News Violence on College Students Through Cultivation Theory by Meridith Diane Lett, Andrea Lynn DiPietro, and Danette Ifert Johnson - The purpose of the study wasa to investigate, "if there wasa a relationship between amount of television news viewing and college students' perceptions of reality in light of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001."
4.Shop 'til We Drop? Television, Materialism and Attitudes About the Natural Environment by Jennifer Good - This study looks at the correlation between heavy television viewing and feelings of apathy toward environmental issues. This relationship is mediated by materialism, which increases with heavy television viewing.
5. The State of Cultivation by Michael Morgan and James Shanahan:There are many studies that are mentioned in this article, a few that discussed the effect that media have on society in terms of mental illness. Diefenbach and West conducted a study that found that heavy viewers of TV believe that locating mental services in residential neighborhoods poses a danger to residents. A study by Granello and Pauley (2000) found that heavy viewers expressed less tolerance regarding mental illness. Overall, the studies confirmed that TV’s representation of mentally ill individuals as criminals did, in fact, impact the way viewers regard the mentally ill in reality.
Analysis of the Studies
The above studies contribute to our understanding of the cultivation theory because they confirm it through different examples. The cultivation theory explains that TV veiwing has an impact on viewers' perception of reality. All of the studies listed above prove that the viewing of TV does indeed have that effect. The experiments prove that watching cop shows that involve police and crime does cultivate viewers to believe that the themes of violence, mentally ill criminals and cops' responsibilities are the same in reality as they are in media. The studies also prove that the ethnic stereotypes that are created through sitcoms and movies are taken and applied by viewers in real life. They determine that the materialism that is apparent through reality TV becomes a reality for society as the "must have" mentality develops in viewers. Overall, these studies, as a group, dive into the Cultivation Theory and examine in depth how viewers take themes from TV and insert them into their daily lives and their overall perceptions.
Assessment of the Current State of the Theory
There seems to be more and more interest in the cultivation theory as we become a more media saturated society. Researchers are curious as to what kind of effects media has on its viewers. Recent studies (2010) target very diverse audiences giving a very broad scope of how the cultivation theory applies to people. Studies are becoming more tailored towards very specific TV shows, genres, news programs, and even the effects of watching sports on TV. It appears in the recent studies conducted that media has a greater effect on people than it has in the past. The theory is headed in a new direction because more information is being found supporting the notion that media is powerful and plays a large role in shaping people's realities. As mentioned above, studies have been more focused on specific shows, such as talks shows and make over shows, to determine the very peculiar impacts these shows have on society. There isn't as much opposition to the theory today as there once was, therefore the current state of the theory is focusing more on specific instantces and more narrow topics, to further the understanding of the issues and arguements that the original cultivation theory mentioned.
Study 1
Television News and the Cultivation of Fear of Crime by Aday, Jamieson, and Romer
Summary By: Kala Whyte
This article suggests that because so many people watch violent shows throughout the different media available, they believe that the world is much more violent then it actually is. An example of this would come from the 1990s when polls showed that crime was the number one issue on the minds of the American people. However, police records and victimization studies showed that violent crime had actually decreased throughout the 1990s. Also, many people believe that violent crime is widespread across the country, when actually, studies have shown that violent crime is mostly only reported in low-income areas and not in the suburbs like we usually see on television. Cultivation theory measures the effects that television viewing has on people in relation to the actual reality of the real world. It is said that television portrays a much more violent world than the one that we all actually inhabit. People rely on their memories to make judgments in life and form generalizations. The availability heuristic suggests that repeated exposure to violent crime stories on television, make them the most available memories to retrieve when needing to distinguish a situation. This becomes a problem when television networks are over-exaggerating crime and when local television news stations portray crime as being “out of our control.“ Because of these suggested beliefs, researches conducted a study to get to the bottom of medias true effects on our perception of reality.
The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not watching television, particularly local news and violent programming, causes skewed beliefs of crime rates in America. Researchers hypothesized that fear of crime is in part a by-product of exposure to crime-saturated local television news. To prove their hypothesis, researchers conducted an over the phone survey in the Fall of 1997 using random digit dialing to acquire 1,204 respondents. The respondents were asked to evaluate the personal risk to themselves, their families, and to the American population as a whole regarding the following 13 environmental risks: blood transfusions, coal- and oil- burning power plants, natural disasters, motor vehicles, nuclear power plants, street drugs, lead in dust or paint, electromagnetic fields, stored nuclear waste, vaccines, handguns, and violent crime. Also, respondents were asked to evaluate the following eight risks to the public: cellular phones, airplane travel, tap water, secondhand cigarette smoke, radon in homes, asteroids, multiple sex partners, and chemical manufacturing. These ratings were done in random order for each caller and were recorded using a 4 point scale: almost no risk, slight risk, moderate risk, or high risk. Also, to determine how much the respondents used various media, they were asked to rate how often they used media sources such as: national television news, local television news, radio news programs, television news magazines, Jim Lehrer Newshour, conservative talk radio, Christian broadcasting, daily local newspapers, and national daily newspapers. These were also rated on a 4 point scale including never, rarely, sometimes, or often. Results indicate that respondents viewed various crime-related risks to be among the most serious threats to both the public and to their families. As far as media sources used, local television news was the most frequently used source of news. Nearly 70% reported using it often while 18% claimed they only rely on it sometimes. Next was national television news and then newspapers with a close 60%. The analysis revealed that local television news was a strong predictor of crime risk perceptions. Neither national television news or newspapers could account for this relation. In sum, these results suggest that local television news viewing raises the perceive risk of crime above other risks also covered in the media. In addition, these risks were perceived to extend beyond those that merely affect the general public. This means that the results provide strong support for the television-exposure hypothesis (cultivation theory). High viewers of the local news experience higher levels of perceived crime risk on both personal and societal levels. High viewers rated crime-related risks more severely than lighter viewers. Implications of this study could be the fact that they were phone surveys and therefore did not take into account the race, background, or living area, of the respondents. I believe the area you live in could also skew beliefs or perceptions of crime along with high exposure to television.
Study 2 Television Viewing and Ethnic Stereotypes: Do College Students Form Stereotypical Perceptions of Ethnic Groups as a Result of Heavy Television Consumption? by Moon J. Lee, et al.
Summary By: Jamie Wagner
The purpose of the study discussed in this article was to determine whether heavy television viewing could lead college students to form racial stereotypes. This hypothesis stems from George Gerbner’s Cultivation theory, which states, “information gleaned from television can lead one to hold a generalized view of the world as a mean and dangerous place” (Lee et al. 2009). Moon J. Lee et al. (2009) wanted to see if the amount of television and the types of programs students consumed would lead to the formation of racial stereotypes. The study used the Big-Five personality traits identified by Costa and McCrae; extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness. These factors would be used to gauge whether college students formed positive or negative stereotypes of Caucasians, Asians, African Americans, Latino/Hispanics, or Native Americans.
College students in both the Northwest and Southwest were surveyed as to their ethnic background, media uses and types of programs which they watched on television. The survey participants then rated their perceptions of the five ethnic groups based on the Big-Five personality factors.
The results showed that heavy viewers of television hold predominantly negative stereotypes of Asians and Native Americans, and mixed results for African Americans and Latino/Hispanics. However, the results showed positive perceptions of Caucasians, “Overall, more positive stereotypes of Caucasians were asserted by participants that were heavy television viewers” (Lee et al. 2009). This information makes sense since most media show Caucasians in a positive light. “Overall, respondents who were heavy viewers of television exhibited more negative stereotypes… Specifically, heavy viewers of entertainment, educational, and sports programs appeared to have more negative ethnic perceptions overall” (Lee et al. 2009). The fact that heavy television viewers held more negative stereotypes gives proof to Gerbner’s idea of the mean world syndrome; those who view negativity on television tend to then see the world as mean.
The study showed a positive correlation between heavy television viewing and college students’ formation of stereotypes in general, both positive and negative, which is further proof of Gerbner’s Cultivation theory. “As cultivation would suggest, heavy television consumption would appear to have an impact on the generalized (or stereotypical) perceptions held by subjects. This adds yet another inquiry to this very familiar theoretical tool and may even suggest that cultivation occurs not only as a result of heavy viewing, but heavy viewing of specific program genres” (Lee et al. 2009).
The “Discussion” portion of the article gave interesting insight into the proactive efforts that should be made to dispel these stereotypes; “If the media are responsible for perpetuating stereotypical myths, then consumers must be educated in an effort to combat such erroneous information. If racial stereotypes have an impact on viewer interpretations of reality, then we must be vigilant in our efforts to educate and encourage critical thinking and analysis” (Lee et al. 2009).
Lee, Moon J., et al. "Television Viewing and Ethnic Stereotypes: Do College Students Form Stereotypical Perceptions of Ethnic Groups as a Result of Heavy Television Consumption?." Howard Journal of Communications 20.1 (2009): 95-110. Communication & Mass Media Complete. EBSCO. Web. 16 June 2010.
Study 3 Examining Effects of Television News Violence on College Students Through Cultivation Theory by Meridith Diane Lett, Andrea Lynn DiPietro, and Danette Ifert Johnson
Summary By: Katie Fisher
“Examining Effects of Television News Violence on College Students Through Cultivation Theory” by Meridith Diane Lett, Andrea Lynn DiPietro, and Danette Ifert Johnson is an article that gives an overview on a study conducted after the September 11th 2001 terrorist attacks. The purpose of the study was to investigate, “if there was a relationship between amount of television news viewing and college students' perceptions of reality in light of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001” (Lett, DiPietro, & Johnson, 2004, p. 6). The study applied the cultivation theory which is defined in the article. Detailed in the article are the types of effects on students, the method of how the study was conducted, the results, and the conclusions drawn. There were two types of effects listed called first order effects, and second order effects. The first order effects had to do with “general views about the state of the world and public opinion” and the second order effects “focus[ed] on the effects of television content on viewers' beliefs and general attitudes” (Lett, DiPietro, & Johnson, 2004, p. 3). What the study showed was that there was a positive relationship between amount of news TV watched and perception of reality. They found that students that watched more TV felt negative feelings towards Islamic peers but not towards Islamic people in general.
Lett, M. , DiPietro, A. , & Johnson, D. (2004). Examining effects of television news violence on college students through cultivation theory. Communication Research Reports, 21(1), 39-46. Study 4 Shop ’til We Drop? Television, Materialism and Attitudes About the Natural Environment by Jennifer Good
Summary By: Carly Evers
The article, Shop ’til We Drop? Television, Materialism and Attitudes About the Natural Environment, written by Jennifer Good of Brock University, uses the cultivation theory to explain the correlation between television viewing and the environment. Previous research shows that heavy television viewing creates a sense of apathy toward the environment. Primetime television lacks programming about environmental issues which raises concern about how television viewing can affect ones feelings about the environment when viewers are not watching shows related to the environment. Good believes that materialism mediates viewers feeling about the environment. Previous research also shows that heavy television viewers are more likely to be materialistic. Goods study tested the following hypotheses: Television viewing will be related to lower levels of concern about the natural environment, television viewing will be positively related to materialism and environmental attitudes will be negatively related to materialism. Based on these, her research question asks, does materialism mediate the relationship between television and attitudes about the natural environment? To test her hypotheses, surveys were sent to randomly selected people on two nationals mailing lists. 1,000 Americans were randomly selected from a list provided by a company that specializes in survey list creation. The other 1,000 participants were selected from a list provided by the National Parks Conservation Association. The results supported all three of her hypotheses. Good could then conclude that materialism does in fact mediate the relationship between television and attitudes about the natural environment. Her research supports the basis of the cultivation theory. Heavy television viewing has an effect on the viewer’s perception of the real world.
Good, J. (2007). Shop 'til We Drop? Television, Materialism and Attitudes About the Natural Environment. Mass Communication & Society, 10(3), 365-383. doi:10.1080/15205430701407165.
Study 5 The State of Cultivation by Morgan and Shanahan
Summary By: Daina Yousif
In this article, many studies are referenced, but a few are looked at in detail. The studies I would like to look at in depth are the studies that looked at how talk shows influence society. The purpose of this study was to take Gerbner’s theory of Cultivation to the next level and see whether different types of programming impacted viewers differently. These studies were mentioned as comparisons to other studies that looked at how different programming, such as talk shows, cop shows, makeover TV, entertainment shows, etc., impacted individuals. In the studies that were conducted, many hypotheses were developed. Dominick developed a hypotheses in 2001 that said that exposure to talk shows would influence the beliefs about the frequency of marital infidelity, running away from home and premarital sex. His experiment found that talk show exposure were better predictors of those dependent variables than overall TV exposure. Through a prolonged exposure experiment, Rossler and Brosius determined that talk shows cultivated adolescents' perceptions of homosexuality. Glynn, Huge, Reineke, Hardy and Shanahan conducted an experiment in 2007 that tested their hypothesis that heavier viewers of talk shows would be more supportive of activist and interventionist government policies in support of families. Their hypothesis was confirmed as the experiment determined that conservatives who were heavy talk show viewers were especially more likely to support such policies than they normally would. Overall, the research and experimenting mentioned above confirms the cultivation theory’s major conclusion that TV cultivates viewers’ perceptions of reality. The experiments look at it more closely and determine that different TV, such as talk shows, impact viewers differently. For example, talk shows that expose social issues such as underage sex and marital problems cause viewers to believe that these things occur more frequently than they normally do, therefore changing their attitudes and behaviors towards these issues.
Morgan, M., & Shanahan, J. (2010). The state of culti vation. Journal of broadcasting & electronic media, 1, 337-351. Retrieved June 11, 2010, from the Proquest database.
Cultivation Theory
By: Kala Whyte, Jamie Wagner, Katie Fisher, Carly Evers, Daina Yousif
Who Introduced the Theory?
George Gerbner
Dr. Gerbner came to the United States in 1939 where received his B.A. in Journalism from the University of California and his M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Southern California. He was a media critic and a Professor and Dean of the The Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania from 1964 through 1989 among other institutions. In 1968 Gerbner founded the Cultural Indicators Research Project, which tracked and catalogued the content of television programs, and surveyed viewers to record the impact of that programming on their perceptions and attitudes. In 1990, he founded the Cultural Environment Movement, an advocacy group working for greater diversity in media.
Larry Gross
Larry Gross is the director of the School of Communication at the University of Southern California Annenberg. Previously he taught at the University of Pennsylvania where he co-directed the Cultural Indicators Project with George Gerbner from 1971 to 1991. The Cultural Indicators Project introduced the cultivation theory.
What is Cultivation Theory?
Cultivation Theory states exposure to television, over time, subtly “cultivates” viewers’ perceptions of reality. This theory was first discovered in 1969 by George Gerbner and Larry Gross at the University of Pennsylvania. They founded the Cultural Indicators Research Project in 1968 to track changes in television content and how those changes affect viewers' perceptions of the world. Its database has information on more than 3,000 television programs and 35,000 characters. This theory was explored because Gerbner believed that television was becoming the main source of storytelling in society and that it was falsely exaggerating violence which was, in turn, creating a more fearful populace. Gerbner stated that heavy viewers of television, those who watch more than 4 hours a day, are exposed to more violence and are therefore more susceptible to what he described as the “Mean World Syndrome.” The Mean World Syndrome is an idea that the world is more dangerous and cruel than it actually is. Gerbner believed that viewers’ have no choice whether or not they become effected by the violence, so he thought by exposing them to a theory that explains the process so clearly, he could prevent, or at least help diminish, the belief that the world is a violent, dangerous place. This theory also tries to explain how unrepresented groups of individuals are in society, as well as how stereotyped other groups are as far as race, ethnicity, and religion.
Some events going on in 1969 that media were heavily covering included the Vietnam War and the “Helter Skelter” event involving the death of actress Sharon Tate and six others by Charles Manson and his cult. As you can probably imagine, this was a lot of death and violence being covered in the media which scared many people at this point in time, forcing them to believe that the world was full of chaos and death which made many people scared to leave their homes and continue on with their everyday lives. Now was as good a time as any to see how media coverage of violence effected the views of those watching.
Main Concepts of the Theory
One main conclusion of the cultivation theory is the Mean World Syndrome. Heavy television viewers are exposed to more media violence. This results in viewers being convinced that world is more dangerous than it actually is. Cultivation can take place in two ways: Mainstreaming and Resonance. With heavy television viewers, TV symbols begin to take precedent over real life symbols. “Consequently, people's constructed social realities move toward the mainstream. In other words, the culturally dominant reality is more similar to the reality television portrays than the objective, external reality”( Ricci, 2009). Gerbner described resonance as, “The pertinent ideas and themes on television that hold relevance for viewers” (Gulisano, 2008). If a viewer has a real life experience, and then witness it while watching TV, the theme gets reinforced. This leads the viewer to believe that this experience is commonplace.
Conducted Studies Using the Cultivation Theory
1. Television News and the Cultivation of Fear of Crime by Aday, Jamieson, and Romer - This study was conducted using to see the extent to which people are actually effected by watching television in regards to their beliefs of crime in reality.
2. Television Viewing and Ethnic Stereotypes:
Do College Students Form Stereotypical Perceptions of Ethnic Groups as a Result of Heavy Television Consumption? by Moon J. Lee, et al. - The purpose of the study discussed in this article was to determine whether heavy television viewing could lead college students to form racial stereotypes.
3. Examining Effects of Television News Violence on College Students Through Cultivation Theory by Meridith Diane Lett, Andrea Lynn DiPietro, and Danette Ifert Johnson - The purpose of the study wasa to investigate, "if there wasa a relationship between amount of television news viewing and college students' perceptions of reality in light of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001."
4. Shop 'til We Drop? Television, Materialism and Attitudes About the Natural Environment by Jennifer Good - This study looks at the correlation between heavy television viewing and feelings of apathy toward environmental issues. This relationship is mediated by materialism, which increases with heavy television viewing.
5. The State of Cultivation by Michael Morgan and James Shanahan: There are many studies that are mentioned in this article, a few that discussed the effect that media have on society in terms of mental illness. Diefenbach and West conducted a study that found that heavy viewers of TV believe that locating mental services in residential neighborhoods poses a danger to residents. A study by Granello and Pauley (2000) found that heavy viewers expressed less tolerance regarding mental illness. Overall, the studies confirmed that TV’s representation of mentally ill individuals as criminals did, in fact, impact the way viewers regard the mentally ill in reality.
Analysis of the Studies
The above studies contribute to our understanding of the cultivation theory because they confirm it through different examples. The cultivation theory explains that TV veiwing has an impact on viewers' perception of reality. All of the studies listed above prove that the viewing of TV does indeed have that effect. The experiments prove that watching cop shows that involve police and crime does cultivate viewers to believe that the themes of violence, mentally ill criminals and cops' responsibilities are the same in reality as they are in media. The studies also prove that the ethnic stereotypes that are created through sitcoms and movies are taken and applied by viewers in real life. They determine that the materialism that is apparent through reality TV becomes a reality for society as the "must have" mentality develops in viewers. Overall, these studies, as a group, dive into the Cultivation Theory and examine in depth how viewers take themes from TV and insert them into their daily lives and their overall perceptions.
Assessment of the Current State of the Theory
There seems to be more and more interest in the cultivation theory as we become a more media saturated society. Researchers are curious as to what kind of effects media has on its viewers. Recent studies (2010) target very diverse audiences giving a very broad scope of how the cultivation theory applies to people. Studies are becoming more tailored towards very specific TV shows, genres, news programs, and even the effects of watching sports on TV. It appears in the recent studies conducted that media has a greater effect on people than it has in the past. The theory is headed in a new direction because more information is being found supporting the notion that media is powerful and plays a large role in shaping people's realities. As mentioned above, studies have been more focused on specific shows, such as talks shows and make over shows, to determine the very peculiar impacts these shows have on society. There isn't as much opposition to the theory today as there once was, therefore the current state of the theory is focusing more on specific instantces and more narrow topics, to further the understanding of the issues and arguements that the original cultivation theory mentioned.
Study 1
Television News and the Cultivation of Fear of Crime by Aday, Jamieson, and Romer
Summary By: Kala Whyte
This article suggests that because so many people watch violent shows throughout the different media available, they believe that the world is much more violent then it actually is. An example of this would come from the 1990s when polls showed that crime was the number one issue on the minds of the American people. However, police records and victimization studies showed that violent crime had actually decreased throughout the 1990s. Also, many people believe that violent crime is widespread across the country, when actually, studies have shown that violent crime is mostly only reported in low-income areas and not in the suburbs like we usually see on television. Cultivation theory measures the effects that television viewing has on people in relation to the actual reality of the real world. It is said that television portrays a much more violent world than the one that we all actually inhabit. People rely on their memories to make judgments in life and form generalizations. The availability heuristic suggests that repeated exposure to violent crime stories on television, make them the most available memories to retrieve when needing to distinguish a situation. This becomes a problem when television networks are over-exaggerating crime and when local television news stations portray crime as being “out of our control.“ Because of these suggested beliefs, researches conducted a study to get to the bottom of medias true effects on our perception of reality.
The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not watching television, particularly local news and violent programming, causes skewed beliefs of crime rates in America. Researchers hypothesized that fear of crime is in part a by-product of exposure to crime-saturated local television news. To prove their hypothesis, researchers conducted an over the phone survey in the Fall of 1997 using random digit dialing to acquire 1,204 respondents. The respondents were asked to evaluate the personal risk to themselves, their families, and to the American population as a whole regarding the following 13 environmental risks: blood transfusions, coal- and oil- burning power plants, natural disasters, motor vehicles, nuclear power plants, street drugs, lead in dust or paint, electromagnetic fields, stored nuclear waste, vaccines, handguns, and violent crime. Also, respondents were asked to evaluate the following eight risks to the public: cellular phones, airplane travel, tap water, secondhand cigarette smoke, radon in homes, asteroids, multiple sex partners, and chemical manufacturing. These ratings were done in random order for each caller and were recorded using a 4 point scale: almost no risk, slight risk, moderate risk, or high risk. Also, to determine how much the respondents used various media, they were asked to rate how often they used media sources such as: national television news, local television news, radio news programs, television news magazines, Jim Lehrer Newshour, conservative talk radio, Christian broadcasting, daily local newspapers, and national daily newspapers. These were also rated on a 4 point scale including never, rarely, sometimes, or often. Results indicate that respondents viewed various crime-related risks to be among the most serious threats to both the public and to their families. As far as media sources used, local television news was the most frequently used source of news. Nearly 70% reported using it often while 18% claimed they only rely on it sometimes. Next was national television news and then newspapers with a close 60%. The analysis revealed that local television news was a strong predictor of crime risk perceptions. Neither national television news or newspapers could account for this relation. In sum, these results suggest that local television news viewing raises the perceive risk of crime above other risks also covered in the media. In addition, these risks were perceived to extend beyond those that merely affect the general public. This means that the results provide strong support for the television-exposure hypothesis (cultivation theory). High viewers of the local news experience higher levels of perceived crime risk on both personal and societal levels. High viewers rated crime-related risks more severely than lighter viewers. Implications of this study could be the fact that they were phone surveys and therefore did not take into account the race, background, or living area, of the respondents. I believe the area you live in could also skew beliefs or perceptions of crime along with high exposure to television.Aday, S., Jamieson, K. H., & Romer, D. (2003). Television News and the Cultivation of Fear of Crime. Journal of Communication, 53,
88-104. Retrieved from http://people.stu.ca/~mccormic/3263/articles/RomerFear2003.pdf
Study 2
Television Viewing and Ethnic Stereotypes: Do College Students Form Stereotypical Perceptions of Ethnic Groups as a Result of Heavy Television Consumption? by Moon J. Lee, et al.
Summary By: Jamie Wagner
The purpose of the study discussed in this article was to determine whether heavy television viewing could lead college students to form racial stereotypes. This hypothesis stems from George Gerbner’s Cultivation theory, which states, “information gleaned from television can lead one to hold a generalized view of the world as a mean and dangerous place” (Lee et al. 2009). Moon J. Lee et al. (2009) wanted to see if the amount of television and the types of programs students consumed would lead to the formation of racial stereotypes. The study used the Big-Five personality traits identified by Costa and McCrae; extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness. These factors would be used to gauge whether college students formed positive or negative stereotypes of Caucasians, Asians, African Americans, Latino/Hispanics, or Native Americans.
College students in both the Northwest and Southwest were surveyed as to their ethnic background, media uses and types of programs which they watched on television. The survey participants then rated their perceptions of the five ethnic groups based on the Big-Five personality factors.
The results showed that heavy viewers of television hold predominantly negative stereotypes of Asians and Native Americans, and mixed results for African Americans and Latino/Hispanics. However, the results showed positive perceptions of Caucasians, “Overall, more positive stereotypes of Caucasians were asserted by participants that were heavy television viewers” (Lee et al. 2009). This information makes sense since most media show Caucasians in a positive light. “Overall, respondents who were heavy viewers of television exhibited more negative stereotypes… Specifically, heavy viewers of entertainment, educational, and sports programs appeared to have more negative ethnic perceptions overall” (Lee et al. 2009). The fact that heavy television viewers held more negative stereotypes gives proof to Gerbner’s idea of the mean world syndrome; those who view negativity on television tend to then see the world as mean.
The study showed a positive correlation between heavy television viewing and college students’ formation of stereotypes in general, both positive and negative, which is further proof of Gerbner’s Cultivation theory. “As cultivation would suggest, heavy television consumption would appear to have an impact on the generalized (or stereotypical) perceptions held by subjects. This adds yet another inquiry to this very familiar theoretical tool and may even suggest that cultivation occurs not only as a result of heavy viewing, but heavy viewing of specific program genres” (Lee et al. 2009).
The “Discussion” portion of the article gave interesting insight into the proactive efforts that should be made to dispel these stereotypes; “If the media are responsible for perpetuating stereotypical myths, then consumers must be educated in an effort to combat such erroneous information. If racial stereotypes have an impact on viewer interpretations of reality, then we must be vigilant in our efforts to educate and encourage critical thinking and analysis” (Lee et al. 2009).
Lee, Moon J., et al. "Television Viewing and Ethnic Stereotypes: Do College Students Form Stereotypical Perceptions of Ethnic Groups as a Result of Heavy Television Consumption?." Howard Journal of Communications 20.1 (2009): 95-110. Communication & Mass Media Complete. EBSCO. Web. 16 June 2010.
http://libproxy.sdsu.edu/ login?url=http://search. ebscohost.com/login.aspx? direct=true&db=ufh&AN= 36323714&site=ehost-live
Study 3
Examining Effects of Television News Violence on College Students Through Cultivation Theory by Meridith Diane Lett, Andrea Lynn DiPietro, and Danette Ifert Johnson
Summary By: Katie Fisher
“Examining Effects of Television News Violence on College Students Through Cultivation Theory” by Meridith Diane Lett, Andrea Lynn DiPietro, and Danette Ifert Johnson is an article that gives an overview on a study conducted after the September 11th 2001 terrorist attacks. The purpose of the study was to investigate, “if there was a relationship between amount of television news viewing and college students' perceptions of reality in light of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001” (Lett, DiPietro, & Johnson, 2004, p. 6). The study applied the cultivation theory which is defined in the article. Detailed in the article are the types of effects on students, the method of how the study was conducted, the results, and the conclusions drawn. There were two types of effects listed called first order effects, and second order effects. The first order effects had to do with “general views about the state of the world and public opinion” and the second order effects “focus[ed] on the effects of television content on viewers' beliefs and general attitudes” (Lett, DiPietro, & Johnson, 2004, p. 3). What the study showed was that there was a positive relationship between amount of news TV watched and perception of reality. They found that students that watched more TV felt negative feelings towards Islamic peers but not towards Islamic people in general.
Lett, M. , DiPietro, A. , & Johnson, D. (2004). Examining effects of television news violence on college students through cultivation theory. Communication Research Reports, 21(1), 39-46.
Study 4
Shop ’til We Drop? Television, Materialism and Attitudes About the Natural Environment by Jennifer Good
Summary By: Carly Evers
The article, Shop ’til We Drop? Television, Materialism and Attitudes About the Natural Environment, written by Jennifer Good of Brock University, uses the cultivation theory to explain the correlation between television viewing and the environment. Previous research shows that heavy television viewing creates a sense of apathy toward the environment. Primetime television lacks programming about environmental issues which raises concern about how television viewing can affect ones feelings about the environment when viewers are not watching shows related to the environment. Good believes that materialism mediates viewers feeling about the environment. Previous research also shows that heavy television viewers are more likely to be materialistic. Goods study tested the following hypotheses: Television viewing will be related to lower levels of concern about the natural environment, television viewing will be positively related to materialism and environmental attitudes will be negatively related to materialism. Based on these, her research question asks, does materialism mediate the relationship between television and attitudes about the natural environment? To test her hypotheses, surveys were sent to randomly selected people on two nationals mailing lists. 1,000 Americans were randomly selected from a list provided by a company that specializes in survey list creation. The other 1,000 participants were selected from a list provided by the National Parks Conservation Association. The results supported all three of her hypotheses. Good could then conclude that materialism does in fact mediate the relationship between television and attitudes about the natural environment. Her research supports the basis of the cultivation theory. Heavy television viewing has an effect on the viewer’s perception of the real world.
Good, J. (2007). Shop 'til We Drop? Television, Materialism and Attitudes About the Natural Environment. Mass Communication & Society, 10(3), 365-383. doi:10.1080/15205430701407165.
Study 5
The State of Cultivation by Morgan and Shanahan
Summary By: Daina Yousif
In this article, many studies are referenced, but a few are looked at in detail. The studies I would like to look at in depth are the studies that looked at how talk shows influence society. The purpose of this study was to take Gerbner’s theory of Cultivation to the next level and see whether different types of programming impacted viewers differently. These studies were mentioned as comparisons to other studies that looked at how different programming, such as talk shows, cop shows, makeover TV, entertainment shows, etc., impacted individuals.
In the studies that were conducted, many hypotheses were developed. Dominick developed a hypotheses in 2001 that said that exposure to talk shows would influence the beliefs about the frequency of marital infidelity, running away from home and premarital sex. His experiment found that talk show exposure were better predictors of those dependent variables than overall TV exposure. Through a prolonged exposure experiment, Rossler and Brosius determined that talk shows cultivated adolescents' perceptions of homosexuality. Glynn, Huge, Reineke, Hardy and Shanahan conducted an experiment in 2007 that tested their hypothesis that heavier viewers of talk shows would be more supportive of activist and interventionist government policies in support of families. Their hypothesis was confirmed as the experiment determined that conservatives who were heavy talk show viewers were especially more likely to support such policies than they normally would.
Overall, the research and experimenting mentioned above confirms the cultivation theory’s major conclusion that TV cultivates viewers’ perceptions of reality. The experiments look at it more closely and determine that different TV, such as talk shows, impact viewers differently. For example, talk shows that expose social issues such as underage sex and marital problems cause viewers to believe that these things occur more frequently than they normally do, therefore changing their attitudes and behaviors towards these issues.
Morgan, M., & Shanahan, J. (2010). The state of culti vation. Journal of broadcasting & electronic media, 1, 337-351. Retrieved June 11, 2010, from the Proquest database.
http://content.ebscohost.com.libproxy.sdsu.edu/pdf23_24/pdf/2010/JBE/01Apr10/50791720.pdf?T=P&P=AN&K=50791720&EbscoContent=dGJyMNHr7ESeqK44yOvsOLCmr0ieqK5Ss6a4TbCWxWXS&ContentCustomer=dGJyMPHa8Y2549%2BB7LH4S7errgAA&D=ufh
Bibliography