McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. THE DYNAMICS OF MASS COMMUNCATION Joseph R. Dominick University of Georgia--Athens

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. Impact of the Media

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. Chapter 18 Social Effects of Mass Communication  Investigating Mass Communication Effects Investigating Mass Communication Effects  Effects on Knowledge and Attitudes Effects on Knowledge and Attitudes  Media Effects on Behavior: A Short History Media Effects on Behavior: A Short History  The Impact of Televised Violence The Impact of Televised Violence  Encouraging Prosocial Behavior Encouraging Prosocial Behavior  Other Behavior Effects Other Behavior Effects  Research about the Social Effects of the Internet Research about the Social Effects of the Internet  Communication in the Future: Society Impact Communication in the Future: Society Impact Chapter Outline

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. Scientific approaches to studying media effects Surveys –Large groups of people answer questions –Do not prove cause and effect relationships –Do suggest associations –Panel studies More reliable, more expensive Study groups over long time periods Experiments –In a laboratory or in the field –Manipulate factors to determine impact on other factors Investigating Mass Communication Effects

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. Media and Socialization The Media as a Primary Source of Information Shaping Attitudes, Perceptions, and Beliefs Cultivation Analysis Media and Socialization Children and Television Advertising Agenda Setting Effects on Knowledge and Attitudes

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. Effects on Knowledge and Attitudes Media and Socialization Figure 18-1 Agencies of Socialization

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. Learning important in socialization The mass media serve as important sources of information –Often the prime source –Wide range of topics: politics, crime, health, the environment 90% of Americans learned about 9/11 from TV Effects on Knowledge and Attitudes The Media as Primary Source of Information

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. TV is an important socialization agent when… Effects on Knowledge and Attitudes Shaping Attitudes, Perceptions, and Beliefs  young people are heavy viewers  there is no alternative information  Stereotypes can be at odds with Real Life (RL)  ~30% of TV programs are about crime and law enforcement and 90% of TV crimes are solved  On TV, 60% of crimes are violent (vs. 10% in RL)  Portrayal of Arab men on TV  Heavy viewers of violent TV programs are likely to favor use of violence in RL  Children who are heavy viewers of police shows believe police are more successful than in RL  Link between heavy viewing and attitudes that favor traditional sex roles  Research in this area is inconsistent  Under some circumstances, TV affects young people’s attitudes if there is no relevant alternative input  Example: dating behavior  TV presents stereotypes

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. George Gerbner and colleagues at University of Pennsylvania Thesis: Heavy TV viewing “cultivates” perceptions of reality consistent with the view of the world presented in TV programs. Effects on Knowledge and Attitudes Cultivation Analysis

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. Methodology –Step 1: Identify predominant themes and messages in television content –Step 2: Examine what viewers absorb from heavy exposure to TV. Viewers respond to questionnaires with “real world” or “TV world” answers Effects on Knowledge and Attitudes Cultivation Analysis

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. Most research finds a cultivation effect –Three complications Questions of cause and effect (ex: going out at night) Controlling for other factors weakens the result Technical issues such as method of counting viewing hours and wording of questions can affect findings significantly –Mainstreaming; Resonance Effects on Knowledge and Attitudes Cultivation Analysis

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. Typical child sees 20,000 TV commercials annually: toys, cereals, candy, fast-food Action for Children’s Television –Children are vulnerable and subject to exploitation. –Younger children may be deceived by TV ads –Long-term exposure to TV ads could hurt a child’s socialization as a future consumer Effects on Knowledge and Attitudes Children and Television Advertising

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. Choosing and emphasizing topics can cause the public to perceive these issues as important Research suggests –Cause and effect relationships are still unclear –Results hinge on medium being studied –Topic covered can influence agenda setting –Experience with topic influences results Political campaigns Effects on Knowledge and Attitudes Agenda Setting

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. Agenda research has two general fields of study: –Framing – how topics are treated by the media and how that leads us to think about them –Agenda building – examines how media build their agenda of newsworthy items Effects on Knowledge and Attitudes Agenda Setting

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. 1940s: Surveys examine political influence when President Roosevelt airs fireside chats s: Surveys concerned with excessive media violence and influence on children 1970: Exposure to TV violence linked with antisocial behavior 1990s: Congress mandates new TV rating system and use of “V” chip; several bills to regulate TV and movie violence Media Effects on Behavior: A Short History

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. A recent summary of research concludes –A significant correlation exists between viewing violent TV shows and day-to-day aggressive behavior –A relationship is not necessarily cause and effect. –International panel study of children (1986) Weak relationship between viewing TV violence and aggression Pattern of circularity in causation: viewing violent TV  more aggression; being aggressive  watch more violent TV The Impact of Televised Violence

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. Rival Theories Catharsis Theory (Aristotle) –Watching violence purges the urge to be violent Stimulation Theory –Watching violence stimulates you to be more violent Albert Bandura’s Experiment (1960) –Reactions of children seeing a model interact violently with a Bobo doll The Impact of Televised Violence

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. Factors that complicate research –Age, sex –Length and type of violent media content –People with whom the subject watches the media –Social class, family history, economic background Study of Canadian TV in 3 towns (1974+) What Can We Conclude? –Watching television violence does increase aggressive tendencies. The effects are small but not trivial The Impact of Televised Violence

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. Prosocial behavior – cooperation, sharing, self- control, helping Experiments: –Films, TV shows improve child’s self-control –Kids imitate cooperative, generous, and helping behavior portrayed in films or TV Surveys : –Children perceive prosocial messages –Little relationship between viewing prosocial programs and prosocial behavior Prosocial behavior is more subtle than antisocial behavior and harder to perceive Encouraging Prosocial Behavior

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. Political Behavior –Voter turnout studies –Negative political advertising –The difficulty of candidate conversion –Reinforcement –Crystallization –Presidential debates Other Behavior Effects

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. Political Planning and TV –Nominating conventions planned to impact voter –TV has increased the cost of campaigning –Most campaigns organized around TV –Campaign staff include TV image consultants Other Behavior Effects

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. Does Internet use have an effect on other media? –Takes time away from television –A significant source of news Is there a link between heavy Internet use and a user’s social involvement? –Recent surveys find heavier use means more social involvement and a greater number of social contacts –“Rich get richer” Research about the Social Effects of the Internet

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. What might the future bring?  Less privacy   Databases  Buying habits  Identity theft  Fragmentation and Isolation  Selectivity  Cocooning  Escape  Video games  HDTV  William Gibson’s Neuromancer Communication in the Future: Social Impact