THE DYNAMICS OF MASS COMMUNCATION Joseph R. Dominick University of Georgia--Athens

1. THE DYNAMICS OF MASS COMMUNCATION Joseph R. Dominick University of Georgia--Athens

2. Impact of the Media

3. Chapter 18 Social Effects of Mass Communication • Investigating Mass Communication Effects • Effects on Knowledge and Attitudes • Media Effects on Behavior: A Short History • The Impact of Televised Violence • Encouraging Prosocial Behavior • Other Behavior Effects • Research about the Social Effects of the Internet • Communication in the Future: Society Impact Chapter Outline

4. Investigating Mass Communication Effects • 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

5. Effects on Knowledge and Attitudes • 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

6. Effects on Knowledge and Attitudes Media and Socialization Figure 18-1 Agencies of Socialization

7. Effects on Knowledge and Attitudes • 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 The Media as Primary Source of Information

8. Effects on Knowledge and Attitudes TV is an important socialization agent when… Shaping Attitudes, Perceptions, and Beliefs • TV presents stereotypes • 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 • young people are heavy viewers • 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 • there is no alternative information • 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

9. Effects on Knowledge and Attitudes • 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. Cultivation Analysis

10. Effects on Knowledge and Attitudes • 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 Cultivation Analysis

11. Effects on Knowledge and Attitudes • 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 Cultivation Analysis

12. Effects on Knowledge and Attitudes • 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 Children and Television Advertising

13. Effects on Knowledge and Attitudes • 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 Agenda Setting

14. Effects on Knowledge and Attitudes • 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 Agenda Setting

15. Media Effects on Behavior: A Short History • 1940s: Surveys examine political influence when President Roosevelt airs fireside chats • 1950-60s: 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

16. The Impact of Televised Violence • 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

17. The Impact of Televised Violence • 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

18. The Impact of Televised Violence • 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

19. Encouraging Prosocial Behavior • 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

20. Other Behavior Effects • Political Behavior • Voter turnout studies • Negative political advertising • The difficulty of candidate conversion • Reinforcement • Crystallization • Presidential debates

21. Other Behavior Effects • 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

22. Research about the Social Effectsof the Internet • 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”

23. Communication in the Future: Social Impact What might the future bring? • Less privacy • Email Databases Buying habits • Identity theft • Fragmentation and Isolation • Selectivity Cocooning • Escape • Video games HDTV • William Gibson’s Neuromancer