29 Cultivation Theory of George Gerbner

Cultivation Theory

Slide 3 Cultivation Theory Gerbner claimed that heavy television users develop an exaggerated belief in a mean and scary world Regarded television as dominant force in shaping modern society Power comes from symbolic content of real-life drama Theory not limited to TV or violence

Cultivation Theory Violence, a major staple of the TV world Slide 4 Cultivation Theory Violence, a major staple of the TV world Gerbner concerned that violence affects viewers’ beliefs about the world around them and the feelings connected to those beliefs Regards all violence as the same (cartoon violence is the same as sports violence and criminal violence) and equally harmful.

Institutional Process Slide 5 Cultivation Theory Institutional Process Analysis Message System Analysis Cultivation Process Analysis

Institutional Process Analysis – The First Prong Slide 6 Institutional Process Analysis – The First Prong Institutional process analysis: scholarship that penetrates behind the scenes of media organizations in an effort to understand what policies or practices might be lurking there Media owners concerned with how to export their products globally for maximum profit at minimum cost.

Media Ownership

Message System Analysis – The Second Prong Slide 8 Message System Analysis – The Second Prong Message system analysis: scholarship that involves careful, systematic study of TV content, usually employing content analysis as a research method Dramatic violence – overt expression or threat of physical force as part of plot Definition rules out verbal abuse, idle threats, and pie-in-the-face slapstick Annual index of violence remarkably high and stable

Cultivation Analysis – The Third Prong Slide 9 Cultivation Analysis – The Third Prong Cultivation analysis: research designed to find support for the notion that those who spend more time watching TV are more likely to see the eal world through TV lens Heavy viewers – TV viewers who report they watch at least four hours per day.

Mainstreaming: Blurring, Blending, and Bending of Attitudes Slide 10 Mainstreaming: Blurring, Blending, and Bending of Attitudes Mainstreaming: blurring, blending, and bending process by which heavy TV viewers from disparate groups develop a common outlook through constant exposure to the same images and labels. What appears on TV is perceived as the norm.

Maintreaming What does TV put on primetime?

Resonance: The TV World Looks Like My World, So It Must Be True Slide 12 Resonance: The TV World Looks Like My World, So It Must Be True Resonance: condition that exists when viewers’ real-life environment is like the world of TV; those viewers are most susceptible to TV’s cultivating power Viewers who perceive that the world depicted on TV was like their own world get “double dose” of the same message

Resonance How do we learn the “TV answer?”

Research on Cultivation Analysis Slide 14 Research on Cultivation Analysis Cultivation differential – difference in percent giving the “TV answer” within comparable groups of light and heavy viewers (There is no before-television condition because TV enters people’s lives in infancy) Cultivation unfolds gradually through steady accumulation of TV’s messages Methodology relies on surveys

The Major Findings of Cultivation Analysis Slide 15 The Major Findings of Cultivation Analysis Research revealed provocative findings Positive correlation between TV viewing and fear of criminal victimization Perceived activity of police General mistrust of people

The Major Findings of Cultivation Analysis Slide 16 The Major Findings of Cultivation Analysis Mean world syndrome: cynical mindset of general mistrust of others, subscribed to by heavy TV viewers HOW DO YOU RATE?

Critique: How Strong Is the Evidence in Favor of the Theory? Slide 17 Critique: How Strong Is the Evidence in Favor of the Theory? Critics have challenged the claim that dramatic television content creates a fearful climate makes sense for most people. Definition of violence Programs he selects for content analysis Non-random methods for selecting respondents Statistical method of analyzing data Interpretation of correlational data

Critique: Cultivation Theory Slide 18 Critique: Cultivation Theory Critics contend Gerbner’s original assumptions no longer valid with expansion of television programming (narrowcasting) No longitudinal research—lacks testability Effects sizes are small

Cultivation Theory Model Hawkins & Pingree (1983) Heavy/light viewer Resonance Mainstreaming

The reality we create based on the content of the media we consume Dependent Variables Media Perceptions The reality we create based on the content of the media we consume Source credibility Victimization/crime Body image Minority stereotypes

Independent Variables Resonance Mainstreaming Media types Media usage (heavy/light) Demographics NEED OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS

Operational Definitions Indicates the precise concrete or physical steps the researcher will take in order to identify the variable. Let’s look at a few EXAMPLES ….

Operational Definitions Resonance—how much a subject identifies with the characters in the media he/she consumes Mainstreaming—the network television programing that aires between 7-10pm

Activity If using Cultivation Theory, write Operational definitions for dependent variable Research questions and/or hypotheses If using Social Learning Theory, decide on specific type of media exposure (i.e., picture, video, advertisement, blog post, song, etc.)