Media Effect, Cultivation and Socialization of Identity

What is Identity? Commonly thought of as a finite conception of “being-ness,” the essence of self Actually it is a complex system of “a sense of our subjective personhood” (Singer & Singer, 2001) There are many facets to a person’s identity as a complex system of understanding One is constantly adjusting the concepts of “sociocultural” (2001) influence and physiological habits i·den·ti·ty   n. pl. i·den·ti·ties 1. The collective aspect of the set of characteristics by which a thing is definitively recognizable or known: "If the broadcast group is the financial guts of the company, the news division is its public identity" Bill Powell. 2. The set of behavioral or personal characteristics by which an individual is recognizable as a member of a group. 3. The quality or condition of being the same as something else. 4. The distinct personality of an individual regarded as a persisting entity; individuality. 5. Mathematics a. An equation that is satisfied by any number that replaces the letter for which the equation is defined. b. Identity element.

Modernity, TV to Internet *LINK "The longer we live with television, the more invisible it becomes." (Gerbner, Gross) Existential Anxieties Constant Development Identity “Baskets” in the “Scope of Self Model” (Harrison, 2006)

Media and Identity Comstock 1993 – there is no direct affect of media, but it certainly influences what people are thinking about Gerbner – Cultivation Theory There is a gradual accumulation of mass media content building into a person’s environment in which it starts to affect and contribute to their beliefs and social norms

Facets of Identity Gender Sexuality Race/Ethnicity Class/Work Feminism looks at identity as a an imposition from one group upon another, In effect forcing a group to internalize others' demands for their exploitation, constituting a powerful form of hegemony Sexuality Race/Ethnicity Class/Work SOCIAL and CULTURAL HOMOGENIZERS (Morgan, 1986) (explored in content analysis)

The Archetypal Characters 1985 The jock The princess The weirdo The Nerd The punk The Archetypal Characters

"The pervasiveness of the media, and the extent to which their stories permeate family life, peer interaction, and the entire process of growing up, means that young people today have far more vicarious experiences of other people and roles that ever before." The princess The Nerd The weirdo 1995

"All together, the massive flow of popular images, representations, and symbolic models disseminated by the media profoundly shapes what young people think about the world and how they perceive themselves in relation to it." The princess The princess The jock The princess The princess 2005

The princess *LINK

Media the Identity Tool "The media provide an extraordinary quantity of examples of different types of people behaving in different types of ways in different types of situations. Yet just under the surface of this cast flow of images lie systematic patterns of inclusion and exclusion of convention and stereotypes, reflecting ideology and social power." Identity seems to be similar to that of gravity (a force that pulls down or a force being pushed down).  Is it something all encompassing, originating from within or is it externally and socially defined Psychology, Sociology and Publicity perform empirical ways to create identity buckets to simplify mass identity (via Eddy Bernays, Sigmund Freud’s nephew)  “The engineering of consent is the very essence of the democratic process, the freedom to persuade and suggest.” – (Edward L. Bernays, "The Engineering of Consent", 1947) **Torches of Freedom