1. Media Effects and Cultural Approaches to Research
Chapter 15

2. Blame the Media!
Media have been blamed for many things (violence, suicide, eating disorders…)
Two major types of research in these effects:
1. Media Effects: attempts to correlate effects of mass media on individuals and society
2. Cultural Studies: focuses on how people make sense of the world around them through the use of cultural symbols
--Also examine how status quo groups in society use media to circulate messages and sustain their interests

3. One of the first researchers: Walter Lippmann
Early Research …
One of the first researchers: Walter Lippmann
Lippmann’s “Public Opinion” (1922): first to apply psychology to journalism
Considered by many to be the founding book of American media studies

4. Propaganda Analysis
After WWI, researchers looked at how government used propaganda to advance war effort
Harold Lasswell’s study (1927) “Propaganda Technique in the World” focused on propaganda in the media and defined it as:
The Control of opinion by significant symbols, stories, rumors, reports, pictures, and other forms of social communication
Propaganda became a major early focus of mass media research

5. Social Psychology Studies
Measure the behavior and cognition of individuals
First study: Payne Fund Studies ( ): studied effects of motion pictures (result was that frequent movie viewing is linked to juvenile delinquency, promiscuity, and other antisocial behaviors)
These results led to the MPPC (Motion Picture Production Codes) by the industry, and the studies became the model for media research

6. Theories of Media Effects
The Hypodermic-Needle Model
The Minimal-Effects Model
The Uses and Gratifications Model

7. The Hypodermic-Needle Model (AKA Magic Bullet Theory)
Suggests media shoot potent effects directly into victims.
War of the Worlds: Hadley Cantril did a study of listeners to the War of the World’s broadcast and concluded that not all listeners believed that it was real
Theory has been disproved through many studies, but many still attribute direct effects to mass media, particularly with children

8. Minimal-Effects Model (AKA Limited Models)
Theorized that people engage in selective exposure and selective retention with regard to the media (people expose themselves to media messages familiar to them and retain messages that confirm the values and attitudes they already have)
Says in most cases, mass media reinforce existing behaviors and attitudes rather than change them
Study of children and TV by Wilbur Schramm, Jack Lyle, and Edwin Parker (late 1950s) found that some children are and aren’t affected by television under the same conditions
The Effects of Mass Communication Study (1960) by Joseph Klapper: found that mass media only influenced individuals not already holding strong views on an issue and that mass media have a greater impact on poor, uneducated audiences
He concluded that strong media effects are more on an individual level and don’t appear to have large-scale, measurable and direct effects on society as a whole

9. The Uses and Gratification Model
Asks “why” instead of “what”
Used to see how people employ media to fulfill their needs
Studies the functions of the mass media for individuals but didn’t show impact of the media, which resulted in this theory never becoming a dominant or enduring one in media research

10. Contemporary Media Effects Theories
--Began in the 1960s, with doctoral candidates of mass communication did research
Social Learning Theory
Agenda-Setting
The Cultivation Effect
Spiral of Silence
The Third Person Effect

11. Social Learning Theory
Albert Bandura, 1960s
Suggests individuals imitate behavior learned from mass media

12. Agenda-Setting Theory
The idea that mass media set major topics of discussion for individuals and society
Researchers say mass media doesn’t tell us what to think but what to think about
Also influences news media’s coverage of topics

13. The Cultivation Effect
Suggests heavy viewing of television leads to individuals perceiving the world as it is portrayed on television (George Gerbner)
Gerbner argued that exaggerated perceptions of world (more violent than it really is) are part of “mean world syndrome”, where viewers with heavy, long-term exposure to TV violence are more likely to believe that the external world is a mean, dangerous place
Critics say there is limited evidence to support theory and that viewers’ and non-viewers’ perceptions of “mean world
syndrome” are identical

14. Spiral of Silence Noelle-Neumann, 1970s
links mass media, social psychology, and the formation of public opinion
Proposes that those who believe their views on controversial issues are in the minority will remain silent for fear of social isolation
Theory says that the mass media can help create a false, overrated majority (especially television)

15. The Third-Person Effect
Theorized in 1983 by W. Phillips Davison
Suggests that people believe others are more affected by media messages than they are themselves
We worry about others being affected by the media, when it could happen to us