Media Effects – April 10, 2014- Do media affect individuals/society?o Are video games too violent for kids?o Does the Internet affect the process of democracy?o These questions, and others like them, are held everywhere, in all parts of society. - Common misperceptionso “Media is not real, and people know that it is not real.”o “It is only play/entertainment.”o “It is just a reflection of society, not a change agent in it.”o “It only reinforces existing beliefs and values.”o “If it impacts anything, it is just trivial things, like fads and fashion.”- The question “Do media affect individuals/society” is really a bad question – it is not a matter of opinion but rather a subject of (social) science research!o The question here really is about – In what ways does media influence individuals? How much does it influence individuals (relative to other factors)? Under what conditions does it influence individuals? With what consequences does it influence?- The problem is that people often use a dichotomous, either/or way to look at media – they think that either it does not influence individuals/society or that its influence on society is bad, making it an evil thing. - The questions that should be asked are not either/or ones but ones that ask how/why/in what way. - Remember this?o Media communication continuum How does the communication process change across the continuum? Messages became more generalized and less personalized…etc. (One of first lectures in the semester)o How media create culture Serve as a cultural storyteller Serve as a cultural forum o Media in flux Key changes are occurring in the media industries and society as a whole- Concentration of media ownership- Conglomeration- Convergence- Audience fragmentation- Hypercommercialism - Globalization - These issues have been raised throughout the course of the semester for us to think about how the power of media and the changes in it have an influence on us and on all people. - All of this information has leading to this short introduction here to…o The scientific study of media effects There are three main ways media may influence us. - Cognitive effects – media might influence the way we think. - Emotional/affect effects – media might influence the way we feel. (I.e., our physical reactions to stimuli.) - Behavioral/social effects – media might influence the way we act. o Behavioral effects are often the ones talked about the most in day-to-day conversations, especially when school stabbings/shootings occur. o This is also the most complex phenomenon to study – as with most of our behaviors, there is not one, single source that influences our behavior. “Media” in general cannot really be said to influence our behavior because this term is so broad. There is no single theory of media’s effects to answer the question of media influence. However, there is a plethora of social-scientific theories of media effects, each of which examines one specific phenomenon. The theories we will be discussing here align more with psychology as opposed to sociology – the influence on individuals, not on society. History of media effects research (THIS MATERIAL WILL NOT BE ON THE TEST.)- Powerful effects assumed (1920s to mid-1940s)o Social climate surrounding the rise in motion picture and radio popularity o Hypodermic needle: “direct, powerful, uniform effects” It was assumed that media’s influence was extremely powerful and possibly bad for you. Also, it was assumed that it affected all types and classes of people equally. o “Evidence:” Payne Fund studies, WWI propaganda, War of the Worlds radio broadcast - Limited effects assumed (mid-1940s to mid-1960s)o Better research methodso Reinforcement is what makes media powerful. - Specific effects assumed (mid-1960s to present)o Shift from studying behavioral to cognitive effectso Source-dominated to audience-centered perspectiveo Better understanding of the audience o Example: media violence Increased social interest in the possibility of the influence of violence in media on people appeared in the late 1960s with the increase in racial riots, violence The assumption that was held at the time was that viewing media violence led to an increase in aggression. Most of the public still holds this assumption today – in regards to school shootings/stabbings, for example. The biggest interest in the effects of media of violence has been in regards to the behavioral effects of the violence. However, there is a lot of interest in emotional and cognitive effects. The following theories all have to do with behavioral effects, despite what words they might contain (I.e., the word “cognitive” in “social cognitive theory”)- One theory involves catharsis – emotional release. The idea of catharsis began with Plato, who suggested that going to the theatre and watching someone perform actions you wish you could perform would help you feel better yourself. In the 1960s, some scientists revived this idea and postulated that perhaps media, instead of increasing violence, could serve as a cathartic process, helping us release aggression. o Maybe living vicariously through violence others act out in media will help usfeel better. o BUT, THERE IS VIRTUALLY NO SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE IN SUPPORT OF THE THEORY OF CARTHESIS. o This idea simply doesn’t make sense – a basic example is watching a violent movie. After you watch a violent movie, you don’t feel more relaxed – you feel excited and pumped up. o This theory holds no water – it can be “crossed off the list,” according to Dr. Raney. - A second theory is the social cognitive theory of mass communication o The application of Albert Bandura’s psychological idea of social learning theory, which describes that humans can learn through observation, can learn things by seeing others do them. We don’t always have to do everything ourselves. If we can learn things by watching others do them in day-to-day life, it makes sense that we would be able to learn through the same way through media. - For example, the Bobby Flay and Rachel Ray shows exist to help otherslearn how to cook like they do, not just for entertainment.o This is called process modeling. For us to be able to model a behavior, four things have to happen. 1. We have to pay attention to the behavior. 2. We have to retain the information we
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