BAHK READING SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY Introduction and Problem Statement Growing interest in the effects of alcohol related messages through mass media o Little attention given to movies and tv with alcohol drinking o Even though it has been depicted in them a lot Necessary to examine the effects of portraying alcohol drinking with subsequent negative consequences o Could mediate the effects of alcohol drinking portrayals Social Learning Theory Even vicarious experiences of reinforcement or punishment may promote the tendency to behave or not to behave in similar or related ways Can be negative consequences or no consequences suggestive positive consequence o Absence of negative consequences Promoting more favorable less unfavorable attitudes o Presence of negative alcohol consequence Less favorable more unfavorable attitudes Method Participants 80 Male 144 Female students Experimental Stimuli Used three versions of a film that had been specifically edited for the experiment Presence portrays negative consequences Absence all negative consequences were edited out so its positive Neutral Editing out all alcohol drinking and consequences Procedure watched assigned version of film and then did questionnaire Results Presence less favorable toward alcohol drinking than neutral Absence More favorable toward alcohol drinking than neutral o Significant differences in the viewers attitude toward alcohol drinking REISS WILTZ READING REALITY TV Comprehensive theory of human motivation Sensitivity theory theory of 16 basic desires o Theory is applied to understanding reality television Sensitivity Theory People pay attention to stimuli that are relevant to the satisfaction of their most basic motives Tend to ignore stimuli that are irrelevant to their basic motives o Explains why certain categories of reality TV appeal to people o End motives basic desires 16 factor solution to basic motivation Basic Desires Desire to o Influence knowledge autonomy prestige peer companionship get even obey tradition moral code improve society exercise muscles sex raise own children organize food approval inner peace collect Combination can create more desires Status power saving wealth People seek to maximize their experiences of the 16 joys Vicarious Experience Can experience 16 joys as a consequence of direct or vicarious experiences Eg watching romance movie brings joy of lust o Vicarious joys are more short lived Television viewing is minimal effort for vicariously experiencing 16 joys o Motivational personality traits are linked to viewer preference Sex oriented people are attracted to programs with sexual themes Reality Television One purpose of culture is to provide opportunities for people to experience repeatedly 16 end goals and joys Individuals prefer shows that arouse the joys most important to them Possible to develop reliable motivational profiles based on viewers tv show preference Experiment Method Questionnaire 167 women 72 men Questions asked about 5 different reality shows along with 150 other questions o Completely anonymous and individual Largest effect was for motive of status o Liked reality tv status oriented o Liked reality tv higher value on vengeance o 2 more more shows motivated by social life romance Results supported general hypothesis PERLOFF READING THIRD PERSON EFFECT Perception that media has stronger effect on others than on yourself Conceptual Underpinnings thought Contrast between self and other is most fundamental duality of Western Dichotomy media has stronger impact on others than on self o No impact on me or you but THEM o Effects are due to actions of those who anticipate some reaction on the part of others and behave differently as a result Separation on effects on self and effects on others Issues Surrounding the Effect Question Order Format and Wording Order in which questions are asked matter o Primacy effect willing to acknowledge large effects the first time Other experiments have disapproved this o Asking them you back to back makes it seem like there should be a but not the second different answer Experiment could not prove TPE still existed in both groups Typically asked to estimate effect of a message on others you o Answering means admitting to influence and not being in control Contrasts with respondents positive self image Did not significantly attenuate the TPE Message Higher TPE when a negative message is attributed others not me Format Not smart formats ie product advertisements have greater TPE Quality Should not be influenced unless communication is high quality TPE in low quality Social Distance Corollary As comparison others become more distant or psychologically removed from self the self other discrepancy increases o Downward social comparison o Distant others are part of negatively evaluated out group KNOBLOCH MOOD MANAGEMENT Media provided music has a lot of exposure time to people Often shared with other daily activities Often fosters overt expression Music has been characterized as a primary mood setter Capable of diminishing gloom and lifting spirits Mood management hedonistic premise o Capable of influencing recipients thoughts and emotions MOODS Individuals seek to experience the highest degree of pleasure attainable o Choose music that terminates bad mood o Choose music that enhances good moods Experiment music Bad neutral good moods were created participants chose predetermined o Music differed in hedonic valence and valence of energy Predictions derived from mood management theory o Bad mood people should be motivated to terminate mood and seek happy music o Neutral people similar motivation but to a lesser degree o Good mood people least motivated Method Computer mood manipulator o Negative neutral positive feedback placed people in certain moods o Asked to select from popular songs Songs were selected from 30 top hits of Billboard 100 o Classified as slow fast negative happy etc o 16 most different ratings were selected for survey Mood manipulator o Acted as a facial expression recognizer o Gave range of feedback from terrible to excellent Random and arbitrary Music Selection o Select music from popular songs o Can listen as long and as often as you want o Total 10 minutes Computer was recording frequency and selections Results Selective exposure to highly energetic joyful music increased with the negativity of mood o Preference was greater in condition of bad mood than good mood Exposure time to happy music from bad and neutral