Cultivation analysisConstructing our reality based on

entertainment

Telling stories v. imparting informationMost media studies, especially ‘effects’ research,

see the content we encounter as a bundle of informationTend to ignore narrative structureUsually treat each message as a unique piece of content

without concern over its relation to other messages, the culture in general

Gerbner et al. are concerned not with particular pieces of information, but with the dominant stories within the US culture

They see ‘telling stories’ as a powerful cultural forcePeople are socialized through the telling of stories

“Television has transformed the cultural process of story-telling into a centralized, standardized, market-driven, advertiser-sponsored system . . . the cultural process of story-telling is now in the hands of global commercial interests who have something to sell, and who in effect operate outside the reach of democratic decision-making.”

Why is this a problem?Television has no conscience

Driven by market dynamics to provide content that is most likely to hold audience for advertising and to ‘travel well’ Research shows that this tends not to be most liked,

but least objectionableChildren are most vulnerable but everyone is

to some extentUS is almost unique in lack of government

control over media content

Traditional effects v. cultivationChange v. stabilityShort-term v. long-termIndividual messages v. message systemsAggressive behavior v. fear

Traditional effects theory

Exposure to violent portrayal

Learning violent behaviors

Aggression/violence in actual life

Misjudging the amount of violence in society is sometimes called the 'mean world syndrome'. Heavy viewers tend to believe that the world is a nastier place than do light viewers.

Cultivation theory

Television

Message System

Mean World

Syndrome

Fear

The evidenceCultural Indicators

Content analyses (since 1967) of television programming “to track the most stable, pervasive, and recurrent images in media content, in terms of the portrayal of violence, minorities, gender-roles, occupations, and so on” Clearly shows heavy use of violence as a plot device Violence is ubiquitous—kids’ cartoons, daytime serials,

Prime Time programming; comedy, action-adventure, reality TV

Shows who can perform violence and who is a victim Middle-aged white males have right to engage in violence Women are victims

“Happy violence”

0102030405060708090

100

Children's Nonchildren's

Victim shows no pain Victim shows no harmUnrealistically low levels of harm Depicts long-term suffering

Extensive/graphic violence

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100

Children's Nonchildren's

Lethal Repeated acts Blood & Gore

Amount of violence across subgenres of children’s programming

Source: Wilson, Smith, Potter, Kunkel, Linz, Colvin & Donnerstein, 2002Journal of Communication

Slapstick Superhero Adventure/mystery

Social relationship

Magazine

% of programs with violence

100 97 89 48 17

Number of violent PATs per hour

29.1 28.1 14.3 4.2 1.6

Number of violent scenes per hour

14.9 11.9 7.9 3.0 .9

% of time devoted to violence

28.7 24.4 12.9 3.1 1.2

Humor/fantasy

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100

Children's Nonchildren's

Humor Fantasy context Animated format

What is the impact?Use surveys to ask how much TV a person

watches, how dangerous she thinks the world is (e.g., how likely she is to be attacked if she walks alone at night), whether you can trust people, and so on

If heavy TV viewers give the ‘TV answer’ then Gerbner et al. conclude that cultivation has occurredTV answer is determined by projection from

Cultural Indicators findings

Cultivation differential

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100

Percent saying 10% or more in law enforcement

Light TV viewersHeavy TV viewers

Cultivation theory

Mean World

Syndrome

Fear, prejudice, distrust

Authoritarian views

and behavior

Additional cultivation concernsThe same ‘drip drip drip’ that is supposed to

make us fearful also may make us devious, obsessed with material accumulation, bigoted, sexist, and so on

Because it happens over time, slowly, and widely throughout the culture, it is hard to see it happening

MainstreamingDominant cultural ‘current’ “representing the

broadest and most common dimensions of shared meanings”“Because of its unique role in our society, we see

television as the primary manifestation of our culture’s mainstream.”

“Mainstreaming means that heavy viewing may absorb or override differences in perspectives and behavior which ordinarily stem from other factors and influences.”Cultural, social and political characteristics of groups

would otherwise lead to more ideological diversity

Mainstreaming

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100

Low income Mediumincome

High income White Black

Light TV viewers Heavy TV viewers

ResonanceWhere those who live in high-crime

neighborhoods get a ‘double dose of messages that resonate and amplify cultivation’

Minorities “whose fictional counterparts are more frequently victimized on television”

Resonance

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100

Male Female Suburb City

Light TV viewers Heavy TV viewers

Cultivation research is very controversialMuch more questioning of the premise and of

the study methods within the scientific community than with social learning theoryMost famous argument between researchers

over a theory that can be found in media studies Gerbner v. Hirsch

Problems with cultivation researchNo clear psychological process specified that

would produce the results of interest‘Drip drip drip’ is not a theory

No clear connection between individual fear and the development of an authoritarian societyLevels of analysis problem

Methodological problemsDefinition of what constitutes violenceAccusations of ‘cherry picking’ high and low TV

levels, which indicators of ‘cultivation’ counted, etc.Lack of control for third variables

Heavy TV watchers tend to live in dangerous neighborhood

Problems with cultivation researchLow correlationsLimits on survey analyses—many are

secondary data analyses

Strengths of cultivation theoryIt covers a broad range of social phenomena

ViolencePrejudiceConsumerism

It looks at a wide range of content the individual is exposed to rather than a small portion

It does cover multiple levels of analysis (but note the problems here)

Factors affecting cultivation“Cultivation is dependent on and a

manifestation of the extent to which television’s imagery dominates viewers’ sources of information.”