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Lesson 9

Social Psychology and Mass Media / Popular Culture

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Chapter Outline

• What is the mass media?• How does it affect individuals?• Symbolic interactionism• How it is used: social class reproduction• Mass Media and Identity construction/maintenance – The link between music, identity, self, and the life

course– The concept of self– The concept of identity– Music as a symbolic resource for biographical work

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What is the Mass Media?

The Mass Media are those channels of communication (TV, radio, newspapers, and the internet) that enable a source to reach and influence a large audience.

the mass media are often the vehicle through which popular culture is delivered to people.

the mass media are one of the dominant agents of socialization we encounter.

What messages do we learn from the mass media?

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Class Discussion

How are you personally influenced by the mass media or popular culture more generally?

Do we simply follow what we see on tv?

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How does TV viewing effect us?

Does violent tv make us violent?– Research is inconclusive

Research indicates that violent people watch violent media.– Are these related and if

so, how? – Causation is not

correlation (in other words, do violent people prefer violent media or does violent media make people violent?)

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The Bobo Study

Albert Bandura’s classic 1963 study that children will copy what they see in media: – Model beats up the bobo doll

either, in person, on tape, cartoon or no exposure (control)

• live condition: 20 violent acts• On film 15 violent acts• Cartoon: 10 violent acts• Control: 5 violent acts

– What does this experiment presume though?

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Is TV Violence the Same as Real-World Violence?

Are these three situations examples of violence?– 1) Wile E. Coyote drops an anvil on Road Runner’s

head, who keeps on running;– 2) A body is found on Law and Order (Or your

favorite police show, let’s say Dexter)– 3) A shooting at a party leaves one person dead

and another near death after waiting thirty minutes for an ambulance.

One is real, the others are not. Context matters!

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Real and Fake violence

What about studies purporting to show a link between brain activity when viewing violence in media?

What is missing? Does media violence mean the same thing

as real life violence? What about viewing pornography and the

brain activity that would manifest?

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Media as an Agent of Socialization

Even though the link between media and direct behavior is inconclusive, it would be a mistake to conclude the media has no effect on us.

The American mass media plays a major role in teaching Americans to buy and consume goods and other values.

What else does it teach us? How does the mass media differ from other

agents of socialization (like family, peers and schools)?

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Gender

What does the media teach us about how to be male and how to be female?

What does it teach us about male/female interactions?

The Male Gaze is the idea that women are portrayed in art, in advertising, and on screen from a man’s point of view, as objects to be looked at.

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Gender and the Media

According to the reflection hypothesis the media only give the pubic what it expects, wants, or demands.

In other words, the media content mirrors the behaviors and relationships, and values and norms most prevalent in society.

However, far from passively reflecting culture, the media actively shape and create culture. – Ex: the nightly news – how much news can fit into 22

minutes? they set the agenda for public opinion. “The way the media choose themes, structure the dialogue, and control the debate—a process which involves crucial omissions—is a major aspect of their influence.”

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Gender and the Media In addition to their role as definers of the important, the

media are also the chief sources of information for most people, as well as the focus of their leisure activity.

Evidence indicates many media consumers (esp. heavy TV viewers) tend to uncritically accept media content as fact.

Although there’s always intervening variables (e.g. kinds of shows, and behavior of real-life role models), the media do influence our worldview, including personal aspirations and expectations for achievements, as well as our perceptions of others.

Symbolic annihilation refers to the media’s traditional ignoring, trivializing or condemning of women.

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Prominent Messages in TV

Women are less important than men.– Fewer women than men on prime-time TV (39% of all

major characters) Characters played by women tend to be younger and less

mature than male characters and therefore less authoritative.– 65% of female prime-time characters are in their

twenties and thirites12% are in their forties and 22% of male primetime characters are in their forties.

Young female characters are typically thin and physically attractive.– In general males are given more leeway in their

appearance. 46% of women on TV compared with just 16% of men are thin or very thin.

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Sexism in Advertising

Sexism in advertising can be very subtle. Killing Us Softy Gender stereotyping is also prevalent.

– Ex: Occupation Sexually exploitative use of women had increased in

ads since 1970. Emphasis on youth = denigration of the elderly

(particularly women) Rarities in ads: Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans,

Native Americans, gay and lesbians or people with disabilities.

Average American sees more than 37,000 ads just on TV a year!

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Consumerism

Consumerism propels the insatiable belief that we need what we do not have

A fundamental frame of reference for relating to oneself, to others, to the environment as a whole

The principle socializing force behind this way of being in the world is television and advertising

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Themes Media help Promote

Shopping completes us– Average adult – 48 new pieces of clothing a year, child – 70

new toys We can all live like celebrities

– No longer the Jones’, we evaluate our consumption relative to reference groups that live financially beyond our own means.

– Americans carry $2.56 trillion in consumer debt, up 22% since 2000

– Average household’s credit card debt is $8,565 up 15% from 2000

– Ironically, this doesn’t make us any happier by only highlighting existing disparities between the middle and upper classes.

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Themes Media help Promote

Our self-worth is determined by our looks and cultural norms of sexual attractiveness – Airbrushed images of perfected bodies

normalize an unattainable expectation of beauty.

– Girls’ self-confidence begins to fall at adolescence

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Cultural Hegemony and Consumerism

Brands matter Connote status McDonald’s coffee beats Starbuck in

unbiased Consumer Reports taste tests.– Why then do we choose one over another?

Ramones t-shirts have outsold their cds and records 10 to 1

Cool hunters

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Class Distinction Through Purchasing

cultural capital are the tastes, habits, expectations, skills, knowledge, and other cultural dispositions that help us to gain advantages in society. This cultural capital either helps or hinders us as we become adults.

Cultural capital is embedded in our habitus, a schema for our class preferences

As people move up the economic ladder they also tend to move up the taste hierarchy

Are you an NLU?

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The Self, Life Course and Music

Genetic factors play only a minimal role in the psychosocial development of a person

Our socialization takes place instead through various interactions throughout the life course

Music plays an important factor throughout the life course for self and identity development

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Identity

The self is a process, and identities are shapes the process takes throughout the life course.

Identities are therefore typifications of the self A social identity is assigned to an individual by other

people A personal identity is constructed by an individual in

relation to how he/she views him/herself in relation to others

A situational identity is a momentary identity which changes from social setting to setting

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The life course A life course is a temporal trajectory of

individual experiences. It is rather difficult to identify fixed life stages. Interactionists examine how individuals assign

meanings to their progression through life: The life course is therefore about the

becoming of self. How does media facilitate this?

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The becoming of self

Music provides a set or symbolic resources for the definition and reinterpretation of identities.

In other words through music we continuously self ourselves into being.

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Experiences of self

Experience of self, in relation to music, common in the lives of baby boomers show that;

Musical resources for self-construction are increasingly available through electronic media

Music serves to shape and convey feelings of love and intimacy

Music facilitates parenting Music serves as tool for the moral development and

political involvement of self

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How do we use Media?

1. To create an identity What information is on your facebook profile? How does what we like define us? I’m a starbucks drinker, or a Harry Potter fan, etc.

I’m a Mac, I’m a PC.2. To create unity and community

How do you feel when the national anthem is played?

Or take me out to the ball game at a baseball game?

Or when someone makes a reference to a movie you get?

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Meaning comes from interaction

Remember the basic symbolic interaction premise, something's meaning comes from how it is used and interpreted by those who use it.

How do we use mass media? Bonding experiences over the fight? The collective effervescence felt at a concert

or sporting event

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Discussion / Exercise

Music serves an important function in biographic work and the development of self and identity

How important is music in the lives of adult figures you know?

How do musical tastes change throughout the life course?

Write down your favorite 5 artists/songs and why you like them.

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How punk music is used: Different Punk Identities