1. Socialization, Research, & Media Theories Flashcards
What is socialization
The process by which we learn the behaviours, values, skills, beliefs, and norms of our society
Nature or nurture in socialization?
NURTURE–Environment around you teaches you how to behave, feel, etc.
Agents of socialization (5)
- family (most important)
- peers (models)
- school (formal and informal)
- religion (formal and informal)
- mass media
Negative agents of socialization?
Schools socialize us to have negative beliefs about failure (failure is bad)
When does socialization have the most profound impact?
sig. focus on youth, early development (victor of averyron)
- different aspects of socialization may be different across different stages of life
What is Media?
- Plural of medium → middle, intermediary
- The intermediary to transmit information
- Means for communicating a message
What is Social Media and why is it difficult to define?
Internet based platforms/sites that allow users to create, share, and exchange their own content/information.
Social media is constantly, rapidly shifting -> makes definition difficult
How is social media different from traditional media?
Traditional media is seen as one direction
- You are a recipient
Social media allows you to be both a recipient AND a creator
- bidirectional
Content analysis definition
Analyzing the content of media (Eg: how much sexual content is there in TV targeted towards adolescents?)
Content analysis steps
- Define and identify content (“TV targeted towards adolescents”)
- Gather a sample of such media
- Define “sexual content”
- Analyze!
Drawbacks of content analysis
- Doesnt inform us of effects
- Doesnt inform impact
- Variations on chosen definition
- Coding = time consuming
Correlational design
relationship between 2 variables
Drawback of correlational
- doesn’t tell us direction (does X cause Y or vice versa?)
- Memory unreliable
- Social desirability bias
- Third variables unaccounted for
- Correlation =/= causation
what is the gold standard design?
experimental
steps to experimental
- random assignment
- manipulate iv
- measure dv
limitations to experimental (4)
- Difficulty in controlling variables
- Difficulty in content media
- Topic, age, plot, violence
- Difficult to isolate sexual content - Dependent variable = difficult to measure
- Ethical concerns with assigning/manipulating variables
natural experiment
Where naturally-occurring circumstances “randomly” creates differences between individuals (Done where it wouldn’t be ethical or achievable to randomly assign people to different groups)
explain notel study (natural experiment)
- Interested in effect of TV
- Geography limits access to TV in one town naturally, but not another
- Town’s position in mountains didn’t allow access to TV (NO-TELevision)
- Compared differences between these towns
- Eventually Notel got TV access
- Participation in community events declined, creativity in kids declined
- Eventually Notel got TV access
How did cable change gender attitudes and fertility in villages in india? (a natural study eg.)
- After towns got cable, women gained autonomy (able to make more decisions within a household)
- After cable = drop in pregnancy rates
what design is longitudinal most commonly used with
correlational–establishes the time-order of two variables: helps to give further support to a potential causal effect (CAN be used in experimental designs to explore effects over time)
Meta-analysis
Take studies previously conducted and synthesizes (summarize) the data
- Very informative because every individual study has limitations and summarizing a range can inform us of what sort of effects tend to occur
(can be more informative than a single study)
limitations of meta-analysis
- Relies on studies that have already
been conducted
USES & GRATIFICATIONS THEORY
Argues that WHY we seek out media matters (motivation for consumption may impact media influence)
- Study looking at influence of TV viewing on body image and MOTIVATION
- Results indicated motivation has an effect on body image
watching for escape -> influential
social learning or entertainment -> NOT influential
Some reasons for media consumption:
- Companionship
- Escape
- Habit
- Learning
- Passing time
- Relaxation
- Arousal/sensation seeking
Main conclusion for mclovin’
Argued medium used for communication is more important than the message itself
“Indeed, it is only too typical that the ‘content’ of any medium blinds us to the character of the medium”
Factors influencing media impact
- Developmental stage
- Social context
- Individual factors
- Properties of the medium
- Reasons for media use
Hypodermic Needle or Magic Bullet Theory
Media → shot to the brain
- Media consumption affects everyone, and everyone is affected by media in the same way (Direct relationships between media consumption and behaviour)
media ->shot to the brain
Limitations of needle theory
Drastically oversimplifies manner in which media affects infants, children, and adolescents
NO LONGER CONSIDERED VALID
- Far too simplistic
- Might not be particularly accurate due to many influences on media (laws, social context, subjective experiences)
Excitation Transfer (Explains why media consumption can influence emotional experiences)
Because physiological arousal dissipated slowly, arousal generated from one event can be added to the arousal associated with a subsequent event (as long as they are temporally close)
- Results in intensified arousal for the latter event
Works for all emotional experiences and sources of physiological arousal (positive or negative)
Eg: exercise, frustration, sex
what does excitation transfer explain
Explains why media consumption can influence emotional experiences
Cultivation Perspective (1970) AKA “Mean World” theory
most predominant
- Like an artist molding clay, media can transform the reality of those who consume it
- Media gradually cultivates certain views in the audience over time
factors in cultivation perspective
- Different impacts based on amount of use
- Different impacts based on resonance → the similarity between media and an individual’s circumstances
limitations of Cultivation Perspective
- Requires that a large number of people view similar content
- Television is an omnipresent force that acculturates ALL viewers consistent with its content
- Takes time
- Strongest impact to those who engage consistently
Mainstreaming
Situation in which heavy TV viewers (media consumers) develop a convergent outlook that is impacted to a lesser extent by most real-life experiences
exception to mainstreaming
Resonance: when real-life experiences amplify cultivation effects
BUT
Need high similarities between IRL and TV experiences for this to occur
Three information-processing heuristics underlie Gerbner’s effect (cultivation):
- Availability heuristic
- Estimation based on ease of memory retrieval
- Simulation heuristic
- Similarity of events influences estimation
- Representativeness heuristic
- Events easily imagined = greatest chance of occurring
Priming
“readying process”
- Sexual media can prime sexual thoughts and etc.
Resonance
- when real-life experiences amplify cultivation effects
- Need high similarities between IRL and TV experiences for this to occur
Social Learning Theory (bobo doll)
Behaviour is a learned response resulting from observations about the world and others
what impacts social learning theory
mental states → motivations, emotions, self-efficacy
Observational learning
- Imitate behaviours under two conditions:
- Reinforcement
- No consequences
- Especially strong when youth are attracted to the models
What allows behaviours to be maintained over time (3)
- When successfully satisfy personal needs (self-reinforcing)
- Extrinsically rewarding
- Direct experience with reinforcements and punishments
Social Cognitive Theory
Behaviour is more of a “choice” than a “response”
(revision of original theory)
3 key influences explaining behaviour
- Behavioural
- Previously acquired
- Personal
- Individual’s expectations, beliefs, goals… internal motivation
- Environmental
- Nonendogenous influences
Reciprocal Determinism:
behavioural, personal, and environmental factors interact with one another to influence human actions, thoughts, and feelings
- Posits bidirectional interactions
Script Theory
Cognitive scripts provide detailed information regarding both the sequencing of events and the appropriateness of an action during any given situation (validated by media, resistant to change)
What results in development of script theory?
observational learning and direct experience
Process of choosing scripts (2 step)
- Assess the similarities and differences between the current situation and the content of all accessible scripts
- Consider the potential consequences of using the script and whether or not the script is consistent with socially acceptable behaviour (social norms)
Deviant and non-deviant youth differ in four script-related areas:
- Script content
- Decisions regarding script appropriateness
- Anticipated consequences of actions
- Desire to follow social norms
during which period is media said to produce the strongest emotional response
Early adolescence
- experience levels of physiological arousal greater than those of younger children or older adolescents
- As a result of limited cognitive resources and heightened physiological and emotional responding, reappraisal is less likely to occur during early adolescence than at other ages
