Exam 3 Flashcards
Types of aggression
- Physical aggression (punching, kicking, etc.).
2. Social aggression (gossiping, social exclusion, cyber bullying, etc.).
Bystander Behavior
Reaction toward violence (e.g., we can even learn from the media how to react to violence).
Catharsis Hypothesis: Prediction
Consuming violent media decreases violent behavior.
Catharsis Hypothesis: Explaination
Consuming violent media releases violent energy, leading to less violent behavior.
Catharsis Hypothesis: Limitation
This theory has not been supported! Further studies reveal counter evidence for this prediction.
Priming
Associations between concepts – One thing reminds you of something else (e.g., Dark alley may remind you of a scary movie that you watched recently).
▪These associations can be activated by media content. ▪Associations between concepts get stronger every time they are activated.
Priming: Prediction
Consuming violent media increases aggressive thoughts and behavior.
Priming: Explanation
Violent media may prime thoughts that lead one to believe aggressive behavior is warranted or justified.
Eron Study: Summary
The Eron Study surveyed the same sample from third grade through adulthood. A longitudinal survey (a panel study).
Eron Study: Findings
Even after controlling for factors like family dynamics and gender, kids who watched TV were more violent as adults.
Notel Study: Summary
The Notel Study studied the changes in physical and verbal aggression among kids, youth, and adults before and after TV was introduced to a small town in Canada.
Type of study: longitudinal survey (panel study).
Notel Study: Findings
Physical and verbal aggression were significantly increased among elementary school students. Also, social activity participation decreased.
Effect Size
There are many factors that can contribute to individuals’ aggressive behaviors (Family dynamics; gender; mental illness; IQ; peer groups, etc.)
How do we know which factors are more important for predicting aggressive behavior?
Effect size is a statistical tool that allows us to interpret the size or magnitude of an effect.
Considering effect size allows us to interpret which factors have the biggest association with aggressive behavior.
Examples of proven effect size
▪Substance abuse has a large-sized effect on aggressive behavior
▪Gender or family dynamics have medium-sized effects on aggressive behavior.
▪Consumption of violent media, IQ, or peer-group dynamics have a small-sized effect on aggressive behavior.
- That is, these factors DO have an effect on aggressive behavior, but it’s not as big as the effect of substance abuse or family dynamics.
Social Learning Theory: Prediction
If we observe aggressive behavior, we are likely to model it in our own lives.
Social Learning Theory: Explanation
When we observe others rewarded or punished for their behavior, we learn vicariously about how we should behave in similar situations.
Modeling
Models are the people we observe and learn from (e.g., friends, family, teachers, celebrities, fictional characters, and etc.).
Bobo Doll Experiment: Treatment group
Watched an adult attack a doll.
Bobo Doll Experiment: Control group
Watched an adult play with other toys and ignore the doll.
Bobo Doll Experiment: Findings
Children who’d watched the adult attack the doll were more likely than children in the control group to attack the doll when given a chance to play with the doll and other toys.
Social learning theory explains that we can learn a behavior by modeling the behavior. There are 2 types of modeling, what are they?
- Imitation (However, modeling is not only imitation)
2. Abstract Modeling
What is the main prediction of Social Learning Theory?
Learning behaviors and adapting them in our own lives (not simple imitation) is the main prediction of social learning theory.
Imitation
A direct repetition of an observed behavior
Abstract modeling
Involves learning knowledge and skills for future use in similar situations
What factors explain whether we will model a behavior?
- Vicarious reinforcement
- Characteristics of the model
- Identification
Vicarious Reinforcement
- Is the behavior you observe punished or rewarded.
- If the behavior was punished, you will less likely model the behavior.
- If the behavior was rewarded, you will more likely to model the behavior.
Characteristics of the model
Status, attractiveness, and similarity of the model influence your willingness to model the behavior.
Identification
- More likely to model people we identify with; the more common ground we perceive, the more we identify with that person.
- Children and younger people are more likely to identify with a wide variety of characters.
Types of Social Learning through media
- Observational learning
- Inhibitory learning
- Disinhibitory learning
Observational Learning
Learning unfamiliar behavior by watching it on TV/movies
Inhibitory Learning
Seeing behaviors punished in media teaches us not to model those behaviors.
Disinhibitory Learning
Seeing rewards for behavior that is considered negative makes us more likely to model that behavior.
Social Learning Theory and video games: Prediction
Players who play prosocial games will demonstrate more helping behavior than players who play violent video games.
Prosocial games
a game rewarding helping behaviors
Violent games
a game rewarding aggression.
Social Learning Theory and video games: Study results
Players who played violent games were more hostile to other study participants than players who played prosocial games. In a longitudinal survey, players who played violent games also reported less helping behavior and less empathy than players who played prosocial games.
Social Learning Theory and video games: Implication
Can’t imitate behavior in most video games due to efficacy, which means that actions possible in the video game world are not possible in the real world.
But violent and prosocial games may be associated with aggressive or prosocial attitudes and behaviors. There is still a potential for abstract modeling.
Copycat phenomenon
People sometimes imitate the exact behavior that they see depicted in the media `
Cultural Indicators Paradigm
The paradigm includes 3 main types of analysis for studying media:
- Institutional Process Analysis
- Message System Analysis
- Cultivation analysis
Message system analysis
This type of analysis is concerned with the nature of media messages.
Tends to produce systematic content analysis of media content in an attempt to arrive at comprehensive descriptions of that content.
Institutional process analysis
This type of analysis is concerned with the inner workings of media institutions - particularly the ones that are involved in producing media messages.
This type of analysis seeks to understand why media institutions produce the messages that they do.
Cultivation Analysis
This type of analysis is concerned with the long term, cumulative impact of media messages that shape the media consumer’s view of the social world.
Heavy consumers of media are more likely…
- To become cultivated than light consumers
- To adopt a view of the social world that conforms to the world depicted in media.
This type of analysis tends to produce surveys of views that document relationships between media consumption and views about the social world.
Facilitating effect
A media effect in which some specific behavior is made more likely as a result of exposure to a media message
ex. exposure to media violence facilitates aggressive behavior
General Aggression Model (GAM)
A model for understanding aggressive behavior that integrates a number of different concepts and variables in order to predict and explain aggressive responses to media.
Desensitizing Effect
Makes us numb to violence in real life so that we dont react to it as we would if we had never seen it on screen.
Law of Emotional Desensitization
When we are exposed repeatedly to the same thing, the initial emotional reaction that we had will tend to decrease in intensity over the course of the repeated exposures.
Acquired violence immune deficiency syndrome (AVIDS)
Describes desensitization to media violence; people are not naturally immune to emotional effects of media violence, but can acquire such immunity through repeated exposure.
Meta-analysis
Yields general statistical conclusions based on the findings of a large number of individual studies
Cardiac coherence
A state in which a persons breathing rhythm and heart-rate rhythm are in sync
Bobo Doll Experiment critisism
Ecological Validity–The extent to which a study represents the real world.
In other words, because Bobo doll experiment was conducted in a controlled lab environment, ecological validity can be raised as a criticism.
Accumulative Effects
Refers to the effects of media consumption over time.
Accumulative Effects Examples
- Agenda Setting (Amount of media coverage of issues over time influences public perception of issue importance).
- Cultivation Theory
Cultivation Theory: Prediction
Heavy Media Users will have beliefs and attitudes that reflect the social reality presented in the media.
Cultivation Theory: Explaination
By presenting a relatively uniform view of social reality, media cultivate that view in the public.
Cultivation Theory
George Gerbner said, “Culture is a system of messages and images that regulates and reproduces social relations.”
▪Media images mold society by the long-term presentation of relatively uniform visions of social reality.
▪Mass media (especially TV) transmit and create culture.
What are the 2 assumptions of the cultivation theory?
- TV is unique among media
- Pervasive
- Easy to use and understand
- Uniform view of social reality - TV frequently presents unrealistic views of the world.
Cultivation Theory: Findings
Long-term exposure to TV has small but perceptible effects on the perceptions of heavy viewers, meaning that perceptions of heavy viewers were different from that of light viewers..
Mean World Syndrome: Prediction
(an effect of cultivation theory)
Heavy viewing of violent TV content cultivates a view (perception) of the world as a mean and scary place.
What are relevant methods for testing the prediction of Cultivation Theory?
- Content Analysis: Systematic count of content, often by genre or time period.
- Survey: In order to determine the viewing habits and attitudes.
Mainstreaming: Prediction
(an effect of cultivation theory)
Heavy viewers from different subgroups develop similar outlooks.
What are the effects of Cultivation theory?
Mean World Syndrome
Mainstreaming
Mainstreaming: Explaination
Heavy viewers, compared to light viewers, tend have similar views toward the world regardless to their subgroups because TV provides uniform portrayals of the world.
Criticisms of Cultivation Theory
Relies on established viewing patterns, so we can’t determine causality.
-Do TV viewers learn about the world from TV, or do they watch TV to confirm their experiences?
Perceived Realism
▪Extent to which we think television is like real life.
▪Thinking television is a lot like real life can increase the influence of media on perceived reality.
Images of women (ideal body images of women) in the media shifted over time.
For example, do ideal body images of women during the World War II differ from the ideal body images of women, which we have recently? How is it related to the portrayals of women in the media?
Images of the media may construct the ideal body images, and it may reflect the ideal body images of that time.
Body Image
Subjective concept of one’s own physical appearance based on self-observation and the reactions of others.
Thin Ideal; Muscular Ideal
- Media portrayals of thinness as the most desirable body type for women.
- Media portrayals of lean, muscular, and toned as the most desirable body type for men.
Media portrayals of thinness as the most desirable body type for women…explain
Not only thinness itself, but also thinness associated with other desirable traits of women, such as health, happiness, popularity, success, and intelligence.
This body type is the ideal, but is also unrealistic or unattainable for most women
Media portrayals of lean, muscular, and toned as the most desirable body type for men…explain
Lean, muscular shape associated with other desirable traits of men, such as healthiness, attractiveness, masculinity, and success
Social Comparison Theory: Prediction
Consciously or subconsciously, we constantly judge ourselves against others.
Social Comparison Theory: Explanation
We have a need to evaluate ourselves against others to see how we measure up, to make sure we fit in.
Social Comparison Theory: Identification
More likely to compare ourselves to people we identify with; the more common ground we perceive, the more we identify with that person.
What are the 2 types of comparison associated with Social Comparison Theory?
- Downward Comparison:
2. Upward Comparison:
Downward comparison
We compare ourselves to someone we feel is inferior to us in some way
Outcomes:
1) Boost in self-esteem
2) Maintain the status quo.
Upward Comparison
We compare ourselves to someone we feel is superior to us in some way
Outcomes:
1) Dissatisfaction with self (lower self-esteem)
2) Might serve as motivation for self-improvement.
Applying Social Comparison Theory to Body Image (in media)
Comparing ourselves to media images is associated with body dissatisfaction.
Applying Social Comparison Theory to Body Image: Fiji Island Study
- Studied adolescent girls’ body image and eating behaviors before and after the introduction of television in Fiji Islands.
- 3 years after their exposure to American television, as many as 74 percent of girls reported feeling “too big.”
- Also, 62 percent were dieting and 15 percent were purging.
Objectification
Treating a person (yourself or another) like an object, often a sexual object.
▪Attaching value to body parts rather than a whole person (or other traits of a person such as their characteristics, hobbies, friends, or others).
Self Objectification
We evaluate ourselves in terms of appearance or specific body parts.
We weigh our value in terms of appearance rather than other qualities: intelligence, kindness, etc.
Partner Objectification
We evaluate romantic partners in terms of appearance or specific body parts.
We weigh partners’ value in terms of appearance rather than other qualities: intelligence, kindness, etc.
Media Literacy (Talked about this on Tuesday of Week 11)–a potential solution for the harmful effects of media on body image?
- Developing our abilities to access, analyze, evaluate and create messages in a variety of media.
- Building our understanding of how media message are created and how they effect us.
- Becoming more critical consumers and creators of media.
What can we do about social comparison in the media?
Media literacy
Schema: Definition
Organized systems of thoughts and information about objects, events, individuals, groups.
▪It contains the perceiver’s knowledge, beliefs and expectancies about some group.
▪It is automatically (i.e., unconsciously) activated, influencing our behaviors.
▪We are cognitive misers, so we rely on short-cuts in terms of processing new information.
Benefits of schema–how do they help us process information?
Schemas simplify complex social environments by helping us process incoming information quickly and efficiently.
Schemas are activated through what?
priming
We have various memories or concepts related to a single ___, ___, and ___.
object; person; issue
Depending on the prime (image, text, etc),we may be cognitively activated to…?
think different things
Stereotypes
- Stereotype schema contains knowledge, beliefs, and expectancies about groups.
- Stereotype schema tells us what features or traits we should EXPECT to encounter for a certain group.
- Stereotype is not necessarily positive or negative, but it limits the range of our expectancies about groups. It does not allow people to be a person but as a group.
- The expectation that we should see additional features associated with a stereotype once any features of the stereotype are encountered is priming.
Role of the media in stereotyping
▪Media portrayals develop and reinforce stereotype schema about different groups.
▪Some stereotypes are so well-learned that when we encounter someone from a particular group our stereotype of them is primed and automatically activated.
- Then it influences how we react to people and situation.
3 Types of Comparison (to study media stereotyping)–by using a content analysis
- intergroup Comparison
- interrole comparison
- interreality comparison
Intergroup Comparison: def and sample question
Examining percentage of one group compared to the percentage of another group.
Sample question: What is the percentage of white, African American, and Asian American athletes on the cover of Sports Illustrated?
Interrole Comparison: def and sample question
Examining the distribution of the same group of people in different roles.
Sample question: What percentage of women are portrayed as victims of crime, perpetrators of crime, and law enforcement?
Interreality Comparison: def and sample question
Examining the actual percentages compared to those presented in the media.
Sample question: What is the perception of African Americans depicted as perpetrators of crime compared to the actual percentage?
Stereotyping others
Stereotypes structure our experiences of different groups.
- Limited representation of different groups in the media leads to reinforcement of existing stereotype schema..
- Some stereotypes are so well-learned that when we encounter someone from a particular group our stereotype of them is primed and automatically activated. And, it influences how we react to people and situations.
Model Minority (stereotype)
Stereotype schema that members of a particular group are more high achieving than other groups.
▪For example, stereotyping Asians as good at math.
Negative effects of model minority stereotypes.
Social pressure to conform to that stereotype; Stereotypes do not allow individuals to be judged on their own merit.
Stereotype Threat
Concerns that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype negatively impacts performance (i.e., on exams).
▪Example: “Girls are not good at math” is a stereotype, and a girl who is made aware of this negative stereotype may perform poorly on math exams.
How can we reduce stereotype threat?
we can develop
1) counter stereotypic role models
2) self-affirmation
3) growth mindset instead of fixed mindset.
social comparison
The tendency for media consumers to compare themselves with others who are depicted in the media.
viewers may be affected positively or negatively
Face-ism
The tendency for males to be depicted in the media with higher levels facial prominence than females.
- face-ism is computed in any media depiction of a person by measuring the distance from the top of the head to the bottom of the chin and dividing it by the distance from the top of the head to the bottom of the body.
- higher facial prominence leads to perceptions of a number of positive attributes (intelligence/competence)
Social construction of reality
The notion that people “construct” their views about the social world based on various sources - including exposure to media messages.
