Media effects theories Flashcards
What is the hypodermic needle theory?
This considers the relationship between the audiences and the media content to be a simple case of direct inception of ideas from media texts into the ideologies of audiences. This approach sees consumers as passive and helpless as they are injected with ideas. This links to neo-Marxism
It was particularly accepted in the 40s and 50s- a period in which radio and tv were described as ‘plug-in-drugs-
What is the two-step flow model?
Created in the 50s, it suggests, rather than people taking the mass media at face value, people have their interpretation of it formed by opinion leaders- people who reinterpret the mass media’s messages who are trusted by the audience
What is the social learning theory by Albert Bandaura?
He concluded that children who viewed violent content on television might well go on and behave violently in the real world. This is called social learning, because it suggests children ‘learned’ violent behaviour vicariously from actions they saw on screen. He extends the idea to suggest that audiences can learn to imitate transgressive behaviour.
What experiment did Albert Bandaura conduct?
1961
-Bandaura placed three groups of children in separate rooms with a bobo doll
-prior to being placed in the room, they were shown different videos. One group saw a person being violent towards the bobo doll, one saw a person treating the bobo gently and the third group weren’t shown any video
-85% of the children who were exposed to the violence imitated the behaviour they had seen, whereas 11% of children who were shown the gentle video acted violently towards the bobo
What makes the social learning theory complex?
Bandaura acknowledged that other processes contribute to people’s behaviours. In the real world, it is difficult to establish whether individuals with other social problems may seek out violent texts and have a preference for these, rather than viewing of violent texts causing a behaviour
What is transgressive behaviour?
Any form of behaviour that exceeds the boundaries of convention or acceptability in a civilized society e.g. drug use, sexual provocation
What is the Sabido method?
The social learning theory has also been used in order to inspire positive changes in media audiences. This came from Michael Sabido who wrote tv shows which aimed to infuse positive and progressive messages into society
What is an example of the Sabido effect being used?
To raise positive awareness about homosexuality, women’s rights and the issues with class prejudice in developing countries
What is Bandaura’s idea of modelling?
-audiences observe the behaviour of characters in media texts - particularly those represented as heroic
-if audiences identify with these characters then they will adapt aspects of their own identity and start imitating the behaviours of the role model
What were the main ideas’ of George Gerbner’s cultivation theory?
-if someone is continually exposed to mass media, their views will begin to match those expressed through the media texts they consume
-the cultivation of views and opinions relies on repeated patterns of representation- eventually these representations will become ingrained in the consumer’s head
-The process is gradual and happens without the consumer noticing
What did Gerbner and his researchers claim about Television?
-holds the same power as religion
-there was a correlation between the amount of TV people watched and the extent to which they thought the USA was a violent, crime-ridden country
What is enculturation?
When the attitudes and values of people are made to align with the cultural hegemony of the society they inhabit
What is mainstreaming?
The way television encourages the attitudes and values of the consumer to become synchronized with what is presented in the mass media- according to Gerbner, this process is particularly successful in maintaining a political status quo
What is resonance?
When audiences begin to see aspects of television as representative of their own lives and experiences- this affects their perception of the world they live in and can result in mean world syndrome
What is mean world syndrome?
-people believe the world to be a more dangerous place than they actually experience in reality
This happens because the media often prioritizes representations of violence and hardship. These stories are attention grabbing and will often give audiences visceral pleasure - even though in reality they are quite rare.
