media effects does media content affect society or reflect society?

Media effects

Does media content affect society or reflect society?

The Payne Fund Studies A series of studies of the effect of

movies on children's behavior. They were paid for by

The Payne Fund, a private foundation, and performed in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

They have been criticized as lacking scientific rigor…but…

The Payne Fund Studies …but … were the first attempt to

rigorously study the media. They were politically significant

and were instrumental in the enforcement of the Hays Code. MPAA began strictly enforcing it in

1934 They are credited with contributing

to the demise of Pre-Code film-making in Hollywood.

Immense Popularity of Film

The Payne Fund Studies (1929-1932)

Offshoot of public concern and emergence of social science in the 1920s.

Designed to find out impact of films on children and adolescents, using social scientific methods.

Phase One: Content Analysis by Edgar Dale Attempted to categorize movies according to

most popular themes. What were the most popular themes from 1920

to 30, accounting for 75% of 1500 films?

Dale’s Movie Categories Children Comedy Crime History Love Mystery Sex Travel Social Propaganda War


Dale also had coders content analyze films. . . In “real time” in movie theaters! Coded for nine types of “social values,” with

numerous measured variables under each one: Nature of American life and characters Nature of foreign life and characters Motivation of characters Emotional appeals to audience Crime/delinquency/violence Relations of the sexes Military situations Depictions of underprivileged peoples Deportment

The Payne Fund Studies (1929-1932) Dale’s diverse findings

included this “balance sheet” for 1930:

Emphasized Not emphasized

Portrayals of life in the upper economic strata

Life among the middle and lower economic strata

Problems of the unmarried and young Problems of the married, middle-aged, and old

Problems of love, sex, and crime Everyday problems

Motifs of escape and entertainment Motifs of education and social enlightenment

Individual and personal goals Social goals

Physical beauty Beauty of character


Another Phase: Emotional Responses to Romantic or Sexual Content (Dysinger & Rucknick) Physiological measures used. Younger children not affected but

adolescents were—became more aroused by content.


Another Phase: Effects of Movies on Social Attitudes (Peterson & Thurstone) Series of experiments involved

exposing children and adolescents to films with social messages and measuring before and after attitudes.

One experiment used D.W. Griffith’s Birth of a Nation as stimulus—shown to 434 high school children in Illinois.

Effect of Birth of a NationSchool children’s attitudes toward Blacks went down, from a mean of 7.46 to 5.95 (on a 0-10 Unfavorable/Favorable scale). . . The effect was still apparent 5 months later (Peterson & Thurstone, 1933; also studied impact of Four Sons on attitudes toward Germans)

Reaction… What inaccurate portrayals of race, gender,

religion, etc. are on TV or in movies? What effect do such portrayals have on

people? What unrealistic ‘living situations,’

‘relationships,’ ‘relationships’ are there on TV or in movies?

What effect do such portrayals have on people?


Another Phase: Behavioral Effects of Motion Pictures (Blumer) Used questionnaires and interviews. Asked respondents to recall instances

when they were affected by media. What are some strengths and

weaknesses of this technique? How have you been affected by media?


Huge role in development of the study of media effects.

Helped establish legacy of fear, or belief that media is powerful and dangerous and might pervert and upset proper social order.

Does this still exist today?

Laswell’s Model of Mass Communication

Who Says What In Which Channel To Whom With What Effect

Effects Theories

Walter Lippmann: Public Opinion (1922)

We see the world as "pictures in our heads"

Media shape perception of things we have not experienced personally

Powerful Effects Theory

Media have immediate, direct influence

Assumes people are passive and absorb media content uncritically & unconditionally

“Hypodermic Needle” model

“Magic Bullet” model

Minimalist Effects

Paul Lazarsfeld Erie County study (1940)

Mass media had hardly any direct effect

Personal contact more important than media contact

Media effects mostly indirect

Two-step Flow model

Media affect individuals through opinion leaders

Opinion leaders are those who influence others Clergy, teachers, neighborhood

leaders, etc.

Diffusion of Innovations

Everett Rogers—the main developer Adapted ideas from Gabriel Tarde

and from the Hybrid Seed Corn Study (Ryan & Gross)

This theory has been used and studied across many fields: Rural sociology, Medical sociology, Anthropology, Economics, Marketing

Innovation Innovation = An idea, practice, or object

perceived as new by an individual or other unit of adoption

The Diffusion of Innovations Theory attempts to predict adoption of innovations. . . Typically, the adoption follows a standard pattern:

The Classic S-Shaped Adoption Curve

The corresponding Classic Bell-Shaped Adopters Curve

The corresponding Classic Bell-Shaped Adopters Curve

Many studies have looked at how these groups differ:

Innovators are highly cosmopolite and open to new things.

Early adopters tend to be opinion leaders.

Early majority provide “legitimization” of the innovation.

Late majority are skeptical.

Laggards put trust in the status quo.

Individual Differences and Adoption Rogers originally identified key social

indicators (demographics) as related to innovativeness: SES (socio-economic status) Education

Atkin, Neuendorf, & Jeffres (1998; 2003), studying adoption of audio information services and digital TV, identified a trend: Attitudinal and communication variables

more important than demographics

Individual Differences and Adoption Blake et al. (2004 – 2009) identified

national or cultural differences in factors that seem to affect adoption of online shopping; e.g.: In Poland, “perceived newness” is a

positive factor In Greece, online shopping is seen

as highly compatible with past practices (catalog shopping)

The Role of Opinion Leaders

Opinion Leadership was first identified by Lazarsfeld, Berelson, and Gaudet in their 1944 book The People’s Choice

Reported on first (1940) in a series of studies of voters in Erie County, Ohio Unexpectedly found a Two-Step Flow of

communication about the presidential race. . . Mass Media Opinion Leaders Opinion

Followers A combination of media and interpersonal

channels resulted in information and influence re the election

Status Conferral Media coverage can create

prominence for issues & people

Agenda Setting Maxwell McCombs & Don Shaw

Media tell people what to think about – but not what to think

Media can:

Create awareness

Establish priorities

Perpetuate issues

Narcoticizing dysfunction

Media do not energize people into taking action

Media lull people into passivity by overwhelming them with information

People deceive selves into believing they’re involved when they’re actually only informed

Cumulative Effects Theory Media influence is gradual over time

Effect is often powerful

Spiral of Silence (Noelle-Neumann) Vocal majority intimidates others

into silence

Focus on the audience

1940s challenge to audience passivity

Uses & Gratifications

People choose media that meet their needs & interests

Needs such as: Surveillance Diversion Socialization

Surveillance

Media provide info about what’s going on

Both news & entertainment

Diversion

Media as entertainment Stimulate Relax Release

Socialization

Mass media can help initiate people into society

And help them fit in

Demonstrate dominant behaviors and norms

“Observational learning”

Role modeling

Imitative behavior

Impact can be negative or

positive ("prosocial”)

Socialization via eavesdropping

Children learn about adult topics by seeing them depicted in media

Parasocial interaction False sense of participating in

dialogue Communication is actually one-

way

Consistency theory Individuals exercise control over

media’s effects on them People choose media & messages

consistent with their existing views & values

Selective: Exposure Perception Retention & Recall

Selective Exposure

People choose some media messages over others

People ignore messages that contradict their beliefs

Selective Perception

People tend to hear what they want or expect to hear

Selective retention & recall

People retain & recollect some media messages and not others

Bottom line:

Individuals have a large degree of control over how the mass media affect them … but

Propaganda Model – do recipients know when they’re exposed?

‘let the buyer beware’ – but…

War of the Worlds

• Why did – OR ‘did’ the Orson Welles broadcast have such a powerful effect on its audience?

• War of the World’s, 1938 Mercury Radio Theatre Radio Drama on CBS, Mars invasion, panic

• Newspapers’ role in ‘myth’

The War of the Worlds Broadcast, 1938 Halloween eve—CBS radio show

Mercury Theater on the Air (narrated by Orson Welles) broadcast an adaptation of H. G. Wells’ novel War of the Worlds.

Around 6 million heard the broadcast.

More than 1 million were frightened or disturbed.

Orson Welles on the air

Aftermath

The War of the Worlds Broadcast

Aftermath studied by sociologist Hadley Cantril.

Why did it frighten some and not others? 1) Characteristics of the Broadcast

Highly realistic Dramatic excellence

2) Characteristics of Affected Listeners Naive, rural, low SES country Had faith in broadcasting

3) Situational Variables (maximized influence) Tuning in late Poor reception from competing stations

The War of the Worlds Broadcast

BUT... Research company that night counted 2%

audience Many in later years said they heard it that

night, but is that true The War of the Worlds ‘effect’ may be a very

different kind of study about society than about media effects

Determining Causality

Correlation means that 2 or more variables coexist

Causality means that one variable causes another

Beware of bad science (studies purporting causality)

X causes Y

Anecdotal evidence ‘measure whether 55 mph gives better MPG than

75 mph’ Measure how? Variables? Measure effects of violence on kids Measure how? Variables?

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media effects does media content affect society or reflect society?

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