CHAPTER 10 UNCERTAINTY REDUCTION THEORY
Objective Theory
Drive to reduce uncertainty about new acquaintances from any of these 3 conditions
1. Anticipation of future interaction: We know we will see them again
2. Incentive Value: They have something we want
3. Deviance: They act in a weird way
Attribution Theory
A systematic explanation of how people draw inferences about the character of other people based on observed behavior.
2 way to deal with uncertainty
Behavioral questions: Common sense protocols
Cognitive Questions: Aimed to discover who the other person is as a unique individual
Uncertainty Reduction
Increased knowledge of what kind of person another is, which provides an improved forecast of how a future interaction will turn out
Axiom
Berger's 8 axioms
A self-evident truth that required no additional proof
EX: (All people are created equal, what goes up must come down, etc)
Axiom 1: Verbal Communication
As the amount of verbal communication between strangers increases, the level of uncertainty for each interactant in the in the relationship will decrease
Axiom 2: Nonverbal Warmth
As nonverbal affiliated expressions increases, uncertainty levels will decrease in an initial interaction situation
Axiom 3: Information Seeking
High levels of uncertainty cause increases in information seeking behavior. As uncertainty levels decline, information-seeking decreases
Axiom 4: Self-disclosure
High levels of uncertainty in a relationship cause decrease in the intimacy level of communication content. Low levels of uncertainty produce high levels of intimacy
Axiom 5: Reciprocity
High levels of uncertainty produce high rates of reciprocity. Vice Versa
Axiom 6: Similarity
Similarities between persons reduce uncertainty, while dissimilarities produce increases in uncertainty
Axiom 7: Liking
Increases in uncertainty level produce decrease in liking, decreases in uncertainty produce increase in liking
Axiom 8: Shared Networks
Shared communication networks reduce uncertainty, while lack of shared networks increases uncertainty
Theorem
A proposition that logically and necessarily follows from two axioms.
Pair two axioms together to produce additional insight into relational dynamics.
Overall generates 28 theorems
If similarity reduces uncertainty and reduced uncertainty increases liking
Message Plans
Mental representations of sequences that may be used to achieve goals
Plans are....
Hierarchically organized with abstract action representation at the top of the hierarchy and progressively more concrete representations toward the bottom
Seeking Information: 3 approaches we can use to find out how others might react to our messages
Passive strategy: impression formation by observing a person interacting with others
Active Strategy: Impression formation by asking a third party about a person
Interactive strategy: Impression formation through face-to-face discussion with a person
Plan complexity
A characteristic of a message plan based on the level of detail it provides and the number of contingencies it covers
Choosing Plan Complexity: Measured in 2 ways
Level of detail the plan includes
Number of contingency plans prepared in case the original one doesn't work
Hedging
Possibility of plan failure suggests the wisdom of providing ways for both parties to save face when a message fails to achieve its goal
Hierarchy Hypothesis
Prediction that when people are thwarted in their attempts to achieve goals, their first tendency is to alter lower-level elements of their message
Cognitive Misers
Would rather try a quick fix over expending the effort to repair faulty plans
"Without counsel, plans go wrong
Anxiety/Uncertainty Management Theory (AUM)
intercultural theory that claims high levels of uncertainty and anxiety lead to greater misunderstanding when strangers don't communicate mindfully; one person in an intercultural encounter is a stranger
5 Differences from URT
1. Anxiety
2. Effective Communication
3. Multiple Causes of Anxiety/Uncertainty
4. Lower and Upper Threshold for Fear and Doubt
5. Mindfulness
1. Anxiety
The feeling of being uneasy, tense, worried or apprehensive about what might happen.
Difference: Uncertainty is cognitive, whereas anxiety is affective-an emotion
2. Effective Communication
The extent to which a person interpreting a message does so in a way that's relatively similar to what was intended, minimizing misunderstanding
3. Multiple Causes of Anxiety/Uncertainty
Many additional factors/axioms in the AUM not mentioned in uncertainty reduction theory.
Ex: High levels of self-esteem, cognitive complexity, similarities, positive expectations, shared networks, attraction, respect from the other, sense of power, etc ca
4. Lower and Upper Thresholds for Fear and Doubt
Small amount of anxiety and uncertainty aren't bad
Anxiety:
Minimum threshold that guarantees adrenalin to allows effective communication. Maximum threshold causes us to become paralyzed with fear.
Uncertainty:
Minimum threshold is the lowest amount of do
5. Mindfulness
The process of thinking in new categories, being open to new information, and recognizing multiple perspectives.
Being mindful involves the creation of new categories rather than simply classifying people according to their ethnicity, gender, age, wealth
CRITQUE: Early Prototype of what an objective theory should be
Theorem 17: Not clear why information-seeking would decrease as liking increased. More reasonable to suggest that persons will seek info about and from those they like rather than those they dislike
Theorem 17 formed from axiom 3 and 7
Axiom 3 assumes lac
Prediction Outcome Value
A forecast of future benefits and costs of interaction based on limited experience with the other
CHAPTER 11 SOCIAL INFORMATION PROCESSING THEORY
-Developing relationships over text messages vs. face to face
Objective Theory
Computer mediated communication (CMC)
Test-based messages, which filter out most nonverbal cues
1. Social Presence Theory
Suggests that CMC deprives users of the sense that another actual person is involved in the interaction.
2. Media Richness Theory
Purports that CMC user's mental capacity is too narrow to convey rich relational messages
Flaming
Verbally aggressive online
3. Lack of social context cues
CMC users have no clue as to their relative status, and norms for interaction aren't clear
This results in flaming: hostile language that zings its target and creates a toxic climate for a relational growth on the internet
Boundary Condition
A statement that limits the context a theory is meant to describe. Walter limited his theory to a "Text-only" online communication
Cues filtered out
Interpretation of CMC that regards lack of nonverbal cues as a fatal flaw for using the medium for relationship development
Social Information Processing (SIP)
-Consistent with Social Penetration and Uncertainty Reduction theory
Relationships grow only to the extent that parties first gain information about each other
Impression Formation
The composite mental image one person forms of another
Two features of CMC
Verbal cues
Extended time
Verbal Cues
Communicators employ any cue system that's available; CMC users can create fully formed impressions of others based solely on the linguistic context of online messages
Extended Time
Exchange of social information is much slower through CMC than face-to-face
Analogy
face-to-face is like chugging a beer, flood of verbal and nonverbal information, whereas CMC is like drinking that same beer through a straw, much slower but still finish the beer
Verbal cues of affinity replace nonverbal cues:
Human need for affiliation is just as active when people communicate online as when they are with each other face-to-face
Walther asked 28 pairs of students who didn't know each other to discuss moral dilemmas
Half face-to-face; half CMC
Study supported Walther's that people meeting online can begin a relationship just as effectively as if they had met face-to-face, but instead of forming their impressions of each other through nonverbal cues, it is done through written words
Extended Time: over an extended period, the issue is not the amount of social information that can be conveyed online rather it's the rate at which that information mounts up
CMC is 4 times slower than F2F
Advises online users to make up for rate difference by sending messages more often
Time is the one nonverbal cue that's not filtered out in text-only CMC
Anticipated future interaction
A way of extending psychological time; the likelihood of future interaction motivates CMC users to develop a relationship
Chronemics
Study of people perceive, use and respond to issues of time in their interaction with others.
Study of reply rate
Study showed replying within an hour had the most positive impressions- fast replying is best
Hyperpersonal Perspective
Claim that CMC relationships are often more intimate than those developed when partners are physically together.
Depicts how senders select, receivers magnify, channels promote and feedback increases enhanced and selective communication behaviors in CMC
Classifies four types of media effect through the sender-receiver-channel-feedback categories
Sender
Receiver
Channel
Feedback
Sender: Selective Self Presentation
An online positive portrayal without fear of contradiction, which enables people to create an overwhelmingly favorable impression.
As a relationship develops, people can carefully edit the breadth and depth of their self-disclosure
Receiver: Overattribution of similarity
Attribution is a perceptual process whereby we observe what people do and then try to figure out what they're really like
Basic interpretive bias is to assume that the specific action we see reflects the personality of the person who did it
Walther convin
Social Identity Deindivduation (SIDE)
A theory that suggests CMC users overestimate their similarity with others they meet in online interest groups
In the absence of cues that focus on individual difference, their commonality is all they have to go on as they from their impressions of each o
Channel: Communicating on Your Own Time
Asynchronous channel: a nonsimultaneous medium of communication that each individual can use when he or she desires
In asynchronous interaction one may plan, contemplate and edit one's comments more mindfully and deliberatively than one can in more sponta
Feedback: Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
Tendency for a person's expectations of others to evoke a response from them that confirms what was originally anticipated
Creates hyperpersonal relationships only if CMC parties first form highly favorable impressions of each other.
"Believing its so can
Warranting Value
Reason to believe that information is accurate, typically because the target of the information cannot manipulate it
Low warrant information
Can be manipulated with ease ( information posted by profile owner)
High warrant information
Cannot be easily changed/manipulated ( information posted by friends about profile owner)
CRITIQUE: online communication has changed since theory first developed
New forms of online communication, so some say CMC is one of the most difficult communication contexts to study
Meets all requirements for a good social science theory
Some studies suggest that online relationships form at the same pace or even faster tha
CHAPTER 12: RELATIONAL DIALECTICS
Interpretive Theory
Relational Dialectics
A relationship is a union where 2 individuals from different backgrounds compromise in many ways. People experience internal and external tensions while being in a relationship
Tug-of-war Dialectics
Not to look at demographics or personal traits when we want to understand the nature of close relationships
Contradiction is a core concept of relational dialectics
Contradiction: the dynamic interplay between unified oppositions; formed whenever two tend
Three dialectics: three relational dialectics that affect almost every close relationship
Integration-Separation
Stability-Change
Expression-Nonexpression
Internal Dialectics
Ongoing tension played out within a relationship
External Dialectics
Ongoing tensions between a couple and their community
Ethical Reflection (Sissela Bok)
She rejects consequentialist ethics: judging actions solely on the basis of their beneficial or harmful outcomes
All lies drag around an initial negative weight
Liars engage in traffic self-delusion
Trust and integrity are precious resources, easily squan
Principle of veracity
Truthful statements are preferable to lies in the absence of special circumstances that overcome the negative weight
CRITIQUE: Communication scholars question whether relational dialectics should be considered a theory at all
Baxter and Montgomery said themselves, it lacks structural intricacies of formal theories of prediction and explanation; no extensive hierarchical array of axiomatic or propositional arguments, does not represent a single unitary statement of generalizabl
CHAPTER 13: COMMUNICATION PRIVACY MANAGEMENT THEORY
Interpretive Theory
"A map of the way people navigate privacy
Privacy Boundaries
A metaphor to show how people think of the borders between private and public information
5 Core Principles
1. People believe they own and have a right to control their private information
2. People control their private information through the use of personal privacy rules
3. When others are told or given access to a persons private info they become co-owners
1. Ownership and Control of Private Information: Petronio uses disclosure of private information rather than self-disclosure Because:
A lot of private information we tell others isn't about ourselves
Self-disclosure is usually associated with interpersonal intimacy
Disclosure of private information has a neutral connotation
Directs attention to the content of what's said and the confide
Private Information
The content of potential disclosures, information that can be owned
Privacy
The feeling that one has the right to own private information
2. Rules for Concealing and Revealing: assumes we can best understand people's freely chosen actions if we study the system of rules they use to interpret and manage their lives
Five factors play into the way we develop our own privacy rules:
Culture: cultures differ on the value of openness and disclosure
Gender: both men and women more easily reveal private information to a woman than to a man
Motivation: attraction and liking
Typical benefits
Relief from stress, gaining social support, drawing closer to the person we tell, and the chance to influence others
Realistic risks
Embarrassment, rejection, diminished power and everyone finding out our secret
3. Disclosure creates a confidant and co-owner: a person can't just consider self in deciding whether to conceal or reveal
Collective privacy boundary: an intersection of personal privacy boundaries of co-owners of private information, all of whom are responsible for the information
Co-owners tend to feel a sense of responsibility
4. Coordinating mutual privacy boundaries: assumes that the privacy boundaries co-owners place around this particular piece of information won't necessarily look the same
Co-owners need to negotiate mutual privacy boundaries: synchronized collective privacy boundary that co-owners share because they have negotiated common privacy rules
Overall process of co-managing collective boundaries focuses on boundary ownership, boun
Mutual Privacy Boundary
A synchronized collective privacy boundary that co-owners share because they have negotiated common privacy rules
Boundary ownership
Rights and responsibilities that co-owners of private information have to control its spread
Shareholder
Confidant fully committed to handling private information according to the original owner's privacy rules
Deliberate confidant
Recipient who sought out private information
Reluctant confidant
A co-owner of private information who did not seek it nor want it
Boundary linkage
An alliance formed by co-owners of private information as to who else should be able to know
Boundary Permeability
The extent to which a boundary permits private information to flow to third parties
5. Boundary turbulence: Disruption of privacy management and relational trust that occurs when collective privacy boundaries aren't synchronized
Three categories that can lead to boundary turbulence
Fuzzy boundaries
Mistakes
Patients and the advocates they bring with them have rarely discussed what can and can't be revealed
Intentional Breaches
Intentional boundary crossings when advocates face a confidentiality dilemma
Mistakes
Sometimes people create turmoil by making mistakes and letting secret slip
CRITIQUE: Nicely fulfills five of the six criteria for a good interpretive theory
Bit of a stretch to say the theory calls for a radical reform of society
Theory doesn't meet aesthetic appeal; organizational style is confusing and clarity is a problem
Petronio talks about the value of co-owner negotiation and how quickly trust can be l
CHAPTER 14: THE INTERACTIONAL VIEW
Example about family with an alcoholic son and 2 successful daughters. Dad slightly ignores it and believes its a phase, mom continuously gets son out of trouble.
Interpretive Theory
This theory of social interaction was formed by looking at dysfunctional patterns within families in order to gain insight into healthy communication
Family System
A self-regulating, interdependent network of feedback loops guided by members' rules; the behavior of each person affects and is affected by the behavior of another
Understanding family systems
One must look at the communication patterns among all its members
EX: family represented as a baby mobile. Cut one thread and the structure leans to one side throwing off the equilibrium
Games
Sequences of behavior governed by rules
Family Homeostasis
The tactic collusion of family members to maintain the status quo
1. No Cannot Not Communicate
No matter what you say or don't say, you are communicating in some way. Communication is inevitable
Symptom Strategy
Ascribing our silence to something beyond our control that causes communication to be justifiably impossible- sleepiness, headaches, drunkenness etc
2. Communication= Content + Relationship
All communication has content and relationship aspect
Content
The REPORT part of a message, what is said verbally
Provides information based on what the message is about
Relationship
The COMMAND part of the message, how it is said nonverbally
"gives off" information on how the message is to be interpreted
Metacommunication
Comm about comm or comm about the process of comm
3. Nature of a relationship
Depends on how both parties punctuate the com sequence
Punctuate
Interpreting an ongoing sequence of events by labeling one event as the cause and the following event as the response
4. All communication is either symmetrical or complementary
Interactional view pays particular attention to questions of control, status and power.
Continues to talk about metacommunication
Symmetrical interchange
Based on equal power ( no one tries to control other)
Complementary Interchange
Interaction based on accepted differences of power
Healthy relationships
Have both symmetrical and complementary
Interactional View
Holds that there is no way to label a relationship on the basis of a single verbal statement, requires a statement and a response
Coding scheme to categorize ongoing material interaction on the crucial issue of who controls the relationship
#NAME?
One- up Communication
A conversational move to gain control of the exchange; attempted domination
One-down Communication
A conversational move to yield control of the exchange; attempted submission
One-across Communication
A conversational move to neutralize or level control within the exchange; when just one party uses it, the interchange is labeled as "transitory
Enabler
Within addiction culture, a person whose nonassertive behavior allows others to continue in their substance abuse
Double Bind
A person trapped under mutually exclusive expectations; specifically, the powerful party in a complimentary relationship insists that the low-power party act as if it were symmetrical.
"No win situation
Reframing
The process of instituting change by stepping outside of a situation and reinterpreting what it means.
The sudden "aha" moment when you look at things in a new light.
CRITIQUE: modify some axioms of theory
Not all nonverbal behavior is communication
Describe nonverbal behavior as informative rather than communicative
Metacommuniction reserved for explicit communication about the process of communicating
Systems theories involving people are difficult to eva
Whole-message model
Regards verbal and nonverbal components of a message as completely integrated and often interchangeable
Equifinality
Systems- theory assumption that a given outcome could have occurred due to any or many interconnected factors rather than being a result in a cause-effect relationship
CHAPTER 18: FUNCTIONAL PERSPECTIVE ON GROUP DECISION MAKING
Objective theory
Functional Perspective
A prescriptive approach that describes and predicts take-group performance when four communication functions are fulfilled
Requisite Functions
Requirements for positive group outcome, problem analysis, goal setting, identification of alternatives, and evaluation of pluses and minuses for each
Four Functions of Effective Decision Making
1. Analysis of the problem
2. Goal setting
3. Identification of alternatives
4. Evaluation of positive and negative characteristics
1. Analysis of Problem
Determining the nature, extent and causes of the problem facing the group
Group members must take a realistic look at current conditions
2. Goal Setting
Establishing criteria by which to judge proposed solutions
Group members need to be clear on what they are trying to accomplish
3. Identification of Alternatives (Important)
Generation of options to sufficiently solve the problem
4. Evaluation of Positive and Negative Characteristics
Testing the relative merits of each option against the criteria selected; weighing the benefits and costs
Prioritizing the Four Functions
Refers to addressing the four requisite functions in a logical progression
As long as the group ends up dealing with all four functions, the route its members take won't make much difference
Evaluation of negative consequences of alternative solutions is
Role of Communication
Discussion among members has a significant effect on the quality of group decisions
Verbal interaction makes it possible for members to distribute and pool information, catch and remedy errors and influence each other
Three types of communication in decision making groups
Promotive
Disruptive
Counteractive
Promotive
Interaction that moves the group along the goal path by calling attention to one of the four requisite decision making functions
Disruptive
Interaction that diverts retards or frustrates group members' ability to achieve the four task functions
Counteractive
Interaction that members use to get the group back on track
Functional utterance
Uninterrupted statement of a single member that appears to perform a specific function
Reflective thinking
Thinking that favors rational consideration over intuitive hunches or pressure from those with clout
Ideal Speech Situation
1. Requirement for access
2. Requirement for argument
3. Requirement for justification
CRITIQUE: One of three leading theories for small group communication
Communication serves task functions and the accomplishments of those functions should be associated with effective group decisions
Verbal task behavior and socioemotional dimensions are interdependent
Most real life group have prior decision making histor
Add institutional function
Is satisfied when members discuss the reality of power brokers and stakeholders who aren't at the table but whose views clearly affect and are affected by the group decision
CHAPTER 20: ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE
Interpretive theory
Culture
Webs of significance; systems of shared meaning
Shared meaning, shared understanding, shared sense making
Corporate Culture
Surrounding environment that constrains a company's freedom of action
or
Quality/property of an organization
Organizational
Not piece of a puzzle; but the whole puzzle
Culture is not something an organization has; it's something an organization is
Cultural performance
Actions by which members constitute and reveal their culture to themselves and others; an ensemble of texts
Ethnography
Mapping out social discourse; discovering who people within a culture think they are, what they think they are doing and to what end they think they are doing it
Thick Descriptions
A record of the intertwined layers of common meaning that underline what a particular people say and do
Thick description is tracing the many strands of a cultural web and tracking evolving meaning; no matter how high the stack of an ethnographer's notes,
Most ethnographers realize their tasks is to
-Accurately describe talk and actions and the context in which they occur
-Capture the thought, emotions, and web of social interactions
-Assign motivation, intention or purpose to what people say and do
-Artfully write this up so readers feel they've exp
Metaphor
Clarifies what is unknown or confusing by equating it with an image thats more familiar and vivid
Can offer the ethnographer a starting place for accessing the shared meaning of corporate culture
Three types of narrative that dramatize organizational life
Corporate stories
Personal stories
Collegial Stories
Corporate stories
Tales that carry management ideology and reinforce company policy
Personal stories
Tales told by employees that put them in a favorable light
Collegial stories
Stories are positive or negative anecdotes told about other's in the organization. Show whats really going on in an organziatoin.
Ritual
Texts that articulate multiple aspects of cultural life, often marking rites of passage or life transitions
Rites and Rituals
Ceremonies through which an organization celebrates and reproduces its values
Planned events or routine activities
Prescriptive Approach
#NAME?
Advantages of Prescriptive Approach
Assumes management can fix things easily, without diversity or complexity
Provides practitioners with a list of things to do
Disadvantages of Prescriptive Approach
Assumes that members don't create their own culture
Assumes all cultures are the same
Oversimplifies organizational life
Usually only reinforces the perspectives of management
Descriptive Approach
An organization is a culture
It is complex, processual & dynamic, always in flux
Want to understand what is going on
vs. commodification and control
Allow us to think about culture in a more useful way
Compared to prescriptive- Descriptive say that organi
Strong Culture
More distinct, better organization
Values
Beliefs and visions that members hold for an organization
Heart and sole or corporate culture
Heroes
Individuals who exemplify and foster an organization's values
Want to celebrate those who are role models or markers of culture
Cultural Network
Communication system through which values are instituted & reinforced
Onion Model
3 layers
Characteristics of Culture
-Group phenomenon
-Patterns of basic assumptions are difficult to change
-Culture is emergent & developmental
-Culture is learned over time
-Socialization: Interact to figure out what culture is.
1. Artifacts and Creations
Most visible of social & physical environment
Includes verbal and nonverbal communication
Visible but not necessarily easy to decipher
2. Values
What talk (level one) organizes
- People have values, not organizations
- Some values may be more valued than others in the organization
- Difference between what we say are values (espoused) & actual behaviors (values in use).
3. Basic Assumptions
#NAME?
CRITIQUE: Adopts and refines the qualitative research methodology of ethnography to gain a new understanding
Today there isn't the excitement about the cultural approach to organizations that there was when interpretive scholars introduced it in the 1980's
Objection from critical theorists who fault the cultural approach because interpretive scholars refuse to e
CHAPTER 29 CULTIVATION THEORY
3 Prongs
Gerbner regarded television as the dominant force in shaping modern society
Objective Theory
1st Prong: Institutional Process Analysis
Reasons why media produce the messages they do
Penetrate behind the scenes of media organizations in effort to understand what policies or practices might be lurking
In-depth interviews with media producers, accountants and studio executivces
2nd Prong: Message System Analysis
Careful, systematic study of TV content
Usually employing content analysis as a research method
Content Analysis
Numerical reports of exactly what the world of TV contained
Dramatic Violence
The overt expression or serious threat of physical force as part of the plot
Does NOT include: verbal abuse, idle threats, or pie-in-the-face slap stick
How did Gerbner measure violence?
Him and a team of researchers randomly selected a week during the fall season and videotaped every prime-time (8-11pm) network show. Also recorded children programs on the weekends (8am-2pm)
Average of traumatic incidents per viewing hour
5
Average for children shows
about 20 an hour
Who is harmed at a higher rate in TV?
Old people and children
Who are more likely to be victims of violence?
Blacks and hispanics
Also dangerous to be female
Blue collar are more of targets than white collar executives
Symbolic vulnerability of minority groups
50% White, middle-aged white men
1 to 3 Women vs. Men
10% Children
Less than 3% Elderly (Most excluded minority)
Gerbner's content analysis reveals
People on the margin of American society are put in symbolic double jeopardy
Existence is understated but at the same time their vulnerability to violence is overplayed
3rd Prong: Cultivation Analysis
Research designed to find support for the notion that those who more time watching TV are more likely to see the "Real World" through TV lens.
Message analysis is prerequisite
The prong that carries the most electrical current in the theory
Part where mos
Difference between Message System Analysis and Cultivation Analysis
MSA: Content on TV
CA: deals with how TV's content might affect viewers, particularly TV type viewers
Cultivation
Refers to the independent contribution television viewing makes to audience members' conceptions of social reality
TV viewing cultivates way of seeing the world
Cultivation Metaphor
Imagine a table of billiard balls (Viewers) made of metal. Cue ball (TV) possessing magnetic properties. Regardless of where the balls roll, they will be affected the magnetic pull of the cue ball and tend to move closer to it. Depending on their initial
Accessibility Principle
When people make judgments about the world around them, they rely on the smallest bits of information that come to mind most quickly- the info most accessible
For those who consume a lot of TV their judgments are more likely to come from TV shows.
Mainstreaming
The blurring, blending and bending process by which heavy tv viewers undergo from constant exposure to the same images and labels
As TV mainstreams people...
it pulls those, who might initially be different, from each other into a common perception of reality that resembles the TV world
Resonance
"The TV world is like my world, so it must be true
The condition that exists when viewers real-life environments is like the world of TV; these viewers are especially susceptible to TV's cultivating power
Resonance Metaphor
Consider Billiard ball metaphor- The balls closest to the magnetic cue ball are like TV viewers whose real-world environment are much like the world of TV. Live in an area where crime rate is high, used to violent acts occurring either to them or friends
Double Dose
The cultivating power has a stronger affect on those who perceive the world of TV much like the world of their own
Heavy Viewer
AKA TV Type (Interchangeable)
Watch 4 or more hours of TV a day
Light Viewer
2 hours or less
Research on Cultivation Analysis
Change can't be documented until after a few months or years. That is why Gerber ruled out experiments because they measure change that takes place over 30-60 minutes. The strategy for performing cultivation analysis relies on surveys
Cultivation Differential
The difference in the percentage giving the "television answer" within comparable groups of light and heavy TV viewers
Major Findings
1. Postive correlation between heavy TV viewing and fear of being the victim of a violent crime
2. Heavy viewers perceive cop activity to be more than it really is
3. Heavy Viewers tend to have a general mistrust of people
Meta-analysis
A procedure that computes an overall average effect based on the correlations from all the individual surveys
Mean World Syndrome
The cynical mindset and general mistrust of others that heavy TV viewers tend to have
Longitudinal Studies
Collecting data from the same people on more than one occasion over a long period of time
CRITIQUE: People have questioned Gerbner's...
#NAME?