Cultivation theory

Cultivation theory examines the long-term effects of television. "The primary proposition of cultivation theory states that the more time people spend 'living' in the television world, the more likely they are to believe social reality portrayed on television." Under this umbrella, perceptions of the world are heavily influenced by the images and ideological messages transmitted through popular television media.

Cultivation is a positivistic theory, meaning it assumes the existence of objective reality and value-neutral research. A study conducted by Jennings Bryant and Dorina Miron (2004), which surveyed almost 2,000 articles published in the three top mass communication journals since 1956, found that Cultivation Analysis was the third most frequently utilized theory, showing that it continues to be one of the most popular theories in mass communication research.

Cultivation theory suggests that exposure to television, over time, subtly "cultivates" viewers' perceptions of reality. Gerbner and Gross assert: "Television is a medium of the socialization of most people into standardized roles and behaviors. Its function is in a word, enculturation". Within his analysis of cultivation, Gerbner draws attention to three entities—institutions, messages, and publics.

Initial research on the theory establishes that concern regarding the effects of television on audiences stem from the unprecedented centrality of television in American culture. Gerbner posited that television as a mass medium of communication had formed into a common symbolic environment that bound diverse communities together, socializing people into standardized roles and behaviors. He thus compared the power of television to that of religion, stating television was to modern society what religion once was in earlier times. Thus, Gerbner's research focused on the larger meaning of heavy television consumption instead of the meaning behind specific messages.

Developed by George Gerbner and Larry Gross in 1976, cultivation theory is derived from several large-scale research projects as a part in a comprehensive project entitled Cultural Indicators. The Cultural Indicators Project began as a singular study commissioned by Lyndon B. Johnson for the National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence. The commission was formed to address issues of violence in American culture; one specific area of interest for the Johnson administration was the effects of television violence on audiences. Gerbner subsequently began work on the federally funded Cultural Indicators Project at the Anneberg School of Communications. Congress then facilitated the creation of the Surgeon General's Scientific Advisory Committee on Television and Social Behavior in 1972. This new committee funded a number of studies on the effects of television: Gerbner's Cultural Indicators was one of those chosen. Through Gerbner's involvement with Cultural Indicators, he began the production of the Violence Index, a yearly content analysis of content from prime-time television content that would show how violence was portrayed on television, from season to season. This allowed viewers the access to data regarding the frequency of violence in television shows, but also raised questions regarding the accuracy of the study and the research hypotheses used. While the Violence Index received criticism, Gerbner and his team updated the Index to make sure that the data being produced was accurately composed, and addressed any criticisms posed. Gerbner's research found that violence was portrayed in prime time more frequently compared to violence in the real world.

...
Wikipedia