Cultivation theory is a sociological and communications framework designed to unravel the enduring impacts of media consumption, with a primary focus on television. At its core, the theory posits that individuals who invest more time in watching television are prone to perceive the real world through a lens aligning with the prevalent depictions in television messages, in contrast to their counterparts with lower television viewership but comparable demographic profiles.
The premise hinges on the idea that increased exposure to television content, marked by recurring patterns of messages and images, cultivates shifts in individuals' perceptions. This transformative process extends beyond mere entertainment, playing a pivotal role in shaping the cultural fabric by reinforcing shared assumptions about the world. Cultivation theory, therefore, seeks to unravel the intricate dynamics of how prolonged engagement with television programming influences collective perspectives.
This theory believes that television has taken the role in which family, schools and churches formerly played in the society, which is the function of enculturation.Gerbner, G., Gross, L. 1976a. Living with television: the violence profile. J. Commun. 26(2): 1 73-99 | Gerbner, G., Gross, L. 1976b. The scary world of television. PsychoL Today, April: 41-45, 89
A notable validation of the theory's significance emerges from a comprehensive 2004 study conducted by Jennings Bryant and Dorina Miron. Their examination, encompassing nearly 2,000 articles published in the top three mass communication journals since 1956, revealed cultivation theory as the third most frequently employed cultural framework. This underscores the theory's enduring relevance and widespread adoption within the realm of mass communication scholarship.
Origin and founders Cultivation theory was founded by George Gerbner. It was developed to seek out the influence that television media may have on the viewers. Most of the formative research underlying cultivation theory was conducted by Gerbner along with his University of Pennsylvania colleague Larry Gross and their students-turned-colleagues Michael Morgan and Nancy Signorielli. Gerbner formulated his paradigm for mass communication in 1973 which included three types of analysis.Signorielli, Nancy (2021-12-10). "George Gerbner | American journalist | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2022-04-01. The first type of analysis is message system analysis. Message system analysis aims to identify the content of message patterns in television and media. This includes the focus on gender, race, and ethnicity in relation to topics, such as violence. The second type of analysis is the cultivation analysis that is defined as the longitudinal surveys of people's opinions on certain subjects with the key variable being levels of media reception such as television viewing. Most of the research under cultivation theory involves cultivation analysis. The third type of analysis is institutional process analysis, which looks at what institutions are supporting and distributing the content in media. These three analyses are known as the cultivation theory.
Cultivation theory began as a way to test the impact of television on viewers, especially how exposure to violence through television affects human beings. The theory's key proposition is that "the more time people spend 'living' in the television world, the more likely they are to believe that social reality aligns with reality portrayed on television." Early studies of Cultivation Theory began with an interest in whether or not heavy television viewers were more likely to imitate violence that they saw. Current studies emphasize the conclusions that viewers draw about violence in the world around them. The traditional perspective of Cultivation Theory put emphasis on the overall viewing habits of individuals rather than their choice of genre. This was due to fewer choices that viewers had available to them. In light of changes in technology, simply examining the amount of viewing can be combined with choices in viewing. Gerbner believed that audience members used television to "fill the gaps" of their knowledge about certain experiences that have not occurred their own life experience. Because cultivation theory assumes the existence of objective reality and value-neutral research, it can be categorized as part of positivistic philosophy.
Background Together, Gerbner and Gross were able to expand upon the cultivation theory and base it upon different core assumptions.
Cultivation theory is based on three core assumptions:
Medium: the first assumption is that television is fundamentally different from other forms of mass media. Audience: cultivation theory does not predict what people will do after watching a violent program but rather posits a connection between people's fears of a violence-filled world and their exposure to violent programming. The exposure to violent programming leads to what Gerbner calls the mean world syndrome, the idea that long-term exposure to violent media will lead to a distorted view that the world is more violent than it is. Function and effect: television's effects are limited because it is a part of a larger sociocultural system. Therefore, although the effects of watching television may increase or decrease at any point in time, its effect is consistently present. Cultivation theory suggests that exposure to media affects a viewer's perceptions of reality, drawing attention to three aspects: institutions, messages, and publics.
Television, Gerbner suggested, binds diverse communities together by socializing people into standardized roles and behaviors; thus, television functions as part of the enculturation process. Gerbner's research focused on the larger meaning of heavy television consumption instead of the meaning behind specific messages.
There are three orders of effect that come with the cultivation theory. The first order effects describe how people's behavior changes when exposed to mass media. The second order effect encompasses the viewers' values and attitudes depending on what they are watching. The third order effect is the change in the viewer's observation behavior.
Perceptions of Violence Gerbner's initial work looked specifically at the effects of television violence on American audiences. Measuring the effect of violence underscored the larger part of Gerbner's work on cultivation theory. Therefore, he measured dramatic violence, defined as "the overt expression or threat of physical force as part of the plot." Gerbner's research also focused on the interpretation by high-use viewers of the prevalence of crime on television versus reality. He argues that, since a high percentage of programs include violent or crime-related content, viewers who spend a lot of time watching are inevitably exposed to high levels of crime and violence. Reality television is popular programming due to its dramatic displays of aggression, both verbal and physical. The programs, which are supposed to be actual accounts of an individual's life, reinforce stereotypes of acceptable aggression for both males and females. Producers have the ability to shape the viewers' perception of reality by manipulating the events of the show. Fans of these types of programs believe that behavioral outbursts of celebrities are acceptable responses.
In 1968, Gerbner conducted a survey to demonstrate this theory. Following his previous results, he placed television viewers into three categories: light viewers (less than 2 hours a day), medium viewers (2–4 hours a day), and heavy viewers (more than 4 hours a day). He found that heavy viewers held beliefs and opinions similar to those portrayed on television, which demonstrated the compound effect of media influence. Heavy viewers experienced shyness, loneliness, and depression much more than those who watched less often. From this study, Gerbner then began to work on what would become the Mean World Syndrome, which is based on the fact that heavy viewers of television, particularly violence-related content, are more likely than light viewers to believe that the world is more frightening and dangerous than it actually is.
In 2012, people with heavy viewing habits were found to believe that 5% of society was involved in law enforcement. In contrast, people with light viewing habits estimated a more realistic 1%.
TV Viewing and Fear of Crime In most of the surveys conducted by Gerbner, the results revealed a small but statistically significant relationship between television consumption and fear of becoming the victim of a crime. Those with light viewing habits predicted their weekly odds of being a victim were 1 in 100; those with heavy viewing habits predicted 1 in 10. Actual crime statistics showed the risk to be 1 in 10,000.
Supporting this finding is a survey done with college students that showed a significant correlation between the attention paid to local crime and one's fearfulness. There was also a significant correlation between fear of crime and violence and the number of times the respondents viewed television per week.
Local news has been frequently analyzed for cultivation, as they rely "heavily on sensational coverage of crime and other mayhem with particular emphasis on homicide and violence", while news agencies boast of their allegiance to report factually. Gerbner found that heavy viewers of news were more likely to overestimate crime rates and risk of personal exposure to crime and underestimate the safety of their neighborhoods. Additionally, several other studies point out the correlation between viewing local news and fear of crime, with Gross and Aiday (2003) finding the relationship between local news exposure and fear of crimes to be independent of local crime rates. Gerbner's theory focuses on the collective mindset of television viewers' fear of crime based on the amount of television programs with this content. Some critics argue that this explanation does not take into account other variables that have the potential to change this conclusion. Variables such as age, sex, or educational level of individuals potentially influence viewers' beliefs about the prevalence of crime compared to what is shown on television. Some research findings indicate a higher cultivation relationship between television and fear of crime among whites, and a lower cultivation relationship among non-whites. This finding indicates that viewing images of violence in reality lessens the psychological impact of viewing violence on television. The assumption is that more whites may live in safer neighborhoods, and therefore television images have more shock value. Another consideration is that television viewers do not watch one type of genre, and therefore one must consider the influence violent programs within the total viewing experience of television watchers.
Aside from local news, national news, police shows, and general TV news viewing are also related to a fear of crime. Additionally, non-genre-specific TV viewing has been associated with fear of crime.
Busselle (2003) found that parents who watch more programs portraying crime and violence are more likely to warn their children about crime during their high school years; these warnings, in turn, increased the students' own crime estimates, suggesting cultivation takes place through both direct and indirect processes.
Magic bullet theory A similar theory that examines media's effects on individuals is the magic bullet theory. It is one of the first theories concerning mass communication. It is a linear model of communication concerned with audiences directly influenced by mass media and the media's power over them.