Television Viewing: Cultivating Perceptions of Affluence and Support for Capitalist Values

PoKtica; Communication, Volume 10. pp. 243-257 1058-4609/93 $10.00 + .00 Printed in the UK. Ali rights reseived. Copyright ©1993 Taylor & Francis Television Viewing: Cultivating Perceptions of Affluence and Support for Capitalist Values JAMES M. CARLSON Providence College Abstract This article examines the proposition that television v/evvmg contributes to unrealistic perceptions ofthe degree of affluence in America and to support for the basic values underlying capitalism. The survey data examined s/iow that heavy television vievifers are more supportive of capitalist values, but are no more likety to misperceive the degree of affluence in America than light viev/ers. Keywords Affluence, capitalist values, cultivation theory, television entertainment, mainstreaming Television viewing, of both news and entertainment programming, plays an important role in the development of conceptions about the nature ofthe American political system. Perhaps it is not surprising that the most pervasive medium in American culture makes measurable contributions to conceptions of political reality and to the construction of political values, but there has been surprisingly little empirical research on the influence of television viewing on attitudes that legitimize the political system. Curiously, most of the empirical work on the influence of television has grown out of a concern with the socialization of deviant behavior. Despite the great deal of attention given to the possible antisocial effects of television viewing there is increasing evidence the medium presents programming that encourages values that are supportive of the status quo. It seems especially likely that American television programming supports dominant political values; the major networks are owned and operated by those who have a vested interest in current economic and political arrangements. Indeed the historical role of mass media has always been to promote values that dominate society. More than 40 years ago Lazarsfeld and Merton (1949) asserted that the mass media are financed by the business establishment, which rests on assumptions of capitalism, and contributes to the maintenance of that system. The same argument has been articulated more recently by Ginsberg (1988) and Parenti (1986), among others. This article examines the influence of television viewing on the public's perception ofthe degree of affluence in America and its support for values associated with capitalism. Overwhelming evidence indicates the world of television emphasizes American affluence and celebrates values associated with capitalism. It seems likely that heavy television viewers perceive a reality regarding affluence that is influenced by television and support capitalist values that serve the status quo. The theoretical perspective and research strategy that guides the research reported below is cultivation analysis. The cultivation hypothesis, developed by George Gerbner and his colleagues at the Annenberg School of Communications, states that The author thanks Lynn Sosnosky for assistance in collecting and analyzing the data. Robert Shapiro and three anonymous reviewers provided insightful comments on the manuscript. 243 244 James M. Carlson Television cultivates from infancy the very predispositions and preferences that used to be acquired from other primary sources. Transcending historic barriers of literacy and mobility, television has become the primary common source of socialization and everyday information (mostly in the form of entertainment) of an otherwise heterogenous population. The repetitive pattern of television's mass-produced messages and images forms the mainstream of a common symbolic environment. (Gerbner et al. 1986, p. 18) Gerbner and his associates have conducted many message system analyses (content analyses) over the years that indicate that television programming misrepresents reality in regard to the amount of violence, portrayal of occupations and sex roles, and such demographic characteristics as race and ethnicity (see Morgan and Signorielli 1990). Cultivation analyses have revealed that heavy viewers of television perceive a "reality" that is more consistent with the "television world" than the "real world." The most consistent evidence of cultivation of a television point of view involves perceptions of violence in the United States and the perception of a "mean world." The research of Gerbner and his associates has consistently shown that heavy television viewers overestimate the amount of violence in the United States and tend to have a dim view of the trustworthiness of people in general (see Gerbner et al. 1980). Cultivation analyses have shown that television viewing gives rise to misperceptions of social reality, termed first order beliefs, such as estimates of the incidence of violence and of occupational roles of women. Second order beliefs, or opinions concerning such matters as the meanness of society or sex role stereotypes (see Gerbner et al. 1980 and Signorielli 1989) used in second order cultivation analyses, focus on the development of value systems. Cultivation analysis has been criticized from a number of perspectives. One of the assumptions ofthe cultivation perspective is that viewers watch television nonselectively, so specific programs or types of programs are less relevant than the amount of time spent watching television. The argument presented by Gerbner and his colleagues to support this assumption is that the messages of television are consistent and generally supportive ofthe status quo across different program types. There have been, however, a number of studies that have shown that specific types of programs have unique correlations with perceptions of reality. Carlson (1985) shows that heavy viewers of crime shows had numerous perceptions and opinions concerning the legal system that differed from light viewers. Volgy and Schwartz (1980) show that viewing of medical shows influences perceptions of the medical profession and Buerkel-Rothfuss and Mayes (1981) show that viewing daytime soap operas was associated with perception of the frequency of divorce. As a result of these studies scholars often include both program-specific and total viewing measures in their analyses. Another criticism of cultivation analysis has focused on the strength of relationships between television viewing and perceptions of social reality and opinions. While a very large number of studies have confirmed the cultivation hypothesis, in many instances correlation coefficients between television viewing and television responses to survey questions are quite weak, often in the .10 to .20 range. In some instances, as is the case in many studies ofthe influence of television on opinion, correlations drop below levels of statistical significance when multiple controls for demographic characteristics are imposed. In response to this criticism Gerbner and his associates argue that the discovery of consistent systematic differences between light and heavy viewers has far-reaching consequences. Even a slight, but persistent cultivation of perspectives may alter the nature Television Viewing 245 of political culture (Gerbner et. al. 1986, p. 21). It has also been argued that it is unreasonable to expect television viewing to influence all groups equally. Research by Gerbner and many others shows that even in the absence of an overall relationship under controls for demographic variables, strong relationships exist for specific subgroups (see Morgan and Signorielli 1990). These findings lead to a refinement of the cultivation hypothesis referred to as mainstreaming. The basic idea of mainstreaming is that heavy television viewing may override differences in perceptions of reality or opinions that may be attributable characteristics of specific subgroups. In other words, subgroups who are predisposed to hold views that are outside of the cultural mainstream may be influenced to a greater extent by heavy television viewing than those who are predisposed to hold mainstream (television world) views. The implication of the mainstreaming hypothesis is that television leads viewers toward a common mainstream perception of social and political reality. The evidence of mainstreaming is quite strong and has been related to politically relevant perceptions (see Gerbner et al. 1982 and 1984; Carlson 1985). Cultivation analysis seems especially appropriate as a strategy for examining the influence of television viewing on perceptions of affluence in America and support for capitalist values given the argument by Gerbner et al. (1979, p. 180): "Television is the mainstream of the cultural process. It is the agency of the established order and as such serves primarily to maintain, stabilize and reinforce, not subvert, conventional values beliefs and behaviors." Capitalist values described by McClosky and Zailer (1984, p. 2), as associated with private ownership, the pursuit of unlimited profits from individual effort, economic competition, differential economic rewards based on differential effort, and market determination of production and the distribution of rewards are certainly among the conventional values in American society. Few would argue that those in control of television in America do not support those values. The claim of affluence and economic abundance in America legitimizes the economic and political system. A generalized belief in the "American Dream" is the engine that sustains the system. There is a great deal of evidence that television programming presents

Load more