Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Retrospective Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 1974 Marital and familial roles on television: an exploratory sociological analysis Charles Daniel Fisher Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd Part of the Family, Life Course, and Society Commons Recommended Citation Fisher, Charles Daniel, "Marital and familial roles on television: an exploratory sociological analysis " (1974). Retrospective Theses and Dissertations. 5984. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/5984 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Retrospective Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 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Xerox University Microfilms 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 74-15,424 FISHER, Charles Daniel, 1944- MARITAL AND FAMILIAL ROLES ON TELEVISION: AN EXPLORATORY SOCIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS. Iowa State University, Ph.D., 1974 Sociology, family University Microfilms, A XEROX Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan THIS DISSERTATION HAS BEEN MICROFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED. Marital and familial roles on television; An exploratory sociological analysis by Charles Daniel Fisher A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Partial Fulfillment of The Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department: Sociology and Anthropology Major; Sociology Approved; Signature was redacted for privacy. Signature was redacted for privacy. For the Major Department Signature was redacted for privacy. Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 1974 i i TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER I. THE INTRODUCTION 1 The Prevalence of Television 3 The Impact of Television 7 The Statement of the Problem 14 CHAPTER II. THE THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 18 The Functional Analysis of Mass Communication 18 The Cultural Norms Theory 34 The Socialization Process for Marital and Familial Roles 53 CHAPTER III. THE METHODOLOGY 67 CHAPTER IV. THE SAMPLE 79 CHAPTER V. THE FINDINGS: MARITAL AND FAMILIAL PORTRAYALS ON TELEVISION 86 The Implications of Televised Role Behaviors for Society 87 The Implications of Televised Role Behaviors for the Conjugal Unit 111 The Realism of the Televised Role Behaviors 126 The Summary 138 CHAPTER VI. THE SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH 143 The Hypotheses for Future Research 143 THE BIBLIOGRAPHY 152 THE APPENDIX A 165 THE APPENDIX B 189 THE APPENDIX C 209 1 CHAPTER I. THE INTRODUCTION Communication for human beings is both fundamental and vitally im­ portant to the continuance of human society. From primitive times to the present, society has depended on the capacity to transmit intentions, desires, feelings, needs, knowledge and experience from one person to another. It would seem inevitable that such an important process, one so basic to the very existence of human society, would have been thoroughly investigated and researched. This, however, has not been the case. Only recently has communication become an area of interest for the social scientists. The essence of this paper is not directed at communication in gen­ eral. Its scope is limited to that aspect identified as mass communica­ tion. Mass communication is differentiated from other forms of human communication in that it refers to "...the relatively simultaneous ex­ posure of large heterogeneous audiences to symbols transmitted by im­ personal means from an organized source for whom the audience members are anonymous" (Larsen, 1964:348). It should also be noted that mass commu­ nication as used in a sociological sense is not to be equated with the technological knowledge necessary to transmit such messages. In this transmission of symbols to large heterogeneous audiences, messages are not sent to any specific individual. This definition of com­ munication excludes letters, telegrams, telephone calls, etc. Although the term "audience" can refer to any size group from a dozen listening to a lecture to several million watching the same television special, it usually is restricted to the latter type, where it is not possible for 2 the communicator to interact with the members on a one-to-one basis. Secondly, the members of the audience are heterogeneous in that they are not all of the same age, social class, etc. In other words, they form an aggregation of individuals from varied socio-economic statuses as well as educational and occupational levels. Also, the individual members of an audience generally remain anonymous to each other as well as to the com­ municator. It should be noted, however, that the ubiquity of the media as well as the standardization of content does provide a general context for interpersonal communication. Exposure to the mass communication message is rapid, public, and transient. It is rapid because the message often reaches several million people at one time as compared to those works of art in museums that are seen by relatively few. The message is public in that it is not directed at any particular individual and is open, therefore, for public surveil­ lance. The message is transient in that it is usually not preserved for posterity (of course, there are exceptions such as magazines, periodicals, etc.). One of the most rapid, public and transient of the mass communica­ tion phenomena is the medium of television. It is toward this medium that the focus of this paper is ultimately directed. This investigation is timely in that the impact of television is a contemporary real-world problem. It is a real-world problem in the sense that with a decreasing work week, and an enlarging population, an ever enlarging aggregate of people may be turning to television as a substitute for time formerly spent in work. What are the effects of increasing tele­ vision viewing? Of particular concern regarding effects is the question 3 of violence, a concern great enough to generate congressional hearings on broadcast violence. But violence is only one message out of many that needs to be investigated. What other messages may television broadcast? Few answers exist. In addition to being a real-world problem the impact of television is also a sociological problem. If sociology includes among its goals understanding, explanation, and prediction of social phenomena, then it would be remiss in not investigating a medium toward which so much of the populace directs its attention. Furthermore, sociological methods have not been utilized extensively in mass communication research. Therefore, it is a goal of this writer to contribute a parcel of knowledge to soci­ ological literature containing a theoretical perspective, a methodol­ ogical technique, and the development of testable hypotheses that may be investigated at some future date. The Prevalence of Television The technological capacities for the development of television were formulated in the latter 1920's and early 1930's. In 1931, Vladimir Zworykin eliminated the need for a cumbersome scanning disc, thereby providing a major technological breakthrough for the expanded use of television. On July 1, 1941, the Federal Communications Commission ap­ proved commercial television; by the end of that year, there were six communication stations and approximately 10,000 sets, half in New York City. Although production was interrupted by World War II, it picked up later; by January 1948, 102,000 sets; by April the number of sets had 4 doubled. During 1948, one million sets were manufactured, compared with 179,000 in 1947, and 6,500 in 1946 (Bogart, 1960:102). Although a rather recent invention, having been on the American scene some thirty years, the ubiquity of television is incontrovertible. Each evening in the comfort of one's living room, the television networks review the happenings of the day for the viewer. The viewer, if he is interested, can be exposed to various works of art from around the world by viewing the educational channel. On the other hand, if he wants a relaxing evening of entertainment, this is also provided by the tele­ vision medium.