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Black Panther Swag:

A Pilot Study of A&T Student Reaction to Movie

Abstract

We interviewed 260 A&T students about the movie "Black Panther," the highest-grossing superhero film
in history. Nearly three out of four male and female students agreed that the movie had a positive
impact on them. Seventy-four point 54 percent of male students found it empowering, compared to
67.44 percent of females. A series of in depth interviews with students also revealed similar findings.
The pilot study is framed around Gerbner's Cultivation Theory, which proposes that long-term exposure
to negative media messages and images can result in normalized behavior. We hypothesized that long-
term exposure to positive media messages and images also has the potential to normalize behavior. Our
pilot study focused on student reaction to one movie with positive images of Africa, its people and
descendants. One positive movie doesn’t make for a long-term trend. But student answers to the nine-
item questionnaire seem to support the hypothesis. In a broad sense, the study suggests that you are
what you consume. The implications of this study for media content producers and consumers are
discussed.

Introduction

History of BP

History of Hollywood’s depiction of Africa, its people and descendants up to today.

Theory

What is CT?

Methodology

How was this study concluded?

Restate the hypothesis

Results

Discussion

Future Research and Weakness

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DESCRIPTIVE STATS AND TTest Results

N=129 males

N=129 females

1. Watching Black Panther has had a positive impact on me.

1__Strongly agree
2__Agree
3__Not sure/N/A
4__Disagree
5__Strongly Disagree

74.42% of males agreed

73.64% of females agreed

Place your results here and interpretation below for this question

Unpaired t test results

P value and statistical significance:
The two-tailed P value equals 0.5652
By conventional criteria, this difference is considered to be not statistically significant.

Confidence interval:
The mean of Males minus Females equals 0.08
95% confidence interval of this difference: From -0.19 to 0.34

Intermediate values used in calculations:

t = 0.5759
df = 256
standard error of difference = 0.135

Review your data:

Group Males Females
Mean 2.08 2.00
SD 1.07 1.09
SEM 0.09 0.10
N 129 129

The P-value of .56 shows that there was not a significant difference in gender on how the movie
positively impacted them.
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2. The movie empowered me.

1__Strongly agree

2__Agree

3__Not sure/N/A

4__Disagree

5__Strongly Disagree

70.54% of males agreed

67.44% of females

Place your results here and interpretation below for this question

Unpaired t test results

P value and statistical significance:
The two-tailed P value equals 0.5932
By conventional criteria, this difference is considered to be not statistically significant.

Confidence interval:
The mean of Males minus Females equals -0.08
95% confidence interval of this difference: From -0.36 to 0.21

Intermediate values used in calculations:

t = 0.5349
df = 256
standard error of difference = 0.145

Review your data:

Group Males Females
Mean 2.12 2.20
SD 1.15 1.18
SEM 0.10 0.10
N 129 129

The P-value of .59 shows that there was not a significant difference in gender on how the movie
empowered them.
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3. I found the strong African characters in the movie uplifting.

1__Strongly agree

2__Agree

3__Not sure/N/A

4__Disagree

5__Strongly Disagree

70.54% of males agreed

74.42 of females

Place your results here and interpretation below for this question

Unpaired t test results

P value and statistical significance:
The two-tailed P value equals 0.7715
By conventional criteria, this difference is considered to be not statistically significant.

Confidence interval:
The mean of Males minus Females equals 0.04
95% confidence interval of this difference: From -0.22 to 0.30

Intermediate values used in calculations:

t = 0.2907
df = 256
standard error of difference = 0.133

Review your data:

Group Males Females

Mean 2.09 2.05
SD 1.00 1.14
SEM 0.09 0.10
N 129 129

The P-value of .7715 shows that there was not a significant difference in gender on how the movie and
how the characters uplifted them.
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4. I am confident that Black Panther represents a permanent change in Hollywood where movies about
Africa, its people and its descendants will no longer be negative and stereotypical.

1__Strongly agree

2__Agree

3__Not sure/N/A

4__Disagree

5__Strongly Disagree

51.94% of males agreed; 21% not sure; 27.14 disagreed

57.81% of females agreed; 17.19 not sure;25% disagreed

Place your results here and interpretation below for this question

Unpaired t test results

P value and statistical significance:
The two-tailed P value equals 0.3908
By conventional criteria, this difference is considered to be not statistically significant.

Confidence interval:
The mean of Males minus Females equals 0.14
95% confidence interval of this difference: From -0.18 to 0.45

Intermediate values used in calculations:

t = 0.8596
df = 255
standard error of difference = 0.159

Review your data:

Group Males Females
Mean 2.53 2.40
SD 1.29 1.26
SEM 0.11 0.11
N 129 128

The P-value of .39 shows that there was not a significant difference in gender on how the movie changes
representation of African Americans in Hollywood.
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5. I feel better about myself after seeing Black Panther.

1__Strongly agree

2__Agree

3__Not sure/N/A

4__Disagree

5__Strongly Disagree

61.24% males agreed

57.37% of females agreed

Place your results here and interpretation below for this question

Unpaired t test results

P value and statistical significance:
The two-tailed P value equals 0.6800
By conventional criteria, this difference is considered to be not statistically significant.

Confidence interval:
The mean of Males minus Females equals -0.06
95% confidence interval of this difference: From -0.36 to 0.23

Intermediate values used in calculations:

t = 0.4129
df = 256
standard error of difference = 0.150

Review your data:

Group Males Females
Mean 2.35 2.41
SD 1.20 1.21
SEM 0.11 0.11
N 129 129

The P-value of .68 shows that there was not a significant difference in gender on how the movie made
them feel better.
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6. I feel better about my people after seeing Black Panther

1__Strongly agree

2__Agree

3__Not sure/N/A

4__Disagree

5__Strongly Disagree

62.01% of males agreed

63.56% of females agrees

Place your results here and interpretation below for this question

Unpaired t test results

P value and statistical significance:
The two-tailed P value equals 0.9214
By conventional criteria, this difference is considered to be not statistically significant.

Confidence interval:
The mean of Males minus Females equals 0.02
95% confidence interval of this difference: From -0.29 to 0.32

Intermediate values used in calculations:

t = 0.0987
df = 256
standard error of difference = 0.157

Review your data:

Group Males Females
Mean 2.40 2.38
SD 1.25 1.28
SEM 0.11 0.11
N 129 129

The P-value of .92 shows that there was not a significant difference in gender on how the movie made
“my people” feel.
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7. Media depictions of people of color influence how I view myself.

1__Strongly agree

2__Agree

3__Not sure/N/A

4__Disagree

5__Strongly Disagree

39.53% of male agreed; 19.38% of males unsure; 41.09% males disagreed

47.29% of females agreed; 17.05% not sure; 35.66% disagreed

Place your results here and interpretation below for this question

Unpaired t test results

P value and statistical significance:
The two-tailed P value equals 0.2635
By conventional criteria, this difference is considered to be not statistically significant.

Confidence interval:
The mean of Males minus Females equals 0.19
95% confidence interval of this difference: From -0.14 to 0.51

Intermediate values used in calculations:

t = 1.1206
df = 256
standard error of difference = 0.166
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The P-value of .26 shows that there was not a significant difference in gender on how the movie
influenced them.

Review your data:

Group Males Females
Mean 2.99 2.81
SD 1.33 1.34
SEM 0.12 0.12
N 129 129

9. The movie’s box office success can be traced to how strong African characters are portrayed in the
movie.

1__Strongly agree

2__Agree

3__Not sure/N/A

4__Disagree

5_Strongly Disagree

66.67% of males agreed

55.81% of females agreed

Place your results here and interpretation below for this question

Unpaired t test results

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P value and statistical significance:

The two-tailed P value equals 0.0253
By conventional criteria, this difference is considered to be statistically significant.

Confidence interval:
The mean of Males minus Females equals -0.35
95% confidence interval of this difference: From -0.65 to -0.04

Intermediate values used in calculations:

t = 2.2498
df = 256
standard error of difference = 0.155

Review your data:

Group Males Females
Mean 2.13 2.48
SD 1.21 1.28
SEM 0.11 0.11

N 129 129

The P-value of .0253 shows that there was a significant difference in gender on how the movie positively
impacted them.