REVIEWER IN MIL (FINALS)
we are more influenced.
Media and Culture: The Function of Media in
Shaping Culture and Society
SYMBOLIC INTERACTION
- relies on the symbolic meaning that
people develop and rely upon in the
process of social interaction
- analyzes society by addressing the
subjective meanings that people impose
on objects, events, and behaviors
- Subjective meanings are given primacy
because it is believed that people behave
based on what they believe and not just
on what is objectively true.
- race and gender, can be understood
through the symbolic interactionist lens.
- We use socially constructed meanings of
race and gender to help us decide who to
interact with, how to do so, and to help us
determine, sometimes inaccurately, the
meaning of a person's words or actions.
THREE CORE PRINCIPLES:
MEANING
- states that humans act toward people
and things according to the meanings
that give to those people or things.
LANGUAGE
- gives humans a means by which to
negotiate meaning through symbols.
Humans identify meaning in speech acts
with others.
THOUGHT
- modifies each individual’s interpretation of
symbols. Thought is a mental conversation
that requires different points of view.
SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF REALITY
- The way we present ourselves to other
people is shaped partly by our interactions
with others, as well as by our life
experiences.
- our perceptions of reality are colored by
our beliefs and backgrounds.
SOCIETY
- how we see other people influences their
actions as well as our actions toward
them. Our social interactions depend on
what types of roles we assume, who we
assume them with, and the scene where
interaction takes place.
CULTIVATION ANALYSIS
- Their primary focus falls on the effects of
viewing in the attitudes of the viewer as
opposed to created behavior.
- Heavy viewers of TV are thought to be
‘cultivating’ attitudes that seem to believe
that the world created by television is an
accurate depiction of the real world.
- is based on attitudes already present in our
society and that the media take those
attitudes which are already present and
re-present them bundled in a different
packaging to their audiences.
- Those who absorb more media are those
CRITICAL CULTURE THEORY
- oriented toward critiquing and changing
society as a whole, in contrast to
traditional theory oriented only to
understanding or explaining it.
- to dig beneath the surface of social life
and uncover the assumptions that keep us
from a full and true understanding of how
the world works.
- to unmask the ideology falsely justifying
some form of social or economic
oppression—to reveal it as ideology—and,
in so doing, to contribute to the task of
ending that oppression.
THE EFFECTS OF MEDIA
VIOLENCE
- A staple of both television and films
- Violence in films has been very graphic to
differentiate and compete with television
STIMULATION MODEL
- Viewing mediated violence can increase
the likelihood of subsequent aggressive
behaviour
AGGRESSIVE CUES MODEL
- Media portrayals can indicate that certain
classes of people are acceptable targets
for real-world aggression
SOCIAL COGNITIVE THEORY
- Albert Bandura
- Explains that people learn through
observation.
- Deflated the notion of catharsis
- The theory takes into account a person's
past experiences, which factor into
whether behavioral action will occur.
CATHARSIS
- States that watching mediated violence
reduces people’s inclination to behave
aggressively
THREE HUMAN AGENCIES
- Its relation to media violence is the
individual inability to attain certain social
goals, therefore, allowing others within
their social environment too influence their
perception (Wang & Lin, 2007)
1. DIRECT PERSONNEL AGENCY
- is the individual relationship within their
environment.
- EX: aggressive behavior is a cultural norm;
therefore, other social factors can
influence aggressive behavior (Anderson
et al., 2003, Guerra et al., 2005).
- Aggressive and violent behaviors are
influence through social role modeling.
2. PROXY AGENCY
- to promote social development, but also,
impedes personnel competence
 3. COLLECTIVE AGENCY
- agency is the common-interest that exists
within groups, such as, peer-groups, and
other social counterparts that share a
commonality

VICARIOUS REINFORCEMENT
- Observed reinforcement operates in the
same manner as actual reinforcement
- Our tendency to repeat or duplicate
behaviors for which others are being
rewarded.

DESENSITIZATION
- people are more accepting of real-world
violence because of its constant
appearance in television

DRUGS AND ALCOHOL

- presented as safe, healthy, youthful, sexy,
necessary for a good time, effective for
dealing with stress, and essential to
ceremonies and other rites of passage

GENDER AND RACIAL/ETHNIC STEREOTYPING

STEREOTYPING
- The application of a standardized image
or concept to members to certain groups,
usually based on limited information
- Women are represented as sexual objects
manipulated by men
- Black people as buffoons, servants, gang
members and drug dealers
- Latinos: Gang members, violent, maids
and janitors who do not go to school and
are rebellious
- Native Americans: Spiritual Guides who
Wear Feathers and who do not know
technology or civilization
- Women: Overly sexualized and objectified
- Men: Masculine, no emotions and violent

PROSOCIAL EFFECTS OF MEDIA

1. POSITIVE INTERACTION
- Moral Lesson

2. ALTRUISM
- is the act of doing something good for the
sake of it, not necessarily for a reward.

3. SELF-CONTROL
- Challenges

4. ANTI-STEREOTYPING
- Gender and Racial (Inequality)