Cultivation Theory

(Social – Psychological & ) [Worldview 1 – Objective – Quantifying Data]

I. Cultivation Theory
a. Basic Assumption: Heavy TV viewers develop an exaggerated BELIEF in a mean
and scary world.
b. Secondary Assumption:
i. TV is the dominate force shaping society (shaped by the Big Six)
ii. Violence is portrayed positively on TV (good for making money)
Glamorization of Movie Violence – easy to sell
II. TV Violence
a. Definition: overt expression of physical force; NOT verbal abuse.
b. More than 50% of TV shows contain violence
i. More than 20 acts of violence in kids programing per hour
c. Minority misrepresentation
III. Heavy vs. Light Viewers
a. Light viewers – 20 % of the population – 1-3 hours per day
b. Heavy viewers – 25% of the population – Min. of 4 hours per day
c. Everyone else – average viewers – 50% of population - 2-4 hours per day
IV. Outcomes of Heavy TV Viewing
a. Belief affected
i. Chance of being a victim of violence in the next week
1. Light: 1 out of 100
2. Heavy 1 out of 10
3. Actual: 1 out of 10,000
b. Fear of walking alone at night (Heavy viewers)
c. Perceived activity of police (% of population involved in law enforcement)
i. Heavy: 5%
ii. Light: 1%
iii. Actual: less than 1%
d. General mistrust of people (mean world syndrome)
V. Explaining how Cultivation Works
a. Mainstreaming: The process by which heavy viewers develop a common outlook
through constant exposure to the same images and labels.
b. Resonance: Occurs when repeated symbolic portrayals of violence cause heavy
viewers to recall real-life experience with violence.
VI. Critique
a. The cultivation effect is real, but: The cultivation effect is small
The posh world syndrome: People exaggerate the average person’s standard of living because
of exposure to television reality.
The skinny world syndrome: Young femailes having wrong ideal of skinny jhjmjuhn