ipl-logo

George Gerbner's Cultivation Theory Research

1844 Words8 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: George gerbner cultivation theory example

Based on the research of George Gerbner (1919- 2005), Cultivation Theory focuses on explaining why individuals who watch countless amounts of television develop a distorted perception of reality (West & Turner 2018). Individuals develop their own view of reality based on the chosen programs viewed, in this case the choice of social platform. Due to an increase in mass media and digital technologies, Cultivation Theory is argued to be more applicable today than it has been in the past. (Dahl 2018). Although no work to date has directly addressed the relevance of Cultivation Theory to social media, the three assumptions of the Cultivation Theory can stray away from television and translate to social media.
In 1969, George Gerbner devised the …show more content…

(North 2011). This can cause users to compare themselves to other users, for social media is displaying social standard definitions of “perfect lives.” For example, cultivation theory can be used to analyze low self-esteem and body image (Sheldon 2015). Men and women are exposed to various pictures and videos of skinny women or buff men. These visuals can result in beliefs that these images are the required social standards and can cause users to place themselves in categories based on the world and society’s perceptions. Perceptions of what is expected in a society can be impactful informative due to the frequency of these types of images …show more content…

The three assumptions of the George Gerbner’s Cultivation Theory arguably translate to social media due to social media essential differences from other forms of mass media, the way social media can shape societies’ ways of thinking and relating, and the limited influence of social media. Regardless of the social platform, alterations and distortions from reality are generated through a nontangible world of social media. Due to social media’s increasing high frequency, perhaps researchers will employ future studies in how Cultivation Theory translates to social

Show More
Related
383 Words | 2 Pages

Losing a loved one is never easy, but you can celebrate their life and keep their memory alive by planning a personalized memorial service. Armes Hunt Funeral Home, in Fairmount, IN, can help you plan this personal tribute to share with friends and family. This Indiana-based funeral home offers not only ceremonies and gatherings, but also ideas for making the memorial service a time to remember your loved one. From displaying memorabilia, to offering food and drink, consider some more ideas below to personalize your loved one’s memorial service: •Display Photos In A Clever Way: While, oftentimes, a memorial funeral will display photos of the deceased around caskets or tables, consider different ways to showcase photos of your loved one in

Read More
1225 Words | 5 Pages

The mass media has many influences on how society perceives certain things. The media can be seen to shape people’s opinion of themselves, enforce gender stereotypes, and in some ways the media also decides what we should value. The average American household has more TVs in the house than people, there’s about 2.73 television sets and 2.55 people per household, and at least one TV is on eight hours a day (Goodall, p. 160). This explains why we are so influenced by what we see and hear in the media, when we surround ourselves with media we can’t help but to be influenced by it. The way that the media influences people isn’t always bad, sometimes the media’s influences are good, for example news broadcasts.

Read More
441 Words | 2 Pages

Imagine a culture where people’s daily lives are centered around buying things. Imagine your mind being bombarded with ads every moment of your life, and a world of people connected to the internet, constantly being fed a stream of games, shows, and chats into their brain through a system called the Feed. This imaginary culture is reflective of what the world is like today, and the Feed is symbolic of how distracted the world has become to media. Media is not only a distraction, but it is also a destructive force because it unfocuses people’s thoughts from the real world.

Read More
1374 Words | 6 Pages

Nowadays, many teenagers imitate famous people that they followed on Instagram. This could have an effect on another factor such as their self-esteem. Following strangers such as celebrities and models may cause the individuals to have a lower self-esteem and feel dissatisfied with their life by seeing the pictures celebrities post day-to-day about their lavish lifestyles, “perfect” bodies, and pretty faces (Wallis 2015). Next, other studies done to test the exposure of images of models to girls have found that participants who viewed pictures of the models reported a significantly lower body satisfaction and self-esteem report than those in the control group who were not exposed to any models (“Social Media and Self Esteem - Dos &Don’t for Teens and Parents”). In addition, another study in Germany call this phenomenon the “self-promotion-envy spiral,” and it happens when Instagram users compare themselves to the people they’re connected to on the platform (Dion, “The Effect of Instagram on Self-Esteem and Life Satisfaction”).

Read More
1152 Words | 5 Pages

Social media plays a big role in how society portrays body image. “Alternatively, an increased number of Facebook friends may provide girls with greater opportunity to rapidly make multiple social comparisons, itself shown to be associated with body image concern”(Tiggemann and Slater 82). According to the survey that was taken by Marika Tiggemann and Amy Slater, the more Facebook friends the girls had, the more likely it was that they had body image concerns. They were able to compare themselves to the other girls that they were friends with, which led to them to have an increase in their drive for thinness. “Further, these comparisons are likely to be with somewhat idealised images, in that girls mostly post photographs in which they look good or are doing something ‘cool’ (and can be digitally altered)”(Tiggemann and Slater 82).

Read More
825 Words | 4 Pages

What social media is doing to teens Social media is a very dangerous place that makes teens feel insecure. Teens spend more than one-third of their day on social media looking at stereotypical images of “perfect” bodies and people. As a result, they become insecure about themselves because they are not like the people in the pictures. The media states that a perfect person is skinny, tan, has shiny hair, straight teeth, and completely clear skin. However, because teens are going through a lot of physical changes they do not usually look like social media 's definition of perfect and they become insecure.

Read More
1253 Words | 6 Pages

The wellsprings of the media picked are unmistakable. As Jay Blumler brings up in his book The Use of Mass Communication, where he asserts that studies have demonstrated that crowd satisfactions can be gotten from no less than three particular sources: media content, introduction to the media in essence, and social connection that encapsulates the circumstance of presentation to various media (Blumler 1974). It is clear that groups of viewers invest energy utilizing the media as a part of different ways. Whether they are killing time or utilizing it as a social instrument, every medium is novel in its motivation.

Read More
964 Words | 4 Pages

Social media is a powerful source in today’s society, 81% of the population in the United States alone has set up a social media profile. Many use the media for useful things, like educational opportunities and business inquiries. Although there are people who may look at it more in a concerning aspect. Many people today view the social media as a stage where they are judged and told what the real way to look and act is, more specifically, body image. Social Media has a negative impact on body image, through creating a perfect view physically which affects someone mentally, targeting both male and female, and turning away from the real goal of social media.

Read More
925 Words | 4 Pages

The theory explains “how individuals use mass communication to gratify their needs” (Burgeon, Hunsaker and Dawson, 1994, cited in Udende and Azeez, 2010, p. 34). The theory holds that “people influence the effects that mass media have on them” (Anaeto et al, 2008 cited in Edegoh, Asemah and Nwammuo, 2013, p. 23). The assumption of the theory is that people are not just passive receivers of media messages; rather, they actively influence the message effects. Media audience selectively choose, attend to, perceive and retain media offerings on the basis of their needs, beliefs, etc., thus, “there are as many reasons for using the media as there are media users”

Read More
2994 Words | 12 Pages

Media has become an integral part in society. The idea of media has changed throughout the century along with the change in media technology. Media went from print media to modern media that can be viewed via screen and now modern media can be controlled by the user/viewer itself. It is a powerful tool that can be accessed almost anywhere with a smart phone or computer and internet. Social media is a newer media that has changed the way in which society interacts, face-to-face communication changed to screen-to-screen communication.

Read More
1294 Words | 6 Pages

It helps to explain the motivations behind the media use and habits of media use or the actual needs satisfaction by the media are called media gratifications. Contemporary U&G is grounded in the following five assumptions: (Papacharissi & Mendelson, 2007) (a) “Communication behaviour, including media selection and use, is goal directed, purposive, and motivated”, (b) “People take the initiative in selecting and using communication vehicles to satisfy felt needs or desires”’ (c) “A host of social and psychological factors mediate people’s communication behaviour”; (d) Media compete with other forms of communication for selection, attention, and use to gratify our needs or want” (e) “People are typically more influential than the media in the relationship, but not always. (Rubin, 1994). 18 Applied to context of this research paper, U&G supports the understanding of viewer motives and predisposition, while placing Reality Television on the larger spectrum of communication channels that are more or less available to audience. It permits the study of both Instrumental and Ritualised uses of media, both of which could drive the appeal of Reality

Read More
700 Words | 3 Pages

Today everyone is obsessed with social media. People are easily influenced by almost everything they come across on the internet including appearance and body image. In todays generation it is so common to be unhappy with the way you look. All this is due to societies high standards on the way we “should” look. With social media you can do many things, including pretending to be someone you are not.

Read More
862 Words | 4 Pages

According to Baran (2012) mass communication can be defined as “the process of creating shared meaning between the mass media and their audiences.” This essay aims to discuss the degree to which we are shaped by our interaction with the media. In order to achieve the aforementioned aim of this essay I will focus on the following: limited-effects theory, two-step flow theory, attitude change theory and agenda setting. The limited effects theory sets out that media influence is based on individual and social characteristics.

Read More
998 Words | 4 Pages

Media are platforms of mass communication that can be categorized as either new of traditional media, with new media being forms of communication that make use of technologies such as the Internet, and traditional media being more conventional forms of media such as newspapers. Media, primarily new media, is getting more popular and influential, especially in today’s day and age since we are exposed to it a lot more than in the past and also since media is more easily accessible now. The media can shape our behaviours, perceptions and opinions, and it is important to know how people are influenced and impacted by it. The media can influence someone’s perception of social reality, or perceptions of beauty or even influence people’s behaviours and habits and therefore, the media does shape who we are. One way that the media can shape who we are is by influencing our perception of social reality.

Read More
745 Words | 3 Pages

Popular models such as Kendall Jenner and Alexis Ren is known for their ‘perfect’ bodies. They post daily of their ‘fitspo’ images, gaining millions of likes and compliments. These compliments about their appearance support the importance of body image in how you are judged as a person. These images, send a destructive message about their appearance as well. Ms Morgan stated that ‘appearance-based talk and body comparison can be unremitting, with little understanding of how detrimental it is for self-esteem and mental-health’.

Read More

More about George Gerbner's Cultivation Theory Research

Related Topics

Open Document