Cultivation Theory

From what I understood, Cultivation Theory or cultivation hypothesis, cultivation analysis, is a process by which television shapes beliefs about social reality. The theory was proposed by George Gerbner, and its core theory is the effect of media. Gerbner wanted to know if watching television heavily influences the perception of people, and if it did, he wanted to know how as well. The theory states that the people who watch television more frequently are most likely to be influences by the messages given from television. The influence goes to such an extent that their world view and perceptions start reflecting what they repeatedly see and hear on television. Television is, therefore, considered to contribute independently to the way people perceive social reality. The theory suggests that television and media possess a small but significant influence on the attitudes and beliefs of society about society. Those who absorb more media are those we are more influenced.

One perfect example of the theory is the violence. The cultivation theory has been widely used in the study of violence in television. According to research, the theory has been used to explain the behavior of people who watch either violent cartoon shows, movies and video games become violent themselves. Repeated exposure to violence on television emphasizes the beliefs that the world is a dangerous and unsafe place to live in. It also said that repeated exposure of violence on television stresses that the acts of violence are considered to be a natural response in times of conflict. “Put simply, cultivation theory posits that the amount of violent TV we watch directly correlates with how paranoid we are. It also states that we watch more violent TV than we realize. Rest assured, there are other parts of the theory, but that brief summation should suffice for this discussion.” Said by Blogger Clint Graves.

Another example of cultivation theory is the alcohol consumption seen on television. Researchers Beullens, Roe, and Van de Bulck conducted research relating to alcohol consumption in music videos. The research revealed that high exposure to music videos develops an unrealistic perception of alcohol consumption. Musicians in these videos endorse alcohol in their songs and create a false reality about alcohol and its effects."  People develop expectancies through an interpretation process that is both logical and emotional, making use of both real-life and televised sources of information. The researchers argued that an effective strategy for the prevention of alcohol abuse must help children develop skepticism toward televised portrayals of alcohol use and must address the primary role played by parents as information sources and as behavioral models.

Lastly, my example would be the views of the audience on the LGBT community. A study was conducted and it found that there was an extremely high level of sexual activity in comparison to the amount of gays that appeared on television. This has led those who are heavy television consumers to believe that the gay community is extremely sexual. Much like the idea of a mean and scary world it gives people a parallel idea of an extremely sexual gay community.  A content analysis of 98 primetime entertainment programs on network and cable television examined what types of gay relationships are being presented and whether characters offered opinions on gays and gay marriage. An Internet survey based on cultivation theory then looked for relationships between television viewing and attitudes toward gays and gay marriage.