cultivation theory summary

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Cultivation theory is based upon the influence television’s subject and matter has upon people and life. Professor George Gerbner of University of Pennsylvania first created it to study the way television influences life and perceptions of reality (Chandler, 1995). The theory questions if a viewer of television begins to treat the concepts in programming as a real-life understanding. The theory utilizes television use alone and not other media sources. It is commonly used to describe the way violence is interpreted. Nabi and Segrin describe this theory in their paper, Does Television Viewing Cultivate Unrealistic Expectations About Marriage published in the Journal of Communication in June 2002. Violence is shown disproportionately on television to the actual amount of violence in the world, creating the idea that there is more violence in the world than there really is which is often referred to as “mean world syndrome” (Nabi & Segrin, 2002). Furthermore, it is thought that those who watch a great amount of television seem to have similar opinions with other viewers in comparison to those who do not watch as much television; this effect is known as “mainstreaming effect” (Chandler, 1995).
Of course the cultivation theory does include its criticism. Firstly, if a correlation is found between television and a given topic of matter it doesn’t necessarily mean it is causation. For example, if someone believes there to be a large amount of violence and crime in the US and also watches a moderate to heavy amount of crime TV, there is not necessarily causation. It could be, in fact, that because they believe there to be a moderate amount of crime they are more drawn to watch television programs as such. Lastly, a critique of t...

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... may instead utilize the cultivation theory in a different perspective for this situation. 16 and Pregnant has stressed the importance of safe sex and has also shown the difficulties that come with having children as teenagers therefore their beliefs of teen pregnancy have perhaps been shaped by the negative portrayal. Overall, the study cannot guarantee that the show is what create the decrease in teen pregnancies but it is something to be noted and further researched.

References
Chandler, D. (1995, September 18). Cultivation Theory. Cultivation Theory. Retrieved May 27, 2014, from http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/short/cultiv.html
Wilson, J., & Smith, S. (2014, January 13). Study: MTV's '16 and Pregnant' led to fewer teen births. CNN. Retrieved May 27, 2014, from http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/13/health/16- pregnant-teens-childbirth/

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