1. PSYA4:Media

2. Explanations of media on prosocial behaviour
PSYA4: Media: Media influences on social behaviour
Outline (A01) Evaluation (A02)
Social Learning Theory: If a child has seen someone be rewarded on
the television for positive behaviour, the theory states that they are
much more likely to imitate the behaviour.
Real life models seem to have more of an impact on behaviour than
models on the television. Prosocial acts on the television do have an
impact on behaviour but these tend to be short- lived and don’t tend
to be generalised to new environments. However, Eisenberg (1983)
believes that prolonged exposure to prosocial programming does cause
substantial and long- lasting increases in children’s prosocial behaviour.
However, in order to be able to repeat the act, children have to notice
it and it has been found that prosocial acts tend to be quite subtle and
hard to pick- up on whereas antisocial acts are easier to spot and
remember and therefore copy.
The pervasiveness of television: Most children in the UK and America
watch approximately 25 hours a week of television. This is highest at
around the age of 6 and lowers during adolescence. It then increases
during adult years and we spend the most hours per week watching
television when we are elderly.
Such a huge amount of television watching can be argued to have an
important effect on viewers but it doesn’t take into account how
people learn prosocial behaviour when they do not have a television or
are exposed to far less television than their peers (perhaps not owning
a television in their own house.)
Developmental trends in prosocial influence: Eisenberg believes that
children develop prosocial reasoning with age and so therefore there
may be developmental trends in the influence of prosocial media. This
is supported by research that shows that younger children are less
able to recognise other people’s emotions and don’t know what to do
to help others. (Mares 1996).
Prosocial effects have more of an impact and therefore influence on
younger children than adolescents. This actually counteracts
Eisenberg’s (1987) theory that we develop more perspective- taking,
empathy and moral reasoning the older we get. However, Midlarsky and
Hannah (1985) believe that younger children may be more likely to
show imitated prosocial behaviour because they think it will bring them
rewards, whereas adolescents are more likely to imitate prosocial
behaviour for selfless reasons.
Exposure to prosocial messages: It is often perceived that children
are overexposed to violence in the media, but when you look, it
becomes clear that they are also exposed to a lot of prosocial
messages. According to an early content analysis in America, there
are 11 altruistic acts and six sympathetic behaviours per hour of TV,
on average. (Sprafkin et al, 1975).
Mares (1996), who did a meta- analysis of 39 different studies found
that:
• Children who viewed positive interactions acted more positively in
their own interactions than children who had viewed neutral or
antisocial interactions.
• Children who viewed altruistic behaviours tended to share, donate,
offer, help and comfort more.

3. Explanations of media on antisocial behaviour
PSYA4: Media: Media influences on social behaviour
Outline (A01) Evaluation (A02)
Social Learning Theory: We learn ways of behaving aggressively
from observing people on television and imitating their behaviour.
This is especially likely if the behaviours are reinforced and/or
the observer identifies with the characters on television (e.g.
similar in age or gender) or they admire the character.
It predicts that the behaviour produced by viewers of television
will resemble the behaviour they have observed.It expects the
observer to imitate the behaviour more, if the character received
a reward.
 Huesmann (1988) reports that children use television models to
direct their own actions. Observed aggressive acts are stored in
memory and they are used to guide behaviour. Suggesting the
media are sources of social learning.
 Although there is a correlation between the amount of
aggressive television watched and the degree of aggressive
behaviours, causality is not demonstrated. It might be that
aggressive people choose to watch violent programme.
Desensitisation: With regular watching of violent acts on TV,
arousal tends to reduce and may even disappear altogether so
that many people become less likely to have a reaction each time
they watch the programme. Franzoi (1996) – we gradually become
less responsive to, and emotionally concerned by, acts of violence
because we have seen so many on television.
The basis of this approach is, we would expect an increased
viewing of violent programmes would lead to an increase in viewers
behaving aggressively. It is assumed viewers become less
sensitive to and less concerned about violence when they watch it
repeatedly
 There is research support; Bushman (2009) found that
participants who played violent video games for 20 minutes took
longer to respond to someone injured in a staged fight than those
viewing non-violent games, suggesting desensitisation had taken
place.
 Most research into the effects of desensitisation have not used
representative samples. For example, male students tend to be
used.
The conclusions make generalisations about all viewers, including
women. This is beta bias (minimising the differences between
males and females).
Cognitive Priming: Cognitive priming refers to the idea that
watching violence leads to people to store memories or scripts of
violent acts which may be activated later in similar situations.
A script is a stored way of behaving in social situations.
When a person watches a violent programme, the viewer is primed
to respond in a similar way to the script, so violently.
 It provides practical applications in developing prosocial
behaviour in media.
If people can form scripts about aggressive acts; then they should
be able to form scripts for prosocial behaviour.
 Josephon (1987) . Boys watched a violent television programme
involving communication with a walkie-talkie. Then played floor
hockey. They were then given instructions either via a walkie-talkie
or a tape recorder. The boys who received instructions from the
walkie-talkie behaved more aggressively than those who received
instructions via tape. Suggesting the walkie-talkie acted as a
cognitive prime or cue.

4. Positive effects of video games and computers
PSYA4: Media: Media influences on social behaviour
Outline (A01) Evaluation (A02)
Helping Behaviour: Playing prosocial games can increase helping
behaviour. Greitemeyer and Osswald found that participants
who played a prosocial video game subsequently displayed
significantly more prosocial behaviour than those who played an
aggressive or neutral game.
 Greitemeyer and Osswald suggest that, although prosocial
games can lead to increased prosocial behaviour, people who play
video games are much less likely to experience this type of
game, partly because they are seen as much less attractive.
Social Commitment: Kahne et al, found that the majority who
listed The Sims as a favourite game said they learned about
problems in society and explored social issues while playing
computer games.
Lenhart et al. found that 64% of those who played multiplayer
games (e.g. Halo) committed to community participation
(compared to 59% of ‘solo’ players)
 There are methodological problems. The lack of random
exposure to civic gaming (i.e. young people choose these games
rather than being randomly allocated to them) limits the ability
to make causal claims about how games influence the
development of social and civic responsibilities.
Increase self-esteem: Gonzales and Hancock (2011) found that
Facebook walls could have a positive influence on self-esteem,
because the feedback posted on them by others tend to be
overwhelmingly positive. In a study at Cornell University,
students were given 3 minutes to (1) use their Facebook page
(2) look at themselves in the mirror (3) do nothing. Those who
used their Facebook page; gave much more positive feedback
about themselves than the other two groups.
 There is supporting explanations. This can be explained by the
Hyperpersonal Model – it claims that self-selection of the
information we choose to represent ourselves (e.g. through
photos, personal details and witty comments) can have a positive
influence on self esteem. Computer mediate communication
offers people the opportunity for positive self-esteem as
feedback left on their ‘wall’ is positive.

5. Negative effects of video games and computers
PSYA4: Media: Media influences on social behaviour
Outline (A01) Evaluation (A02)
Increase in hostile feelings: Lab experiments have found a
short-term increase in levels of physiological arousal, hostile
feelings and aggressive behaviour following violent game play
compared to non-violent game play (Gentile and Stone)
 Methodological problems: A weakness of research in this area is
that researchers can’t measure ‘real-life’ aggression directly so
must use measures of aggressive behaviour that might not have a
relationship to real-life aggression, and can only measure short-
term effects.
Increase in verbal and physical aggression: Anderson et al –
surveyed children between the ages of 7 and 9 at two points
during the school year (longitudinal study). Children who had
high exposure to violent video games became more verbally and
physically aggressive and less prosocial.
 Research has yet to establish a reliable causal link between
violent game play and aggressive behaviour.
A ‘bi-directional model’ (Gentile et al., 2004) has been proposed.
It suggests that although playing violent video games may cause
an increase in aggressive behaviour, it is just as likely that
people who already possess personality traits that lend them
towards aggressive behaviour, prefer violent video games.
Lower grades: Karpinski found that the majority of students who
used Facebook everyday underachieved by as much as an entire
grade compared to those who did not use the site. The link
between lower grades and Facebook use was found even in
graduate students.
 Cant’t establish that excessive Facebook use causes lower
grades; just that there is a relationship between the two.
Could be personality factors that play a role. For example,
Facebook users are simply prone to distraction.
Increase stress:Charles (2011) interviewed 200 undergraduate
students in Scotland. They found that 12% of students
experience anxiety linked to their use of Facebook. They
reported stress from deleting unwanted contacts, pressure to be
humorous and worrying about proper type etiquette towards
different friends.
 Supporting study: A case study of an 18-year-old asthmatic man
(D’Amato et al., 2010) whose condition was stable until he split up
with his girlfriend and she deleted him as a friend on Facebook. He
became depressed and changed his Facebook name in order to
become ‘friends’ with her again. When he logged on and saw
pictures of her, his maximum breath force was reduced (a sign his
asthma was worsening). Indicating that social network sites could
be a significant source of stress

6. Hovland-Yale Model
PSYA4: Media: Media and Persuasion
Outline (A01) Evaluation (A02)
 The Hovland-Yale Model represented the
first systematic. approach to understanding the
factors responsible for attitude change.
 There are a number of studies that support the
predictions of the model. For example, attitude
change depends on the expertise,
trustworthiness and attractiveness of the
source. It is difficult to assess the overall model.
It identifies several factors that influence
attitude change; however it doesn’t indicate how
all these factors influence each other.
 There is gender bias in the research, for
example research suggest females are more
susceptible to persuasive communication than
men. Sistrunk and MacDavid found claimed that
studies find women more susceptible because the
topic used was one with which men were more
familiar. Karabenick found that when more
feminine content was used males were more
easily persuaded.
 The samples used weren’t representative they
tended to use students and army personnel.
Therefore, it is inappropriate to generalise from
these samples to the general population.
This approach concentrated on 4 factors that affected the
communication process that influenced persuasion & attitude change:
1.) The communicator: who is it that is seeking to persuade us?
2.) The message: what is the content of the message?
3.) The channel: how is the message conveyed?
4.) The audience: to whom is the message directed?

7. Elaboration Likelihood Model
PSYA4: Media: Media and Persuasion
Outline (A01) Evaluation (A02)
 The model takes into account factors
overlooked by the Hovland-Yale model. For
example, it focuses on the internal mental
processes involved in attitude change and
the argument for 2 routes is more realistic
than just one.
 There is supporting research for ‘need for
cognition’. Vidrine et al (2007) exposed
students to either a fact based (central
route) for an emotion based (peripheral
route) smoking risk campaign. Those with a
higher need for cognition were more
influenced by fact-based messages; whereas
those with a low need for cognition were
more influenced by the emotion-based
message.
 It doesn’t predicted behaviour as it is
difficult to tell which type of processing
people will use
 It is over simplistic. The idea that there
are two forms of processing information is
oversimplified. It is unlikely people will
either use central or peripheral processing
but a mixture of the two. It is better to
view it on a continuum rather than being two
distinct routes.
Petty and Cacioppo (1982) claim that individuals differ in their need for cognition and
that some people enjoy analysing arguments and have a high need for cognition so are
more likely to focus on the quality of the argument rather than the context of the
argument. Whereas those with low need for cognition are assumed to primarily rely on
the opinions of trustworthy others and the context of the persuasive communication
when making a decision. Need for cognition is a stable individual difference that is
innate and inherent. Those high in need for cognition have a tendency to search for,
scrutinise and reflect upon information in an effort to better understand the world
around them.

8. Explanations for the persuasiveness of television advertising
PSYA4: Media: Media and Persuasion
Outline (A01) Evaluation (A02)
Hard sell and soft sell: Hard sell’ has a focus on the factual
information of the product. Whereas ‘soft sell’ is more focused
on the consumer.
Snyder and de Bono (1985) found people who scored high on
‘self-monitoring’ (i.e. concerned with the image of a product
rather than the facts) had more positive responses to soft sell
adverts and were more likely to change their attitudes as a
result of exposure to them. Whereas, those low in self-
monitoring, preferred adverts that gave factual information on
the topic.
 Okazaki et al carried out a meta-analysis to test whether ‘hard’
or ‘soft’ sell was more persuasive in terms of attitudes towards a
product. Hard-sell was more believable because they focused on
specific, factual information.
Celebrity endorsement: Fowles (1996) estimates that in 1990,
20% of TV commercials used celebrity endorsements. They do
make use of the ready made friendship between the consumer
and the celebrity (parasocial relationships) (Giles 2002).
Celebrities; provide the trustworthy and reliable endorsement
of a product. That makes us willing to give it a go. ‘Rubber
Stamping’ the advertiser’s claims.
 Research shows it is not that effective. Students were more
convinced from a fictional fellow student when buying a digital
camera than by one endorsed by a celebrity. (Martin et al).
 Erfgen claims that a celebrity can endorse a product in a
number of different ways: explicitly, implicitly or in a co-present
way. Research into endorsement hasn’t taken these different
styles into account.
Target Children: Martin (1997), in a meta analysis of studies,
found a strong positive correlation between age and
understanding of persuasive content.
Pester Power - children put pressure on their parents to buy
advertised toys.
 Pine and Nash (2001) studied the relationship between the
amount of commercials watched and the number of items on
children’s letters to Santa. They found there was a strong positive
relationship
 Supporting evidence in cultural differences. Pine and Nash
found there were fewer gift requests in letters to Santa among
Swedish children, This is because there is no advertising to under-
12s in Sweden.
Congruence: Bushman (2007) suggest that TV advertisements
may be better remembered if there is a congruence between
the programme content and the content of the TV ad.
For example people may be more likely to remember
advertisement if they are embedded within programmes with
the same type of content.
 Gender stereotypes in television adverts reinforce the
traditional role of women as caretakers, wives or subordinates
(Scharrer et al.) They promote acceptance of these stereotypes
no matter how biased or inappropriate they may be.

9. Attraction to celebrity: Socio-psychological explanations
PSYA4: Media: Psychology of ‘celebrity’
Outline (A01) Evaluation (A02)
Absorption-addiction model: Model was proposed by
McCutcheon et al. (2002)
Individuals develop interest in celebrities due to a lack of
meaningful relationships in their lives and as an attempt to
escape mundane reality.
The interest in celebrities can be seen as an attempt to gain a
more positive self-image and to feel fulfilled in themselves.
However, the motivational forces driving this absorption may
eventually become addictive, leading the person to more
extreme and delusional behaviours in order to sustain
satisfaction with the parasocial relationship they have
developed with the celebrity.
 Links to Mental Health
Maltby et al (2003) used Eysenck Personality Questionnaire
(EPQ) to test personality and celeb worship.
Entertainment-social level linked to extraversion.
Intense-personal level linked to neuroticism (related to anxiety
and depression). This supports the idea that higher levels
linked to poorer mental health.
 Oversimplification.
There is no single personality that engages in celebrity
admiration. There are many different motivational factors that
determine whether people admire celebrities.
Parasocial Reationships: An individual is attracted to another
individual. But the target individual is usually unaware of the
existence of the person who has created the relationship.
A parasocial relationship is particularly appealing to some
individuals because it makes few demands. They do no run the
risk of criticism or rejections, as they might in a real
relationship.
Schiappa et al concluded that parasocial relationships were
most likely to form with television celebrities who were seen as
attractive and similar in some way to the viewer.
If the celebrity acted in a believable way, viewers were able to
compare how they would behave in similar situations.
 Benefits of parasocial relationships
Parasocial relationships may actually offer many social benefits.
For example, they provide models of social behaviour (intimacy and
generosity) and an opportunity to learn cultural values (importance
of marriage). Perse and Rubin (1989) found that repeated
exposure to soap-opera characters led to a perceived reduction in
uncertainty about social relationships.
Parasocial relationships may not be dysfunctional
 Contridictory evidence: It is often believed that parasocial
relationships with celebrities are dysfunctional (based on
loneliness). However, Schiappa et al. found that loneliness was not
a predictor of parasocial relationships.
 Culturally biased
The majority of the research has been done in Western Cultures
and this means findings may be culturally specific.

10. Attraction to celebrity: Evolutionary explanations
PSYA4: Media: Psychology of ‘celebrity’
Outline (A01) Evaluation (A02)
Attraction to creative individuals: Neophilia = A love of
novelty/newness/uniqueness
Before arrival of TV and computers, our ancestors would have had
to amuse each other and neophilia would have led to evermore
creative displays from potential mates.
This would explain many of the characteristics that are universally
and uniquely developed in humans e.g. music, art and humour, all
which are highly valued during mate choice
We might therefore explain our attraction to celebrities as an
extension of our love of these characteristics.
We are drawn to individuals who display these creative skills and
since these skills are regularly broadcast into our homes, make our
attraction to such figures even greater.
 Miller (2000) - natural selection might tend to favour minds
with survival-enhancing skills, Sexual selection might favour minds
prone to inventing attractive, imaginative fantasies – the kinds of
fantasy that nowadays we witness in the work of artists, film
stars and musicians.
 Duck (1982) says that boredom with a partner is a common
reason for termination. So partners who offer variety and
creativity have longer more reproductively successful
relationships.
 Shiraishi et al (2006) - Found that people who had high scores
on Neophilia have a particular form of Monoamine Oxidase A
(MAOA) – a type of enzyme; this suggests that there are genetic
differences between novelty-seeking tendancies. This strongly
supports the idea of a genetic basis for Neophilia and attraction
for creative types
Gossip – exchange of information: When our ancestors started to
live in larger social groups, they would have exchanged information
about one another.
This exchange of information is known as ‘gossip’
De Backer (2005) suggests that gossip creates bonds within social
groups, manipulate the reputation of rivals and exchange
information about potential mates. This serves a adaptive function
by initiating and maintaining alliances
Generally we gossip about people we encounter in real life, however
we also gossip about people in the media.
Barkow (1992) suggests we regard media characters as being
members of our social group, thus celebs trigger the same gossip
mechanisms that have evolved to keep up with the affairs of in-
group members.
 De Backer (2007) surveyed (questionnaire) over 800
participants. They reported that gossip was seen as a useful way
of acquiring information about social group members. This
supports theory of gossip evolving due to usefulness.
 Also found that media exposure was a strong predictor of
interest in celebrities. Concluded media exposure led to the
misperception that celebs were a part of social network, thus
explaining interest in celeb gossip.
 Research Method issues: questionnaires and self-reports -
social desirability bias/demand characteristics
Gender bias - generally females tend to be more preoccupied by
celeb gossip than males.

11. Research into intense fandom: Celebrity Worship
PSYA4: Media: Psychology of ‘celebrity’
Outline (A01) Evaluation (A02)
Attraction to creative individuals: Neophilia = A love of
novelty/newness/uniqueness
Before arrival of TV and computers, our ancestors would have had
to amuse each other and neophilia would have led to evermore
creative displays from potential mates.
This would explain many of the characteristics that are universally
and uniquely developed in humans e.g. music, art and humour, all
which are highly valued during mate choice
We might therefore explain our attraction to celebrities as an
extension of our love of these characteristics.
We are drawn to individuals who display these creative skills and
since these skills are regularly broadcast into our homes, make our
attraction to such figures even greater.
 Miller (2000) - natural selection might tend to favour minds
with survival-enhancing skills, Sexual selection might favour minds
prone to inventing attractive, imaginative fantasies – the kinds of
fantasy that nowadays we witness in the work of artists, film
stars and musicians.
 Duck (1982) says that boredom with a partner is a common
reason for termination. So partners who offer variety and
creativity have longer more reproductively successful
relationships.
 Shiraishi et al (2006) - Found that people who had high scores
on Neophilia have a particular form of Monoamine Oxidase A
(MAOA) – a type of enzyme; this suggests that there are genetic
differences between novelty-seeking tendancies. This strongly
supports the idea of a genetic basis for Neophilia and attraction
for creative types
Gossip – exchange of information: When our ancestors started to
live in larger social groups, they would have exchanged information
about one another.
This exchange of information is known as ‘gossip’
De Backer (2005) suggests that gossip creates bonds within social
groups, manipulate the reputation of rivals and exchange
information about potential mates. This serves a adaptive function
by initiating and maintaining alliances
Generally we gossip about people we encounter in real life, however
we also gossip about people in the media.
Barkow (1992) suggests we regard media characters as being
members of our social group, thus celebs trigger the same gossip
mechanisms that have evolved to keep up with the affairs of in-
group members.
 De Backer (2007) surveyed (questionnaire) over 800
participants. They reported that gossip was seen as a useful way
of acquiring information about social group members. This
supports theory of gossip evolving due to usefulness.
 Also found that media exposure was a strong predictor of
interest in celebrities. Concluded media exposure led to the
misperception that celebs were a part of social network, thus
explaining interest in celeb gossip.
 Research Method issues: questionnaires and self-reports -
social desirability bias/demand characteristics
Gender bias - generally females tend to be more preoccupied by
celeb gossip than males.

12. Research into intense fandom: Celebrity Stalking
PSYA4: Media: Psychology of ‘celebrity’
Outline (A01) Evaluation (A02)
Attachment Style: Kienlen (1998) says that the motivations of
stalkers are different, depending on the kind of insecure
attachment they have.
McCutcheon et al (2006) found that in a sample of students,
those that had experienced childhood insecure attachments
were more likely to excuse celebrity stalking.
 Tomin found that stalkers had significantly more evidence of
insecure attachment styles than a control group of non-
stalkers.
Mental health: Stalkers may develop a love obsession or
fixation with a celebrity. Stalkers of this type suffer with
delusional thought patterns and many suffer with a mental
disorder (e.g. schizophrenia), Meloy (2001).
Since most are unable to develop normal personal relationships
through a more conventional mean, they retreat into a life of
fantasy relationships with the celebrity.
 Research has real life implications for how we can treat
stalkers who are mentally ill.
Mullen (2008) – 20,000 incidents of stalking the Royal Family.
80% of stalkers were those with psychotic disorders like
schizophrenia.
 Ethical concerns – potential harm when researching into
people with pathological tendencies. A thorough debriefing
should be administered with provision also made if support is
needed.