The Media and Social Reality Effects

Abstract

This study investigated some key theoreticalpropositions derivedfrom a synthesis of two related areas of research: the construction of social reality and cultivation analysis. A total of eight hypotheses were generated from the following propositions: (1) three broad construct categories (objective, symbolic, and subjective) constitute, to a major degree, the construction of social reality; (2) indicators of subjective reality can be placed usefully on a close-remote continuum based on their distance from the everyday life experiences of the individual; and (3) the accumulation of television exposure has a dominant influence on the shaping of beliefs and interpretations of the world, the direction of influence being contingent on the "bias "of the specific content consumed. A national sample of black adults, 18 andover, was usedto test the hypotheses. Path analysis provided some support for the hypotheses.