Cultivation Theory

Cultivation theory was a theory composed originally by George Gerbner and is latterly expanded upon by Gerbner and Gross during 1976 in Living with Television: The violence profile, Journal of Communication. They began the research during mis-1960’s, studying on the effects of media and specifically whether watching television influenced the audiences perception of life in their daily basis and how can it affect them.

According to this theory, people who watch television frequently are more likely to be influenced by media messages and the belief that they are real and valid. Heavy television viewers are exposed to more violence hence, they are affected by the Mean World Syndrome which believes that the world is a war worse and dangerous place than it actually is. The influence goes to an extent that their world view and perceptions reflects what they see and hear on television.

The theory argues and revolves on the idea that media generally presents an image of the world that does not reflect reality. Television images are an exaggeration or fantasy of what actually exists. Television offers a wide range of ideas and conceptions on a variety of social of social and cultural dynamics such as: race, gender, sexuality and many more. Over a period of time, a fixed image of various people are formed and they gradually absorb these ideas.

Cultivation theorists says that television viewing can have long-term effects that gradually affect the audience. Exposure on these media content cultivate people’s specific values, norms, beliefs, attitudes and desires. These preconceived notions shape their perception of what the world is and they ultimately influence how others perceive or look at them. Unconsciously, people are shaping the attitude of the viewer and their behaviour based on what they consume. Theorists break down the effects of cultivation into two levels which are: the first order: a general belief about our world. Secondly, which are specific attitudes, such as hatred, pedophiles, reverence for law and order and etc.

 According to this theory, this cultivation of attitudes or norms are based on what is present in our society and that media just take these attitudes and showcase them in a different structure to their viewers. In the cultivation theory, it states that media encourages the status quo and not challenge it. Today, people are increasingly starting to depend on television more than other medium to understand the web of norms, values, mindset of today’s society we are in. Television and media possess a small but significant influence on our society’s attitudes and beliefs and those who are more exposed to media are those who are more influenced. The delta between those considered to be light viewers and heavy viewers is called cultivation differential. This described the extent to which an attitude on a particular topic is shaped on by exposure to television and media. Cultivation theory research the views of television as a system of communication and message and tries to understand its function and consequences on an audience.

Various studies have supported the claim that those who watch television more frequently have display higher tendencies of being depressed and lonely, feeling of alienation, mistrust and thinks badly about the world or thinks that the world is a malicious place. A study conducted in an experimental setting saw that at the end of the test period, student who watch more action-adventure programs are more likely to believe that the world is a violent and dangerous place and believes that they have a high chance of getting involved in a violent incident. They are compared to other students which did not watch as many action-adventure shows as they did.

This theory has been extensively used in the study of violence in television and that exposure to what is presented reflects the norms and beliefs of people. Exposure too television strengthens the acts of violence and responses to situations of conflict.