‘There is no clear evidence that the media influences social behaviour.’ Evaluate this view
CAMBRIDGE
A level and AS level
2023
👑Complete Model Essay
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Essay Outline: Does the Media Influence Social Behaviour?
Introduction
Introduce the debate about media influence on social behaviour and state your thesis. Acknowledge that some argue there's no clear evidence while others believe the media does significantly affect behaviour.
Arguments for Limited Media Influence
Evidence-Based Limitations
Discuss studies focusing on violence in the media and their inconclusive results. Include studies on advertising and voting behaviour to highlight the challenge in proving direct causal links.
The Uses and Gratifications Model
Explain how this model emphasizes active audiences and their choices in using media to meet their needs. Use this model to argue that audiences are not passively manipulated.
Interpretation and Context
Highlight how individuals interpret media messages based on their own factors like gender, class, age, etc., making the impact less uniform and predictable.
Methodological Challenges
Explain the difficulties in isolating the media's impact from other factors influencing behaviour. Acknowledge the inherent challenges in conducting research on media influence.
Arguments for Media Influence
Studies Demonstrating Impact
Present evidence from Bandura, Newson, and Charlton, emphasizing the potential for media to influence behaviour, especially in children.
Media's Role in Moral Panics and Deviancy Amplification
Explain how the media can amplify certain social issues and create moral panics, highlighting the potential for significant impact on how issues are perceived and addressed.
The Hypodermic Syringe Model
Introduce this model and its direct injection of information analogy. Use it to illustrate how some view media as potentially powerful in shaping thoughts and behaviours.
Marxist and Neo-Marxist Perspectives
Explain how Marxist sociologists view the media as promoting ruling-class ideology, potentially affecting people's acceptance of societal structures. Introduce Neo-Marxist ideas about subtle, long-term influence through repeated exposure to media content.
Conclusion
Restate your thesis, acknowledging the complexities of the debate. Conclude by summarizing the evidence and offering a balanced perspective on the influence of media on social behaviour. You can also recommend further research to address the limitations of existing studies.
Does the Media Influence Social Behaviour?
The assertion that there is no clear evidence of media influence on social behaviour is a contentious one. While some argue that studies on media effects are inconclusive and individuals actively choose their media consumption, others point to compelling evidence suggesting the media's powerful role in shaping thoughts, behaviours, and societal anxieties. This essay will explore both sides of this debate, ultimately concluding that while the extent of media influence might be debatable, its presence is undeniable.
Against Media Influence: Active Audiences and Methodological Challenges
Critics of the media effects theory highlight the methodological challenges in isolating media influence from other social factors. They argue that human behaviour is shaped by a complex interplay of factors like upbringing, socioeconomic conditions, and personal experiences, making it difficult to pinpoint the media's exact role. Furthermore, the claim that individuals are not passive recipients of media messages but active interpreters holds weight. The uses and gratifications model, for instance, suggests that people choose media that aligns with their existing beliefs and needs. This active engagement implies that the media may merely reinforce pre-existing notions rather than inject new ones.
For instance, studies attempting to establish a causal link between media violence and aggressive behaviour have yielded mixed results. While some studies, like those by Huesmann (Huesmann, L. R. (2007). The impact of electronic media violence: Scientific theory and research. Routledge.), suggest a correlation, others argue that factors like family dynamics and mental health play a more significant role (Ferguson, C. J. (2015). Do angry birds make for angry children? A meta-analysis of video game influence on aggressive behaviour, aggressive cognition, aggressive affect, physiological arousal, empathy/desensitization, and prosocial behaviour. American Psychologist, 70(6), 491–505.). This ambiguity fuels the argument that media effects are not absolute and depend on individual interpretations and pre-existing dispositions.
For Media Influence: Evidence from Moral Panics and Advertising
Conversely, proponents of media influence point to compelling evidence suggesting its tangible impact. The role of media in sparking moral panics is a case in point. The media's sensationalized portrayal of issues like youth delinquency or immigration has been shown to fuel public anxiety and influence policy decisions. Stanley Cohen's work on "folk devils and moral panics" (Cohen, S. (2011). Folk devils and moral panics: A study of the mods and rockers. Routledge.) illustrates how media representations can create exaggerated fears and stereotypes, impacting social perception and behaviour.
Moreover, the vast sums invested in advertising stand testament to the belief in media's persuasive power. Companies wouldn't spend billions on marketing if they didn't believe in the media's ability to influence consumer choices. From shaping brand perceptions to driving sales, advertising relies on the media's reach and persuasive techniques to influence consumer behaviour.
The Subtle Power of Media: Cultivation Theory and Hegemonic Influence
Beyond immediate and directly observable effects, some argue that the media exerts a subtle yet pervasive influence through long-term exposure. Cultivation theory, for instance, suggests that continuous exposure to media, particularly television, can cultivate a worldview that reflects the media's portrayal of reality, even if it deviates from actual experiences. This can impact perceptions of violence, gender roles, and social norms. Similarly, Marxist theorists argue that media, owned and controlled by dominant groups, perpetuates ideologies that maintain the status quo. This hegemonic influence, they argue, shapes societal norms and values subtly but powerfully over time.
Conclusion
To conclude, while the assertion that there is no clear evidence of media influence might hold some truth in its critique of overly simplistic cause-and-effect models, it overlooks the compelling evidence that suggests the media's undeniable role in shaping perceptions, anxieties, and behaviours. From sparking moral panics to driving consumer choices and subtly shaping worldviews, the media's influence, though complex and multifaceted, is undeniable. While individuals are active interpreters of media messages, they are not immune to its pervasive presence and persuasive power. Therefore, acknowledging the media's influence is crucial in navigating the complexities of the modern information landscape.
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There is no clear evidence that the media influences social behaviour. Evaluate this view.
Key focus of the question
The question invites consideration of how far the media influences social behaviour and the evidence on this subject. Good answers will respond to the invitation to consider evidence about the influence of the media. This might include a review of relevant studies, such as those investigating the possible relationship between violence in the media and violent social behaviour. Answers might also consider different models of media effects. The hypodermic syringe model, for example, suggests that the media have a substantial and direct effect in influencing the thoughts and behaviour of audiences. By contrast, the uses and gratifications model suggests that people are not passive consumers of the media; on the contrary, in order to satisfy their personal needs people actually make choices about how to use the media. Other models of media effects (reception analysis model and cultural effects model) suggest that the influence of the media varies between groups and may be subtle and indirect.
Indicative content
For:
- Studies of whether exposure to violence in the media leads people to behave violently have been largely inconclusive. Other studies of media influence, such as those focusing on the impact of advertising and on voting behaviour, have also failed to produce definitive results.
- People are not passive consumers of the media, rather they choose how they use the media in order to satisfy their own personal needs.
- Fears prevalent in the 1930s that people would be brainwashed by the media have proved unfounded.
- Media messages can be interpreted in different ways; how individual and groups interpret those messages is influenced by factors which the media have little control over, such as gender, class, age, ethnicity, and community.
- Isolating the influence of the media in order to study effects on the way people think and behave is very difficult to achieve. There are other methodological difficulties in investigating media influence and this also adds to the difficulty of securing conclusive evidence about media effects.
Against:
- Some studies have claimed to show that the media influences human behaviour. This includes the studies by Bandura, Newson, and Charlton.
- Studies suggest that the media play a pivotal role in the creation of moral panics and in deviancy amplification. This shows that under certain circumstances the media can have a significant impact on audiences.
- Companies and governments would be unlikely to spend so much money on media advertisements if they believed audiences were unaffected by exposure to media content.
- The hypodermic syringe model sees media content as acting like a drug that is injected into audiences who are then directly influenced in the way they think and behave.
- Marxist sociologists believe that the media play a part in promoting ruling class ideology. Through this ideology people are encouraged to think that the capitalist economic system is fair and acceptable. They would not think in this way without being influenced by ideological agencies such as the media.
- Neo-Marxist sociologists claim that the influence of the media is subtle and indirect; long-term exposure to the media results in people unconsciously absorbing certain ways of thinking and behaving that are contained within media representations.