Perspectives On Media Effects

The social, cultural, and psychological impacts of mass media communication are explored in this volume by top media effects researchers. These experts review traditional topics (agenda setting, violence, aggression), and offer new insights into questions largely left untapped -- television addiction, pornography, the social effects of new technologies, and the idea that entertainment is itself a media effect.

This new edition updates and expands the scholarship of the 1st edition, examining media effects in

Does exposure to media violence make us more violent? Do stereotypes in the media affect the way we see different social groups? Do media institutions play any role in social change? Media Effects is a concise introduction which studies the ways in which media use affects society. James Shanahan explores how researchers and society became interested in media effects, outlines the important developments in the field, and looks at how research on narrative is playing a progressively important role in revealing what we know. The book also provides a timely interweaving of different perspectives, ranging from concerned and critical voices within media studies to quantitative psychological approaches which tend to be more sceptical about powerful media effects. Concise and authoritative, Media Effects is the go-to text for students and scholars getting to grips with this fascinating and important topic.

The Routledge Handbook of Media Use and Well-Being serves as the first international review of the current state of this fast-developing area of research. The volume provides a multifaceted perspective on the beneficial as well as the detrimental effects of media exposure on psychological health and well-being. As a "first-mover," it will define the field of media use and well-being and provide an essential resource for research and teaching in this area. The volume is structured along four central considerations: Processes presents concepts that provide a theoretical bridge between media use and well-being, such as psychological need satisfaction, recovery from stress and strain, self-presentation and self-enhancement, or parasocial interactions with media characters, providing a comprehensive understanding of the underlying processes that drive psychological health and well-being through media. Moderators examines both risk factors that promote negative effects on well-being and protective factors that foster positive media effects. Contexts bridges the gap between theory and "real life" by illustrating how media use can influence well-being and satisfaction in very different life domains, covering the full spectrum of everyday life by addressing the public, private, and work spheres. Audiences takes a look at the influence of life phases and life situations on the interplay of media use and well-being, questioning whether various user groups differ with regard to the effects of media exposure. Bringing together the expertise of outstanding international scholars from multiple disciplines, including communication, media psychology, social psychology, clinical psychology, and media education, this handbook sheds new light on the role of media in influencing and affecting emotions.

Leisure time today is driven by fandom. Once viewed as a social pariah, the fan and associated fandom as a whole has transformed into a popularized social construct researchers are still attempting to understand. Popular culture in the modern era is defined and dominated by the fan, and the basis of fandom has established its own identity across several platforms of media. As some forms of fandom have remained constant, including sports and cinema, other structures of fandom are emerging as the mass following of video games and cosplay are becoming increasingly prominent. Fandom has been established as an important facet in today’s society, and necessary research is required for understanding how fandom is shaping society as a whole. Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Media Fandom is a pivotal reference source that provides vital research that reviews some of the most exigent facets of today’s fandom and highlights understudied cultures of fandom as well as emerging intricacies of established fandom. While promoting topics such as esports, influencer culture, and marketing trends, this publication explores both qualitative and quantitative approaches as well as the methods of social science and critical perspectives. This book is ideally designed for marketers, media strategists, brand managers, consumer behavior analysts, researchers, academics, and students.

The anthology "Mediated Perspectives: Media Ownership, Literacy, and Effects" focuses on the history of the media from a media ecology perspective. It encourages students to think about the media system, not merely as a source of entertainment, but as a business designed to target viewers and sell products. The book explores topics such as the uses and gratifications of media, the psychological and physiological effects of media exposure, the corporatization of thought, and the impact of digitization. Students will also be introduced to post-positivist perspectives on the media, and ideological, cultural, and worldview perspectives on assessing media literacy. The material shows students that they must be grounded in media history, media literacy, and future thinking in order to think critically in today's media-sphere. For a generation rushing wholeheartedly to embrace the media in all its forms, "Mediated Perspectives" provides a fresh, startling point of view. Most importantly, it asks readers to actively engage in questioning their own assumptions and media participation. "Mediated Perspectives" is an excellent choice for introductory courses in mass media and media communications. Bick Treut earned a M.A. in communication from Ohio University, Athens, and is currently a doctoral candidate at Capella University in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is an assistant professor of communication studies at Raritan Valley Community College, where his course offerings include communication theory, mass communication, interpersonal communication, and digital video portfolio development. Professor Treut is a member of the International Positive Psychology Association and the Media Ecology Association. He speaks, writes, and consults on communication-related issues, drawing from his 20-year career as an independent communication consultant. He was a monthly columnist for "Hunterdon Life" magazine.

The study of media processes and effects is one of the most central to the discipline of communication and encompasses a vast array of theoretical perspectives, methodological tools, and applications to important social contexts. In light of this importance—as well as the rapid changes in the media environment that have occurred during the past 20 years—this Handbook explores where media effects research has been over the past several decades, and, equally important, contemplates where it should go in the years ahead. COVERAGE Part I offers an overview of the field and conceptualizations of media effects, along with a range of quantitative and qualitative methodologies used in the study of media effects. Part II focuses on prominent theoretical approaches to the study of media effects from a more societal perspective, tracing their historical contexts, theoretical developments, criticisms and controversies, and the impact of the new media environment on current and future research. Part III emphasizes the various factors that influence the critical functions of message selection and processing central to a host of mass media application contexts. Part IV reflects a dominant trend in the media effects literature—that of persuasion and learning—and traces related theoretical perspectives through the various contexts in which media may have such effects. Part V explores the contexts and audiences that have been traditional foci of media effects research, such as children, violence, body image, and race, addressing the theories most applicable to those contexts. Part VI highlights a concern central and unique to the communication discipline—message medium—and how it influences effects ranging from what messages are attended to, how we spend our time, and even how we think.

This volume examines the concept of framing in media issues, establishing a foundation for study of the topic and understanding its application. For scholars and advanced students in journalism & media studies, political science, and related areas.

Entertainment media are rife with material that touches on the political. The stories with which we entertain ourselves often show us, for better or worse, that everything can be solved by the rise of an individual hero, and that the “best way” to deal with a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. Our stories portray individuals along the lines of gender, racial, and ethnic stereotypes; offer us villains that are one-dimensional characters driven by evil; and show us politicians who are almost always corrupt, self-serving, and/or incompetent. They offer up models for how to deal with oppressive authority and they typically portray worlds that are just, where those who do the right thing come out on top. Entire entertainment genres, with their shared story telling conventions and common plot devices, provide lessons and perspectives that are relevant to how the public sees political issues. The stories that entertain us show us all these things and more, but to what effect? Does the pervasive politically relevant content that can be found not just in political entertainment shows, like House of Cards, but also in entertainment like Game of Thrones, that, on the surface, has nothing to do with modern politics, affect people’s perspectives on the political world? That is the central question of this volume. This book discusses the type of content in entertainment media that has the best chance of influencing political beliefs, draws from the work of scholars in a number of disciplines in order to forge a theory explaining how and when entertainment media will affect political perspectives, and presents a series of empirical studies using experiments and surveys that demonstrate the effect of politically relevant content in shows such as Game of Thrones, House of Cards, The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, in genres such science fiction, and through pervasive villain and leader character types.