George Gerbner et al. argue that television is a powerful cultural influence that shapes viewers' perceptions of the world through two processes: mainstreaming and resonance. Mainstreaming occurs when heavy television viewers' perceptions are dominated by television's messages, erasing other distinctions. Resonance occurs when television messages align with or reinforce viewers' real-world experiences. Through analysis of surveys using a "Mean World Index" and "Danger Index", they found heavy viewers had more fearful and distrustful views of the world than light viewers, demonstrating television's role in cultivating perceptions.

1. George Gerbner et al.
The
“Mainstreaming”
of America:
Violence Profile
No. 11

2. 1. Television is
essentially and
fundamentally
different from
other media forms

3. 2. Television
as a medium is
the ‚central
cultural arm‛

4. 3. ‚the substance of the
consciousness cultivated
by TV is not so much
specific attitudes and
opinions as more basic
assumptions about the
‘facts’ of life and
standards of judgment on
which conclusions are
based."

5. 4. Television’s major
cultural function is
to stabilize social
patterns, to
cultivate resistance
to change

6. 5. The observable,
measurable,
independent
contributions of
television to the
culture are
relatively small

7. INTRODUCTION QUESTIONS

8. In a given week, what are
the chances that you
will be involved in some
kind of violence?
• About 1 in 10 or
• About 1 in 100?

9. Of all the crimes in the
United States, what
proportion is violent
crime like murder, rape,
robbery, and assault?
Would you guess
15 or 25 percent?

10. FACT:
In the actual world, only
about 1 in 200 violent
crimes occur among
Americans. The Statistical
Abstract of the United
States reported that, only
10 percent of all crime in
the country is violent
crime

11. To scientifically
demonstrate their view on
television as a culturally
influential medium,
Cultivation researchers
depended on a four-step
process

12. 1.Message System Analysis
- In cultivation
analysis, detailed
content analyses of
television programming
to assess recurring and
consistent presentations
of images, themes,
values and portrayals

13. 2. Formulation of
questions about
viewers’ social
realities

14. 3. Survey the
Audience

15. 4. Comparing the
social realities of
light and heavy
viewers

16. Cultivation occurs
in two ways: through
mainstreaming and
resonance

17. Mainstreaming – In
cultivation analysis, the
process, especially for
heavy viewers, by which
television’s symbols
monopolize and dominate
other sources of
information and ideas
about the world

18. Resonance – In
cultivation analysis,
when viewers see
things on television
that are congruent
with their own
everyday realities

19. MAINSTREAMING

20. Mean World Index – In
cultivation analysis,
a series of questions
about the incidence of
crime and violence,
the answers to which
can be used to
differentiate heavy
and light viewers

21. Mean World Index
1.Do you believe that most
people are just looking out
for themselves?
2.Do you think that you can’t
be too careful in dealing
with people?
3.Do you think that most
people would take advantage
of you if they got a chance?

22. In the Mean World
Index, Respondents were
divided into categories
of educational
attainment and race

23. First aspect of
Mainstreaming (Mean
World Index)
There is a significant
relationship between
highly educated
respondents and the
amount of viewing…

24. Mean World Index expressing ‚Mistrust‛
40
35
30
25
20
15
Heavy Viewers
10
Light Viewers
5
0
Those with Those less
College educated/ Low
degree/ High Income
Income
Education Subgroups

25. Gerbner and his
colleagues found out
that light and heavy
viewers give differing
responses and the amount
of television consumed
erase individual
distinctions like income
and education

26. Second aspect of
Mainstreaming (Mean
World Index)
Mainstreaming introduces direct
experience as a moderating
factor in the cultivation
effect. Those with less direct
experience with crime should be
more affected by television
viewing than those who have more
direct experience with crime

27. Mean World Index expressing ‚Mistrust‛
50
45
40
35
30
25 Heavy Viewers
20 Light Viewers
15
10
5
0
White Non White
Race

28. Those who are most
likely to hold a view
more extreme than the TV
view is ‚coaxed back‛ to
the mainstream position

29. RESONANCE

30. The Gerbner team made use of the
five questions from the 1979 ORC
survey to form a Perceptions of
Danger Index – I.
1. The percentage of respondents
overestimating their chances
of being involved in violence
2. Percentage agreeing that
women are more likely to be
victims of crime

31. 3. Percentage saying that
their neighbor hoods are
only somewhat safe or not
safe at all
4. Percentage saying that
fear of crime is a very
serious problem
5. Percentage agreeing
that crime is rising

32. Danger Index-I
50
40
30
20 Light
10 Heavy
0
Male
City
Female
Suburb

33. •The strongest positive
associations between television
viewing and fear of crime were
among those who live in high
crime centers.
•For those urban dwellers who
live in high crime
centers, television’s violent
imagery may be most congruent
with their real life
perceptions.

34. •Resonance predicts an
interaction between
television viewing
and life experience
that is essentially
opposite to that of
mainstreaming.

35. • Resonance suggests that
those people whose
life experiences are
more congruent with
the experiences of
television world will
be most affected by
the television
message, rather than
least affected as
mainstreaming predicts

36. Relationship between amount of viewing
and percent of respondents saying that
‚Fear of Crime is a very serious
personal problem‛
50
40
30
20
Light
10
Heavy
0
Medium
Male
Female
Suburb
Low
White
Non-white
City
High
Income Race Sex Residence
Mainstreaming Resonance

37. •Although cultivation is a
general outcome of
television viewing, it is
not a universal
phenomenon, despite the
mainstreaming effect.
• Your interaction with
others affects your
tendency to accept TV
reality

38. Final Note on Cultivation
Gerbner’s 3 Bs of Television
1.Blurs traditional
distinctions of people’s
views of their world
2.Blends their realities into
television’s cultural
mainstream
3.Bends that mainstream to the
institutional interests of
television and its sponsors

39. SOURCES:
•Hanson, Jarice and David J. Maxcy, eds. (1996).
Sources: Notable Selections in Mass Media.
Guilford, Conn.: Dushkin Publishing Group.
• Baran, J. S. & Davis, K. D. (2003). Mass
communication theory: foundations, ferment, and
future. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.
•Littlejohn, Stephen (2008). Theories of Human
Communication. California: Wadsworth Group.
•Bischack, Valerie and Shrum, L.J. (2001).
Mainstreaming, Resonance and Impersonal Impact:
Testing Moderators of the Cultivation Effect
for estimates of crime risk. (pdf file)
•McQuail, Dennis. (2000). Mass Communication
Theory. London, Sage Publication.