Media Depenency Theory: The Cultural And Social Impact Of Media

The most effective media that has affected humanity the most would have to be television. Over the years, television quality has improved which has caused more people to spend more time sitting on their couch and watch whatever is on. Excessive use of television has led to the creation of the cultivation theory. The cultivation theory understands the cultural and social impact of media, especially television viewing in relation to concepts of social reality (Morgan, Shanahan, & Signorielli). Creator of the cultivation theory, George Gerbner, noticed television consumes more attention and time of people more than any other activities combined (Morgan, Shanahan, & Signorielli). Gerbner was also interested in a broader extent of how messages

The theory evolved from Ball-Rokeach and DeFleur in 1976 when they attempting to explain why media have an affective and behavioral effects on people (Riffe, Stephen, & Miron). This idea is based off the two-step flow which explains how people are impacted by mass media and how pass on their interpretation of messages to others (Riffe, Stephen, & Miron). The dependency theory has caused people to have the need access to media resources to be able achieve their goals, while the media depends on resources of individuals as human resources

The more we want to understand an issue, the more dependent we become on media to help us reduce uncertainly and the more attitudes, emotions, and behavior will change because of it (Westgate). People also follow the “new media” because it has a traditional sense to it, the internet provides the same content areas such as sports and politics (Riffe, Stephen, & Miron). Humans have always been curious about everything and that curiosity has lead people to believe things they see in the media because it give them a sense of what is happening even though the information they are receiving may not be