cultivation

According to George Gerbner and his research associates, long-term exposure to television violence cultivates fearful impressions of the outside world. Is it possible to prove or disprove this proposition? Use examples from the early and more recent research literature to support your answer.
There has been a long-lasting discussion in regards to the negative effects of long-term extensive exposure to television can have on viewer, especially content which portrays violence. This has been studied by George Gerbner, he developed a theory about television as a cultivator. Instead of exploring the casual relationship between violence on television and reality, Gerbner focuses on how people who view violent content on television seem to have a different understanding of how the world works. This theory is constantly under the radar of both opponents and people who support this theory and has been under review and analysis by both sides. It has been difficult to prove whether there is a direct correlation between exposure to violence on television and having highly exaggerated view of the world, as there has been strong argument from both sides. In this essay I will explore the argument on both sides, Gerbner’s theory of long-term exposure to television violence as a cultivator and complete dismissal of Gerbner’s theory by Paul Hirsh, and discuss that television is just another medium that can have an influence on how people view the world around them.
Cultivation Analysis theory was first developed by George Gerbner in response to growing level of violence related shows on television (Gerbner & Gross, 1976). This could have been largely due to the rise in popularity of show such as Starksy and Hutch and Hawaii Five-0. The purpose of t...

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...er demographics. Another finding suggests that instead of television violence making people feel more insecure instead it could be due to isolation, that these demographics seems to consume more television content (Hirsch, 1981). Another research also suggested that people seem to use television as a medium to escape reality and the feeling of social anxiety (Katz & Foulkes, 1962), which just only lead to high level of exposer without any link to high level of exposure cultivating a sense of social anxiety (Hirsch, 1981).
In conclusion these finding seems to suggest that it is difficult to prove the proposition that long-term exposure to violence on television seems to cultivate fear of the outside world and changes what the reality is. There were strong arguments from both side, but overall Hirsch finding and critique seems to over trump the finding of Gerbner.