Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
MEDIA INFLUENCES ON GENDER DEVELOPMENT - Coggle Diagram
MEDIA INFLUENCES ON GENDER DEVELOPMENT
Role models
Media provide role models with whom children identify with + want to imitate
E.g. books/films/toys
These forms of media display clear gender stereotypes
E.g. adverts usually show women in domestic settings + films usually show males as independent/strong/in control of events whereas women are shown as dependent on males, emotional + at the mercy of others
Vicarious reinforcement
Children see the consequences of their behaviour which impacts their gender behaviour
The media models gender behaviour + it also gives information about the likely outcomes of these behaviours
Seeing similar others succeed in the media raises beliefs of their own capabilities + seeing other people perform gender appropriate behaviours increases the child's belief that they are capable of carrying out such behaviours in the future
Research has also shown that the more TV a child watched the stronger gender role views they hold
SUPPORTING STUDY - WILLIAMS
The community was named Notel for the purpose of the study
It was compared to 2 other towns Unitel which only had access to 1 Canadian channel + Multitel which had access to a number of American channels
Williams assessed the behaviour + attitudes of children in these towns in various ways
E.g. through questionnaires about their gender stereotypes
Williams investigated a Canadian community surrounded by mountains that had not previously received a TV signal
They found that children in Notel + Unitel had weaker sex-typed views than the children in Multitel - this was especially true for girls
The children were reassessed 2 years after the introduction of TV in Notel + found that their views had become significantly more sex-typed
This shows how through vicarious learning and media exposure, children can be influenced supporting social explanations
REAL WORLD APPLICATION
They promote female characters as being independent
This can be seen in recent films such as Brave/Frozen where the female was the heroine
It has resulted in more pressure being put on TV producers to promote gender equality
WILLIAMS STUDY = CULTURALLY BIASED
This makes it difficult to generalise the results to the wider population as we don't know that other cultures will have the same response to the introduction of TV
This questions the validity of the evidence that supports the role of media in gender development
Only conducted on females in Canada
However, this was a unique opportunity to investigate a community that had no previous exposure to TV + has therefore provided with a deeper understanding of the media's role in developing gender
SUPPORTING STUDY - CHARLTON
Investigated a community that previosuly did not have access to TV
Study was conducted using 3-8 y/o on the island of St Helena who has not previously seen transmitted TV
They found no changes in aggressive behaviour
However, it has been suggested that the results are because of pre-existing community values that reduced the effects of exposure to the media
Although this study investigated aggression and not gender it does show how exposing children to stereotypes is not enough to change attitudes