Who's Afraid of Reality Shows?: Exploring the Effects of Perceived Influence of Reality Shows and the Concern Over Their Social Effects on Willingness to Censor
Abstract
This study explores the dynamics of social concern over reality shows. Couched in the theory of the influence of presumed influence, it is argued that the degree of concern over the effects of media mediates between beliefs in media power and people's responses to such beliefs. Survey data show that perceived influence is distinct from concern over effects. Furthermore, the authors show that perceived influence predicts willingness to censor reality shows but that, in addition to this direct effect, there is an indirect effect through the degree of concern over the effects of reality shows. This indirect effect adds to the overall predictive value of the model. Results are discussed in terms of their contribution to explaining the influence of presumed influence.
Get full access to this article
View all access and purchase options for this article.
1.
1. The data for this study were collected with the help of a grant from the Second Authority for Radio and Television to the authors. The authors wish to thank Rachel Israeli and her staff for data collection and Michal Hershman-Shitrit for her assistance throughout this project.
2.
2. We would like to thank both of our thoughtful reviewers for pointing out the more general theoretical implications of this idea.
3.
3. To test for the significance of the indirect effect of perceived influence on willingness to censor through concern, Preacher and Hayes's (2004) method of testing indirect effects was used and confirmed that this mediation was significant. As Preacher and Hayes explain, this method is similar to that used by Sobel (1982) but is superior in that it uses a bootstrapping method and therefore does not need to assume normality of the sampling distribution. A Sobel test was also conduced, and the results were also highly significant (Sobel test = 4.59273748, p < .001). In short, the Preacher and Hayes test is a test of significance for the indirect effect between perceived influence and willingness to censor through concern. Both of these tests were conducted with all control variables included.
References
Andrejevic, M. (2004). Reality TV: The work of being watched. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Annenberg Public Policy Center. (2000). Media in the home 2000: The Fifth Annual Survey of Parents and Children. Philadelphia: Author.
Berger, C.R., & Chaffee, S.H. (1988). On bridging the communication gap. Human Communication Research, 15(2), 311-318.
Brosius, H.B., & Engel, D. (1996). The causes of third-person effects: Unrealistic optimism, impersonal impact, or generalized negative attitudes towards media influence? International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 8, 142-162.
Central Bureau of Statistics. (2006). Israel in figures 2006. Retrieved July 30, 2007, from http://www.cbs.gov.il/publications/isr_in_n06e.pdf
Davison, W.P. (1983). The third person effect in communication. Public Opinion Quarterly, 47, 1-15.
Deery, J.D. (2004). Reality TV as advertainment. Popular Communication, 2(1), 1-20.
Gore, T. (1987). Raising PG kids in an X-rated society. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.
Gunther, A.C. (1995). Overrating the X rating: The third-person perception and support for censorship of pornography. Journal of Communication, 45(1), 27-38.
Gunther, A.C., Bolt, D., Borzekowski, D.L.G., Liebhart, J.L., & Dillard, J.P. (2006). Presumed influence on peer norms: How mass media indirectly affect adolescent smoking. Journal of Communication, 56(1), 52-68.
Gunther, A.C., & Storey, J.D. (2003). The influence of presumed influence. Journal of Communication, 53, 199-215.
Hill, A. (2005). Reality TV-Audiences and popular factual television . New York: Routledge.
Hochbaum, G.M. (1958). Public participation in medical screening programs: A sociopsychological study (PHS Publication 572). Washington DC: Government Printing Office.
Hoffner, C., Buchanan, M., Anderson, J.D., Hubbs, L.A., Kamigaki, S.K., Kowalczyk, L., et al. (1999). Support for censorship of television violence: The role of the third-person effect and news exposure. Communication Research, 26, 726-742.
Huh, J., Delorme, D.E., & Reid, L.N. (2004). The third-person effect and its influence on behavioral outcomes in a product advertising context: The case of direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising. Communication Research, 31, 568-599.
Jagodzinski, J. (2005). The Truman Show: A symptom of our times? Or, a cure for an escape attempt. Journal for the Psychoanalysis of Culture & Society, 10(1), 61-78.
Johansson, B. (2004). Mass media, interpersonal communication or personal experience? Perceptions of media effects among Swedish politicians. Nordicom Review, 1-2, 259-276.
Katriel, T. (1986). Talking straight: Dugri speech in Israeli sabra culture. London: Cambridge University Press.
Lowery, S.A., & DeFluer, M.L. (1995). Milestones in mass communication research (3rd ed.). New York: Longman.
McLeod, D.M., Eveland, W.P., & Nathanson, A.I. (1997). Support for censorship of violent and misogynic rap lyrics: An analysis of the third-person effect . Communication Research, 24, 153-174.
Preacher, K.J., & Hayes, A.F. (2004). SPSS and SAS procedures for estimating indirect effects in simple mediation models. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, and Computers, 36, 717-731.
Rojas, H., Shah, D.V., & Faber, R.J. (1996). For the good of others: Censorship and the third-person effect. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 8, 163-186.
Salwen, M.B. (1998). Perceptions of media influence and support for censorship: The third-person effect in the 1996 presidential election. Communication Research, 25, 259-285.
Sherman, M., & Shavit, S. (2006). The media and national security: The performance of the Israeli press in the eyes of the Israeli public. Israel Affairs, 12(3), 546-560.
Sobel, M.E. (1982). Asymptotic intervals for indirect effects in structural equations models. In S. Leinhart (Ed.), Sociological methodology 1982 (pp. 290-312). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Tsfati, Y., & Cohen, J. (2003). On the effect of the third person effect: Perceived influence of media coverage and residential mobility intentions. Journal of Communication, 53(4), 711-727.
Tsfati, Y., & Cohen, J. (2005). The influence of presumed media influence on democratic legitimacy: The case of Gaza settlers. Communication Research, 32, 794-821.
Tsfati, Y., Ribak, R., & Cohen, J. (2005). Parents' third person perceptions regarding the influence of television: Rebelde Way in Israel. Mass Communication & Society, 8(1), 3-22.
Cite article
Cite article
Cite article
OR
Download to reference manager
If you have citation software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice
Information, rights and permissions
Information
Published In
Article first published online: April 14, 2008
Issue published: June 2008
Keywords
Authors
Metrics and citations
Metrics
Article usage*
Total views and downloads: 1816
*Article usage tracking started in December 2016
Altmetric
See the impact this article is making through the number of times it’s been read, and the Altmetric Score.
Learn more about the Altmetric Scores
Articles citing this one
Receive email alerts when this article is cited
Web of Science: 24 view articles Opens in new tab
Crossref: 29
-
Ideología y mitos del amor romántico en los dating shows. Estudio de a...
-
Testing Classical Predictors of Public Willingness to Censor on the De...
-
Integrating Interpersonal Communication into the Influence of Presumed...
-
The third-person effect in communication
-
When Others’ Reactions to News Media Messages are Visible: The Influen...
-
Reality shows in global society: From candid camera to Big brother and...
-
Reality culture as a prevailing cultural format in Serbia
-
Polarizing Communication as Media Effects on Antagonists. Understandin...
-
Does valence of product review matter?
-
Politicized Science Communication: Predicting Scientists’ Acceptance o...
-
People on Media Effects. An Exploratory Study of People’s Theorization...
-
Why Do We Enjoy Reality Shows
-
Online Gambling Advertising and the Third-Person Effect
-
Incivility in Controversies: The Influence of Presumed Media Influence...
-
Presumed Media Influences and Demands for Restrictions: Using Panel Da...
-
Online Gambling Advertising and the Third-Person Effect
-
The Effects of Media Effects...
-
Framing Gaming: The Effects of Media Frames on Perceptions of Game(r)s
-
Theoretical and methodological patterns of third-person effect researc...
-
The Impact of Exposure of Cosmetic Surgery Advertisements, Cosmetic Su...
-
Examining multiple behavioral effects of third-person perception: Evid...
-
Presumed Online Media Influence and Support for Censorship: Results fr...
-
The Impact of Third Person Effects on Regulation of Alcohol Advertisin...
-
Are Products More Real on Reality Shows? An Exploratory Study of Produ...
-
Parental mediation of teenagers’ video game playing: Antecedents and c...
-
Evaluation of Sexual Content in Teen-Centered Films From 1980 to 2007
-
Third-Person Perception and Health Beliefs
-
Testing Causal Direction in the Influence of Presumed Media Influence
-
Video Games Make People Violent—Well, Maybe Not That ...
Figures and tables
Figures & Media
Tables
View Options
Get access
Access options
If you have access to journal content via a personal subscription, university, library, employer or society, select from the options below:
loading institutional access options
Alternatively, view purchase options below:
Purchase 24 hour online access to view and download content.
Access journal content via a DeepDyve subscription or find out more about this option.
