Cultivation Theory: How Does The Screen Influence Us?
If you have ever stopped to think about the daily hours that most people spend watching television or surfing the Internet, you may have asked yourself this question: How does what we see on a screen influence our way of thinking?
This is one of the questions that from the social sciences An attempt has been made to respond based on what is known as Cultivation Theory
Although its name may be confusing at first, in its origins Cultivation Theory was basically a theory of communication that served as a starting point for study the effects that prolonged exposure to television had on the way in which society is interpreted and imagined
Specifically, the premise from which Cultivation Theory initially operated was that The more time you spend watching television, the more you come to believe that society is just as it is reflected on the screen In other words, getting used to a certain type of television content makes us assume that what we are being shown is representative of the world in which we live.
Although it was formulated in the 70s, Cultivation Theory is still valid today, although with a small variation. It no longer focuses only on the effects of television, but It also tries to address digital media such as video games and content that can be found on the Internet
Vicarious learning and digital media
In psychology there is a concept that is very useful to understand what Cultivation Theory is based on: vicarious learning, expounded by Albert Bandura in the late 70s through his Social Learning Theory.
This type of learning is, fundamentally, learning by observation; We do not need to perform an action to judge its results and decide whether it is useful or not We can simply see what others do and learn from their successes and mistakes indirectly.
The same thing can happen with television, video games and the Internet. Through the screen we observe how various characters make decisions and how these decisions translate into good and bad consequences. These processes not only tell us about whether certain actions are desirable or not, they also communicate aspects about how the universe works in which these decisions are made and this is where Cultivation Theory intervenes.
For example, from the series Game of Thrones one can draw the conclusion that mercy is not an attitude that others assume is normal, but one can also conclude that the most naive or innocent people tend to be manipulated and abused by others. One can also reach the conclusion that altruism hardly exists, and that even displays of friendship are guided by political or economic interests.
On the one hand, vicarious learning makes us put ourselves in the shoes of certain characters and judge their failures and achievements just as we would if they were ours. On the other hand, the fact of having analyzed the results of an action from that person’s point of view makes us draw a conclusion about the functioning of society and the power it has over the individual.
The possible bad influence of television
One of the focuses of attention that Cultivation Theory has delved into is the study of what happens when we see a lot of violent content through screens This is a topic that often reaches us through alarmist headlines, for example when we begin to explore the biography of teenage murderers and reach the (hasty) conclusion that they committed their crimes under the influence of a video game or a series of television.
But the truth is that the amount of violence to which young people are exposed through a screen is a relevant issue for behavioral sciences; It is not in vain that childhood and adolescence are stages of life in which one is very sensitive to the subtle teachings that are revealed by the environment
And, if it is assumed that television and digital media in general have the power to make viewers act in “desirable” ways, being influenced by awareness campaigns or assuming the normality of homosexuality by watching the series Modern Family, It is not unreasonable to think that the opposite could happen: that these same means make us more likely to reproduce undesirable behaviors, such as violent actions.
And it is these risky elements, rather than the beneficial potential of the media, that generate the most interest. In the end, there is always time to discover the good part of digital media, but the dangers must be detected as soon as possible.
Thus, it would be perfectly possible that television and the Internet were leaving a strong mark on the mentality of young people, and the chances that this influence is good are the same as that it is bad, since it is not based only on the conclusions that are directly expressed in the dialogues, but rather it is an implicit learning. It is not necessary for a character to say clearly that he believes in the superiority of white people for it to be assumed through his actions that he is racist.
However, It would be a mistake to assume that according to Cultivation Theory, televised violence makes us more violent The effect that this would have would be, in any case, to more or less unconsciously assume the idea that violence is an essential and very common component in society (or in a certain type of society).
This can make us start to be more violent because “everyone is doing it”, but it can also have the opposite effect: since we believe that most people are aggressive, we feel good about not having the need to harm others. and for standing out in that aspect, which makes us more resistant to falling into that type of behavior.
Concluding
Cultivation Theory is not based on an absolute and spectacular statement like “seeing a lot of racist people on television causes black people to start being discriminated against”, but is based on a much more subtle and humble idea: that Exposing ourselves to certain media causes us to confuse social reality with the society shown in those media
This phenomenon can entail many risks, but also opportunities; This depends on many other variables related to the characteristics of the viewers and the transmitted content in question.
