Television and Social Behavior

Television program content, viewer characteristics, and viewing context can have a measurable impact on viewer behavior. Conside rable attention has especially been paid to the effects of violent and antisocial content, and research has centered on the potential negative effects on children. Out of con cern about the effect of mass media portrayal of violence and its potential inducement of aggressive behavior in children, in 1972 the U.S. Surgeon General's Committee on Television and Social Behavior released a multivolume report on research on the impact of television on children. Because many studies showed a positive correlation, research on television effects continues to be a focus of social scientists and public concern.

The social behavior of adults is not immune to television effects. Dramas, comedies, and advertisement can both reflect and affect our social values. Negative behavior may be influenced by racial stereotypes portrayed on television shows or unbalanced news coverage. Television programs and advertisements influence consumer spending habits. People adjust their social schedule to accommodate their TV viewing schedule (though technological advances such as on-demand viewing has reduced this need), which may result in decreased social interaction. People also use television as background noise, to fill time, to reduce social unease, to stimulate conversation, and, often incidentally, for social learning.

Television viewing can have an impact on mass social action—telethons and public broadcasting auctions are proven methods of fund-raising. News coverage of events can affect how people feel about and act on issues. The Vietnam War, for instance, was dubbed the “living-room war,” because the mass viewership of information about the war was believed to have had a significant impact on rallying viewers to demonstrate or vote in certain ways. News coverage of even fictional hypothetical events—natural disaster, financial climate, terrorism—can induce panic and in turn quell anxiety by providing crucial information.

While much of the research on television effects has been concerned with negative effects, many have also studied the prosocial attributes of the medium. Some advocates believe that watching television together strengthens the family unit. Others highlight the benefits of programming that portrays positive life situations intended to enhance the social and moral development of children and adolescents. Children can be exposed to and learn, for example, the values of altruism, self-control, and positive interactions. For more information, see Comstock (1972), Huston (1992),

Mares and Woodard (2005), Newcomb (2007), and

Sage (1997).