Reinforcement Theory

Reinforcement theory was proposed in 1960 by Joseph T. Klapper to challenge the dominant media effects theory, which had become popular during the middle decades of the 20th century. Reinforcement theory argued that the media do not have a dominant effect on readers', viewers', or listeners' attitudes, beliefs, and motives. The effect is limited or minimal, largely because people filter life experiences selectively. Klapper's work cannot be considered definitive, but it established criteria by which research on the effects of the media must be judged. He acknowledged that some mediated campaigns work wonderfully to reach audiences and form opinions in ways predicted by propaganda experts; however, in other cases campaigns are notorious failures, achieving very little if any effect on opinions and behavior. At best, reinforcement theory reasons, mass-mediated messages can situationally and functionally have varying effects, but for the most part the effects are limited because of myriad countervailing factors.

Prior to Klapper's work, researchers had sought to examine—and sometimes to prove—that media have dominant effects. Out of this research came the axiom “Scholars are interested in who says what through which media to effect changes in targeted audiences.” The assumption of this propaganda research was that strategic effects would always occur. However, many studies conducted by the time Klapper's 1960 book, The Effects of Mass Communication, was published had demonstrated that mediated messages were likely to be only partially effective, or even substantial failures, in achieving specific targeted goals.

In contrast to this body of scholarship and popular concern, simply stated, reinforcement theory reasoned that audiences of mass-mediated communication are likely to engage messages selectively and to have multiple influences, including interpersonal communication, that must be acknowledged to explain how much impact the media have on people's opinions. The theory reasons that changing opinions requires substantial cognitive effort. People do not change capriciously. They are exposed to a wide array of themes, arguments, and conclusions in the media to which they attend. They seem to consolidate or reinforce existing opinions rather than change them each time they are exposed to a new set of opinions presented through the media.

Reinforcement theory was developed to respond to the prevailing dominant media effects theory, which reasoned, in part based on the assumptions of propaganda research, that people are dramatically influenced by the messages they receive from the media. Television, for instance, was new and popular. Media scholars and critics wanted to believe that people passively watch lots of television and quickly adopt the ideas, news, and marketing that they see pouring out of their television screens. The essence of dominant effects theory describes massmediated messages as being a “magic bullet.” The advertiser or program developer, according to this theory, loads the message into news or program content and fires the bullet into the minds of viewers, who accept it uncritically. For the better part of the 20th century, supporters of this line of analysis argued that the media have dominant effects. Others believe the media have moderate or minimal effects on the opinions of listeners, viewers, and readers.

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