Media psychology 1 & 2
Media psychology: how individuals select, deal with, and respond to media.
Two forms of psychology that affected media psychology:
Behaviorism: the only thing we know for sure is what we can observe, the rest is
speculation. The only thing that matters is what I present to a person and what I get
from that person.
Cognitivism: what happens inside someone’s mind is more interesting and important.
It is all about your cognition.
Media effects have been seen from four major points of view, getting more complex with
every paradigm shift.
1. Simple, strong, all-encompassing effects. Media = magic bullet. Individuals have no
agency, defenseless. Effects = direct. No accounting for groupings / other sources of
attitudes.
2. Weak, unlinked, unpredictable effects. Media = one of many. Individuals = active, still
defenseless. Effects = lost in the fog among other influences. Two-step flow: you are
not affected directly by something but by the people you are close with. Bijvoorbeeld
je hebt via een vriend gehoord over de maatregelen van corona van het nieuws.
3. Moderate, slow, subtle effects. Media = every-present. Individuals = selective, active.
Effects: cultivated over time, attitudinal rather than behavioral.
4. Negotiated, transactional effects. Media = dialogical, selected: your reasons for
watching a show on Netflix are different than someone else their reason. Individuals
= different reception states. Effects = charted with multivariate models.
Learning theories and cognitive theories.
Learning theories:
Attitudes / behaviors are reproduced absolutely
Influences are direct
Focus: if the message changes attitudes / behavior
Cognitive theories:
Individuals interpret according to schemas, build mental models
No ‘single ‘interpretation
Focus: how message is processed
4 different ways of looking at individuals:
1. Determined, passive: one- way effect on weak-willed receiver
2. Selective-reactive: one way effect, but receiver can choose to accept
3. Reductive-modifying: receiver interpretation can change message
4. Active-elaborative: receiver is active, influences align with beliefs and behaviors
1
,The current paradigm in media effects is that of an active-elaborative user, making conscious
choices what to consume and being influences by this in ways specific to their mind and
state.
While attitudes can be influenced in many ways, the interpretation, strength of the effect,
and even its longevity are dependent on cognitive states: mood, cognitive capacity.
A lot of older theories are not provable with current analytical standards. This also affects
what kind of theories are being newly proposed. New theories have to account for:
Selectivity: people have some agency in what media they select. This doesn’t mean
that no one is affected, but that the process starts with the individual.
Trans actionality: beyond selectivity: media effects also influence use patterns and
even needs for media.
Conditionality: overall effects will be small because media influence some people
more than others. What conditions need to be met?
Current theorizing is focusing on two important areas:
1. Entertainment and emotions
Early 1950s interest in entertainment and emotional engagement faded at
first.
Resurgence: entertainment media are valuable
Emotional depth is necessary to understand media
2. Computer-mediated communication
Media use is being digitized
Interactive media are booming
Traditional media models don’t always apply
Media psychology 10
2
, Media were not as varied for most of our history. ‘channel surfing’ is still relatively new. But
nowadays we have broadcast, on-demand, user-generated: social media.
Terminology 1: what is selected?
Traditional layers of selectivity:
1. Medium: any kind of way to carry information to others. Example: television,
newspaper, books, going to the cinema.
2. Content suppliers within media: different channels, broadcasters, websites. Example:
rtl5, fox news
3. Discrete content: different series, movies, articles, podcasts. Example: kitchen
nightmares
4. Parts of content: different scenes in a movie, parts of a let’s play video, segments of
text. Example: meme
Digitization caused platformization. Example platform: youtube
Terminology 2: what is selection?
First use of selective exposure in 1948
People seemed to prefer messages that offered the same attitudes as ones they already
held.
Choice: an observable behavioral act of selection of one thing over another.
Preference: a tendency for people to choose one thing over another over time.
Habit: repeated behaviors in specific situations. (contrast with preference)
Situational vs dispositional factors: do characteristics of the context or of the person
influence selection. Example you come home tired and you do something like video playing.
This is situational because you come home tired because of work and dispositional because
you prefer video playing.
Content factors: specific characteristics of what is selected that fit with certain situations and
persons.
Exposure is the media being shown to you, just any kind of contact with media.
Uses and gratifications
Hippie approach to media consumption
Uses: what purposes you have for consuming a thing.
Needs: what feelings you are trying to satisfy by consuming a thing. Example: you think that
you will get relaxed by playing animal crossing.
Gratifications: what you get from consuming a thing. Example: whether you really get
relaxed by playing animal crossing or not.
U&G researchers: why not ask people for these things?
3
