A Social Identidy Model of Media Usage and Effects

Abstract

Abstract. We propose a social identity model of media usage and effects. This model explains how the media might cultivate power arrangements (i.e., promote social stasis) on the one hand, and contribute to social change on the other. We argue that current media theories are ill-equipped to meet both of these explanatory challenges. The model integrates (1) social identity processes with (2) Herman and Chomsky’s (1988) propaganda model, and (3) Abrams, Eveland, and Giles’s (2003) work on media images and group vitality. Social stasis is produced when the social environment is stable, and when people with status quo-consistent beliefs (i.e., social mobility and social creativity) engage with the media to confirm their beliefs. Social change occurs when people with socially competitive beliefs engage in actions (e.g., riots, peace marches) that re-inform others as to the instability and illegitimacy (among other things) of the current status and power relations in the world. If these actions are sufficiently persuasive, people’s social beliefs will change and, with them, the social world.

Social Identity Theory and Self‐Categorization Theory

“…These belief structures are not factual or objective but rather are based on an individual's belief about how permeable the boundaries of a group are, how legitimate a group's status is, how accessible another group is, and how the context or a certain situation might allow for individual mobility. Reid, Giles, and Abrams (2004) suggested a model of media effects that particularly addresses how media use changes belief systems. They assume that the media representation of significant groups or leaders, and the reception of these media depictions, leads to lower or higher identifications.…”

“…Additionally, the group-level approach is often overlooked in empirical research on media effects. For instance, Reid, Giles, and Abrams (2004) have made theoretical propositions on how group vitality, group boundaries, and strategies of social mobility or creativity are related to media use. However, there has not been much empirical research on these aspects of SIT and SCT.…”

Intergroup Relations: Its Linguistic and Communicative Parameters

“…Meanwhile, more phenomena and areas of investigation are recognizing the intergroup dimension: small group processes (Hogg & Tindale, 2005), organizational processes (Gardner, Paulsen, Gallois, Callan, & Monaghan, 2001), the mass media (Harwood, 1999;Reid, Giles, & Abrams, 2004), and the internet (Postmes & Baym, 2005). The social identity perspective has been an enormously fertile platform for understanding these processes, and many others besides, including intergroup miscommunication (Giles, Gallois, & Petronio, 1998).…”

African Americans' Television Activity: Is it Related to Perceptions of Outgroup Vitality?

“…As much as mass media may play a part in shaping vitality perceptions, personal experience contributes most to how African Americans perceive Caucasian's positions on demography, institutional support, and status (Fujioka, 1999). Still, there is now mounting evidence that television activity is related to both ingroup and outgroup vitality perceptions (Reid, Giles, & Abrams, 2004). Prior research indicated that media use was related to ingroup perceptions of vitality (Abrams & Giles, in press), and now the current data indicate media use is related to outgroup perceptions of vitality.…”