Newscasts and the Social Actuary

Abstract

MLUCH OF THE WORK on the perceptions of mass media communications suggests that the news does not simply provide information about the particular events reported. In fact, much of the research in this area notes that people take in and interpret information selectively, in relation to their prior conceptions. Kretch and Crutchfield commented that "data are perceived and interpreted in terms of the individual perceiver's own needs, own emotions, own personality, own previously formed cognitive patterns" (1973:251). This conclusion is supported by Hyman and Sheatsley (1973), who state that people seek information that is congenial to their prior attitudes and that these attitudes often cause distortions in the perception of incoming information. Although it is certain that people understand incoming information in terms of their existing condeptual schemata, the process of receiving news described by both Hyman and Sheatsley (1973) and Kretch and Crutchfield (1973) is both too static and too maladaptive to represent accurately the nature of informaAbstract The central concern in this article is with the ways in which good and bad news impact upon people's willingness to help strangers, their descriptions of human nature, and their perceptions of others and of themselves. This research suggests that, as people receive information about the actions of others, their views of the social universe and their estimates about human nature are constantly being influenced. That these informational influences seem to alter people's behavioral choices and their psychological perspectives lends these findings their particular significance for journalists and for others interested in the effects of media messages.Julie

Some effects of thoughts on anti- and prosocial influences of media events: A cognitive-neoassociation analysis.

“…The subjects apparently were responding to semantically related concepts (e.g., helpfulness, generosity, cooperation) that had been activated in their minds by the priming communication; they were not simply and narrowly imitating the reported conduct. In several studies the activation spread some distance along the associated pathways to other prosocial concepts such as honesty (Blackman & Hornstein, 1977) or good work and rule obedience (Friedrich & Stein, 1973). The present formulation holds that the mass communication's influence stems largely from the activation of concepts and propositions semantically related to the portrayed event.…”

“…Hornstein and his colleagues (Blackman & Hornstein, 1977;Holloway, Tucker, & Hornstein, 1977;Hornstein, LaKind, Frankel, & Manne, 1975) provided evidence of such a priming effect in a series of experiments concerned with the impact of good news. Supposedly while waiting for the experiment to begin, the subjects in these studies listened to a news program on the radio playing in the laboratory, and then engaged in bargaining with a peer.…”

Balancing good news and bad news: An ethical obligation?

“…Research has suggested that negative news can cause individuals to become depressed (Veitch and Griffitt, 1976;Vestre and Galician, 1986), to lower their perception of a community's benevolence (Blackman and Hornstein, 1977), and to experience a sense of "helplessness" (Levine, 1977(Levine, ,1986. In a review paper, Haskins (1980) concluded: "There is clear-cut experimental evidence that the immediate effects of even small doses of bad news can be negative-causing depressed mood, a jaundiced attitude toward other people, and a reduction in actual helping behavior.…”

The Effect of Mood and Social Outlook on Hypothetical Juridic Decisions1

“…In these experiments, social outlook was assumed to be a stable personality characteristic. There is also evidence, however, which suggests that social outlook is malleable, and that while individual perspective may remain fairly stable over time, it can be affected by relevant experiences (Blackman & Hornstein, 1977;Holloway e t al., 1977;Hornstein, 1976;Hornstein et al, 1975). Of particular interest in this context is a study by Wrightsman and Noble (1965) which found that 5 days after President Kennedy's assassination, undergraduates who were disturbed by the event ".…”