The Animal House effect: How university-themed comedy films affect students’ attitudes

Abstract

Drawing from learning and attitude theories, the current investigation explores the effect of media on students' attitudes. Study 1 was a content analysis of 34 films classified as university-themed comedies and showed that such films highlighted risk-taking (e.g., alcohol consumption) and minimized the importance of academics (e.g., studying). The purpose of Study 2 was to demonstrate the impact of these films on the attitudes university students hold. One hundred and twenty-four undergraduates viewed a segment of either Animal House or a neutral film and results showed that viewing Animal House brought about positive attitudes towards substance use and negative attitudes towards academics even when controlling for past substance use and movie viewing frequency. The discussion focuses on future directions.

Young adults, alcohol and Facebook: a synergistic relationship

“…Central to SCT are the principles of identification (people are more likely to copy those they perceive to be similar to themselves) and outcome expectancies (people are more likely to copy behaviours they observe to result in positive outcomes), along with self-efficacy. Studies on adolescent alcohol consumption have evidenced these effects for both physical exposure (Samek et al , 2013) and mediated exposure (Wasylkiw and Currie, 2012). Similarly, research into alcohol portrayals in the media – such as television and movies – suggests that “entertainment media” often presents young people with attractive models, who are similar to themselves or to who they aspire to be, experiencing predominantly, but not solely, positive outcomes from alcohol consumption (Callister et al , 2012).…”

Representing “U”: Popular Culture, Media, and Higher Education

“…Therefore, popular culture that focuses on the people or setting of higher education provide templates for viewers/readers/consumers to form opinions and beliefs about them which subsequently influence their discourse and action in or toward higher education. Although admittedly few in number, scholars who have approached popular culture with higher education questions in effects-research substantiate this hypothesis, showing that popular culture does influence the perceptions and behavior of students (Tobolowsky, 2001;Tucciarone, 2007b;Wasylkiw & Currie, 2012). For example, Wasylkiw and Currie (2012) found that negativity toward academics and positivity toward drug use increased with college students who watched Animal House (1978).…”

“…Although admittedly few in number, scholars who have approached popular culture with higher education questions in effects-research substantiate this hypothesis, showing that popular culture does influence the perceptions and behavior of students (Tobolowsky, 2001;Tucciarone, 2007b;Wasylkiw & Currie, 2012). For example, Wasylkiw and Currie (2012) found that negativity toward academics and positivity toward drug use increased with college students who watched Animal House (1978). Institutional reports from Marshall University and Immaculata University also describe an increase in applicants after the films We Are Marshall (2006) and Mighty Macs (2011) were screened.…”

“…In higher education, effects-literature particularly focuses on college sports and advertising (Campbell, 2005;Campbell, Rogers, & Finney, 2007;Smith, 2008;Tobolowsky & Lowery, 2006;Yang, Roskos-Ewoldsen, Dinu, & Arpan, 2006). Other scholars note the influence of popular culture on the expectations of students and their behavioral choices within institutions of higher education, usually in ways that diminish the importance of academics (Dagaz & Harger, 2011;Tobolowsky, 2001;Tuccarione, 2007a;Wasylkiw & Currie, 2012). Byers's (2005) concept of "(mis)education" (p. 68) encapsulates the theoretical and empirical findings of previous work, providing a crucial conceptual foundation for this monograph.…”

“…Representations of higher education also influence the college expectations of high-school students (Tobolowsky, 2001) as well as college students' attitudes toward academics and partying in college (Wasylkiw & Currie, 2012). As higher education features in a large amount of popular culture, learning about the messages attributed to higher education in media is an important undertaking for those who work in or research about higher education, something that Thelin and Townsend advocated for as early as 1988 regarding college fiction and Anderson and Thelin (2009) repeated.…”