Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

University of Massachusetts Amherst

Communication

Television

Communication Department Faculty Publication Series

Publication Year

Articles 1 - 4 of 4

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Young Parents’ Experiences And Perceptions Of ‘Teen Mom’ Reality Shows, Devon Greyson, Cathy Chabot, Jean A. Shoveller Jan 2019

Young Parents’ Experiences And Perceptions Of ‘Teen Mom’ Reality Shows, Devon Greyson, Cathy Chabot, Jean A. Shoveller

Communication Department Faculty Publication Series

MTV’s hit reality shows 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom were produced with an agenda of preventing teen pregnancy. Researchers have examined their effectiveness as behavioral interventions, yet little attention has been paid to experiences of young parents themselves with these shows, nor to their ethical consequences, including the potential for compounding of stigma against young parents. This analysis qualitatively examines the experiences of young parents in British Columbia, Canada, with the media phenomenon referred to as ‘Teen Mom shows.’ Interview and observation data from a large, longitudinal, mixed-methods ethnographic study of young parents was analyzed using hybrid deductive-inductive qualitative …


Television And Its Impact On Latinx Communities, Mari Castañeda Jan 2018

Television And Its Impact On Latinx Communities, Mari Castañeda

Communication Department Faculty Publication Series

The chapter investigates the intersections of television with Latinx communities, and the ways in which the evolving televisual context is mediating diasporic translatinidades. It focuses on five areas: (1) the role of Latinas in television set manufacturing, (2) the representation of Latinos in mainstream television, (3) the rise of Spanish-language television, (4) the importance of telenovelas in global television, and (5) the emergence of TV streaming as new venues for translatinidades. Taken together, these five topics construct an ample canvas in which we can investigate television and how it reflects social, political, economic, and cultural lived experiences. Ultimately, the goal …


Television And The Cultivation Of Authoritarianism: A Return Visit From An Unexpected Friend, Michael Morgan, James Shanahan Jan 2017

Television And The Cultivation Of Authoritarianism: A Return Visit From An Unexpected Friend, Michael Morgan, James Shanahan

Communication Department Faculty Publication Series

The 2016 Presidential election brought a surprise: the rise of Donald Trump as a viable candidate for the Republican nomination. What started as a seeming publicity stunt morphed into something more. Trump raised fears of authoritarianism—and even fascism—that were thought to be mostly confined to other countries. This study uses a national sample to examine television viewing's relationship to authoritarian values. We find that heavy viewers of television are more likely to be authoritarian, and that authoritarians are more likely to support Trump. We find an indirect relationship between amount of viewing and Trump support through authoritarianism. These findings have …


Cultivating Conceptions Of Masculinity: Television And Perceptions Of Masculine Gender Role Norms, Erica Scharrer, Greg Blackburn Jan 2017

Cultivating Conceptions Of Masculinity: Television And Perceptions Of Masculine Gender Role Norms, Erica Scharrer, Greg Blackburn

Communication Department Faculty Publication Series

The potential of television to both reflect and shape cultural understandings of gender roles has long been the subject of social scientific inquiry. The present study employed survey methodology with 420 emerging adult respondents (aged 18 to 25) in a national U.S. sample to explore associations between amount of time spent viewing television and views about “ideal” masculine gender roles. The viewing of particular television genres was explored in addition to (and controlling for) overall amount of time spent with the medium, using cultivation theory as the theoretical foundation. Results showed significant statistical associations between viewing sitcoms, police and detective …