This paper was presented at the Association for Education in Journalism and
Mass Communication in San Antonio, Texas August 2005.
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Black and White Racial Comparisons Of Television Uses and Gratifications
On Life Satisfaction
By
Bettye A. Grable, M.S.
Doctoral Candidate
Manship School of Mass Communication
Louisiana State University
Baton Rouge, LA 70803-7202
(850) 321-8115
[log in to unmask]
Abstract
Television's viewing influence on college students' life
satisfaction opinions was studied. The project sought to understand
the uses and gratifications of television viewing related to life
satisfaction opinions. Findings from this study indicted similar uses
of television texts by blacks and whites. The hypothesis was
significantly supported in that the analysis of data collected from
this study establishes a link between television uses and
gratifications and expressed opinions about satisfaction with life.
In general, individuals seek information from television to improve
their life satisfaction.
Introduction
While it is recognized that Americans spend a significant amount of
their daily leisure time viewing television,1 the effects of such
viewing remains in dispute. Most Americans view television at least
2-3 hours a day2 and 10 percent of adults refer to themselves as
television addicts.3 In general it can be said that viewers are
placing some level of importance to their television viewing routines.
Some effects of television often relate to heavy or prolonged
viewing.4 Some studies have suggested that television viewing
impacts how viewers construct their social reality,5 identification
with various social groups,6 self-esteem,7 social utility, empathy,
escape from reality,8 and perceptions about their own lives
compared to the lives of real or characterized people on television.9
It is less clear how television viewing affects overall life
satisfaction, but there are good reasons to suspect a link between
the two. Previous studies report that images used in print and
broadcast advertising stimulate comparisons by viewers with people
and models they see in the media.10 Specifically, if viewers use
media for personal advice,11 para-social interaction,12 and
construction of their social reality,13 they may also utilize media
to determine their personal satisfaction with life. Those earlier
studies offered that "assessment of satisfaction involves a variety
of comparisons," including those made by individual viewers to people
they see portrayed on television. Researchers agree that
dissatisfaction may occur when discrepancies exists between ideal
personal attributes portrayed by television performers are compared
to the personal attributes of television viewers. Several studies14
have suggested that life satisfaction may be one of many motives for
television use.
This study purports that among racially diverse viewers, television
influences their "satisfaction with life" as those viewers compare
themselves to and even mimic the lifestyles of people they see on
television. At the same time, this study supports previous research
suggesting differences in uses and gratifications of TV texts based
on racial profiles.15
Focus on the uses and gratifications of TV offers an appropriate
theoretical base to study television viewing motivations by ethnic
audience members.16 In an effort to assure a racially balanced
sample, a student sample was taken from two southern universities
that featured a large number of potential African-American
respondents. Such respondents can be difficult to secure in survey
samples derived from the general population. By selecting a
historically black university, and a racially diverse predominately
white university in the southeast, the study design netted an over
sampling of African-American respondents to allow for strong racial
comparisons. Albarran and Umphrey suggested that ethnic groups
exhibit different motivations for using television, although more
recent comparative data remains absent from the literature. This
study hopes to address that void.
Pingree et. al. cites that students have more available time for
television viewing than most adults in the general population and are
likely to be more selective and more active television viewers than
others in the general population even more than non-students of the
same age.17 Student samples assist mass communication researchers, in
particular, to avoid the potential pitfalls of limited media
availability in the general population.18 Student samples are a valid
source of data19 about communication and should not be dismissed
automatically as long as the sample is appropriate to the study question.*
Most importantly, inferences from this study provide important
ramifications for understanding specific uses and gratifications
expressed by African-American students compared to white students;
thereby setting up a baseline for future studies using a racially
diverse sample from the general population.
The following research questions were addressed in this study to
determine if there was support for the hypothesis that college-aged
television viewers' expressed levels of life satisfaction were
significantly correlated with the viewing of television texts:
RQ1: Do college students indicate they are more or less
satisfied with life
after viewing television texts?
RQ2: How does race affect uses and gratifications of TV viewing? And, what
are the differences between races?
RQ3: How do uses and gratifications of television viewing affect life
satisfaction? And what are the racial
differences in this?
*Basil (1996) expressed serious concern regarding The Journal of
Broadcasting and Electronic Media's newly implemented policy at that
time regarding the use of student samples in communication
research. This research paper relies on a student sample for reasons
outlined above to address the project's research question.
Theoretical Underpinnings
It has been suggested 20 that viewers use television to confirm, deny
or even compensate for their perceived reality or beliefs about
personal achievements, self concept, self-esteem, and self
perceptions that impacted or influenced personal opinions about life
satisfaction. The uses and gratifications mass communication theory
dates back to the 1940s, when Herta Herzog, Paul Lazarsfeld, and
Frank Stanton introduced media studies that focused on active and
gratifications-seeking audiences.21 Herzog, the originator of the
uses and gratifications theoretical approach to media research,
reported that at least 20 million women in America kept "a regular
rendezvous with" radio daytime serials. In 1944 Herzog surmised that
some women listeners needed to listen to the serials for solace and
compensation for "wishes and expectations that outran personal
achievements."22 Those findings indicated an early inference by
Herzog to a potential link between media and satisfaction with life.
Herzog's assumptions were that radio serials served a purpose and
need in the lives of its female listeners, and ultimately her study
found that the women listeners used the radio medium to create
"opportunities for wishful thinking" about their lives. In other
words the women may have lived their life dreams through the lives of
radio soap characters who had achieved a level of success that the
listener had yet to acquire. This indicates a possible
dissatisfaction for their real-life situations.
In 1956 Horton and Wohl wrote about the potential para-social
relationship audiences experienced with the new television medium as
one explanation of television's effects on viewing audiences.23 In
their article, "Mass Communication and Para-Social Interaction:
Observations on Intimacy at a Distance," they suggested that
television offered audiences the illusion of having face-to-face,
social interactions with program performers. Audiences perceived
televised performers as friends, counselors, comforters and role
models.24 In its infancy, the television medium appeared to clearly
entice viewers to compare themselves to people and characters they
saw on television. Horton and Wohl inferred that personal adoration
of television actors potentially caused viewers to question their
self-concepts, i.e. personal satisfaction with life.
Tsao (1996) supported Horton and Wohl with the idea that some
audience members completely replaced orthsocial or face-to-face
relationships with television performers via a para-social
relationship.25,26 He suggested that some viewers used television
people as if they were real-life "friends," an idea initially posited
by Herzog (1944) 27and Horton and Wohl (1956).28 Expanding the uses
and gratifications paradigm Tsao (1996) offered that TV viewers
attempted to fully replace real life relationships with para-social
relationships to improve their satisfaction with life. The
indication is that real-life social contacts were not needed to meet
the social needs or perceptions of friendship and companionship
desired by the viewer and that somehow the viewing of television texts did.
Rayburn and Palmgreen (1984) developed a process model based on an
expectancy-value approach to explain the cognitive processes of the
theory of uses and gratifications.29 The model surmised that the
expectation was that television netted some type of pay-off or
gratification when a viewer utilized the medium. The pay-off
materialized as either a confirmation or denial of a personal
attribute or need. In the case of this study the confirmation or
denial pertained to personal satisfaction with life.
Media uses and gratifications exist for viewers anytime they use
media30 and that almost any type of media content may serve
practically any type of need or gratification for its audience
members.31 Therefore, if the need to confirm or deny one's
satisfaction with life is sought after, then television was utilized
to satisfy that need.
Other support of a linkage between television and life satisfaction
has been put forward by Rubin (1985). Rubin posited that individuals'
television utilization focused around social interaction and life
satisfaction characteristics.32
Media studies as early as Schramm, Lyle and Parker (1961) reported
that even children used the media for certain gratifications:
In a sense the term, effect, is misleading because it suggests that
television
does something" to children. Nothing can be further from the fact. It
is the children who are most active in this relationship. It is they who use
television rather than television that uses them.
Katz et. al. offered that the use of fictional and other media
texts for personal reference springs from a need for self-esteem and
that social utility functions may be connected to the need for
affiliation through media use.33 That affiliation may be sought out
via the media to add to or improve satisfaction with life.
Utility of Mediated Advertising Content
Advertising studies support audiences' use of media images to
improve their lives. Richins hypothesized that consumers compared
themselves to media advertising images of people.34 Exposure to
advertising images alters consumers' standards in terms of what they
desire for themselves and lowers their self perceptions based on
comparisons to people in mediated ads. Richin's research can be
viewed as having a significant base relative to this study's
hypothesis that viewers' satisfaction with life is directly
influenced by mediated portrayals of the lives of real or
fictionalized television performers.35
Different views are presented in the literature on this issue. For
example, Lasch (1978) and Freedman (1984) implied that viewers
experienced self-doubt and inadequacy when comparing themselves to
idealized media advertisements.36,37 Frisby indicated that all ads in
the print and broadcast media stimulated comparisons by audiences to
models in media advertisements.38 And, according to Bloch and Richins
(1993), media users are continuously exposed to images of
exceptionally attractive people.39 The non-stop nature of televised
exposure to images of attractive people, which may be even more so
for heavy viewers - like African-Americans -, plays a role in the use
of media for comparison purposes. Therefore, feelings of
dissatisfaction with personal attractiveness may be an effect of
viewing mediated ads and an explanation for Clemente and Sauer's
(1976) findings of lower satisfaction scores for African Americans.40
In opposition, Potter (1986) argued against total belief in ad images
by viewers41 since College students recognized that people and
situations in TV programs are unrealistic. Other studies42 support
the inference that viewers believe in the mediated portrayals so much
so that they compared themselves to and mimicked media depictions of
people and lifestyles. While, in another study it was reported that
Television serves as an influential source of information that plays
a role in assisting viewers to construct their social realities.43
Satisfaction with life is a part of an individual's social
reality. The disagreement between researchers highlights the need
for the present study, linking the influence of television to
satisfaction with life.
Utility of Social Group Media Portrayals
Viewers may also use media portrayals to strengthen identification
with a particular social group. Harwood (1999) offered that audiences
make conscious decisions about what medium will meet their social
identity gratifications before using any form of media.44 Blumler,
Brown and McQuail (1970) found that the late 1960s television show,
"The Saint," served as a personal reference and source of character
identification for its viewers. While, Hispanics in Albarran and
Umphrey's (1993) investigation reported that television helped them
to learn about themselves and others; indicating that Hispanics used
television content for acculturation purposes.45 Better
acculturation via the utility and interaction with media improved
immigrants' satisfaction with life. Tompkin (2000) suggested that
African Americans, too, experienced acculturation. Acculturation was
defined as cultural orientations as frames of reference that mirror
specific types of acculturation such as assimilationist, bicultural,
and separatist.46 It is likely that Blacks, like Hispanics or any
other cultural subgroup in America, use television to better
acculturate or gain information that may help to increase or maintain
their satisfaction with life as individuals who live in a racially
dominant culture that is different from their own.
The present study confirms many of the aforementioned uses and
gratifications by viewers and goes even further to suggest the
differences in particular uses and gratifications by white and black
students. However, it must be stated that social scientists have yet
to completely answer many questions about how audiences use and
experience television.47
Television Viewing Habits
Kubey and Csikszentmihalyi found that television viewing accounted
for 6.6% of respondents' primary activity while at home.48 According
to data from the 1998 General Social Survey (GSS) most respondents
reported they personally watched an average of two hours of
television a day. Two hours of daily TV viewing equates to an
average of 14 hours of television viewing per week; 60 hours per
month; approximately 720 hours per year. Using those GSS statistics,
as an individual develops and matures the amount of time spent
viewing TV accumulates and by 18 years of age an individual who
started viewing television at the age of two could conservatively
have been exposed to televised content/text including
images/portrayals, attitudes, feelings and other social cues messages
for 11,520 hours (480 days) that equates to more than one year of
continuous TV viewing.49
Even 10 years ago, most GSS respondents reported viewing television
for two hours a day.50 That level of television viewing has held
steady for most survey respondents for the past 30 years. The only
variation in viewing habits as reported by the GSS was indicated by
respondents of an African-American subset compiled in 1982. The
respondents in that subset reported viewing television for three
hours per day. Twenty-nine percent of Gallup Poll respondents
reported they watched television between three and four hours a
day.51 Kubey and Csikszentmihalyi (1990) reported on average that
individuals in industrialized countries devoted three hours a day to
the pursuit of television viewing. Many implications could be
derived from those viewing statistics; including that respondents are
placing some level of general importance on daily television viewing.52
TV Viewing Displaces Cognition
Henning and Voderer's (2001) predicted the amount of time spent
watching television is based on the need for cognition.53 Individual
viewers may be distinguished by their attitude toward thinking and
that differences in their need for cognition explained differences in
time spent with TV. The thesis suggested that the lower a viewers'
need for cognition, the less pleasant they feel when they have
nothing to do because there is nothing left to do but
think. Therefore, the easiest way for individuals to escape the
pressure to think is by watching television, and, as a result,
individuals will watch more TV to avoid the stress of having to think
on their own. That indicates major implications for uneducated
viewers. Findings also revealed the concept of escapism could be
useful in explaining TV use when it takes on a psychological
perspective as well as a sociological one. Kubey and Csikszentmihalyi
(1990) found that for people who are alienated from self, television
appears to offer a ready means for structuring attention that permits
escape from the discomfort that occurs during idle time.54
Albarran and Umphrey (1993) reported that black television viewers
held more favorable attitudes towards television than whites,
suggesting that, on a theoretical basis, blacks received greater
entertainment and diversionary gratifications from television than
whites.55 Whites expressed less enthusiasm regarding motivations for
using television compared to blacks.56 That study also indicated that
whites used TV primarily for entertainment and information; a finding
supported by this study.
Life Satisfaction
Life satisfaction is defined as a general sense of well-being and
takes into account a person's interest in life and his/her feelings
of happiness or loneliness. Clemente and Sauer (1976) reported that
race is one of two independent variables considered most salient in
predicting satisfaction with life.57 The other variable was perceived
health. In the same study, using a life satisfaction index developed
for their investigation, Clemente and Sauer reported whites had a
mean satisfaction score of 18.3 and blacks showed a mean score of
15.4. The range of possible scores was zero to 24, thereby indicating
that blacks were found to be less satisfied with life than whites.
Based on the results of a regression analysis, the difference in the
scores was significant. The partial regression coefficient was .18
(p< .05). However, Clemente and Sauer suggested that when
generation is introduced as a specifying variable, the phenomenon of
racial effects on life satisfaction is found to be less evident. 58
Looking at the influence of age and sex on life satisfaction,
Clemente and Sauer found that at all age levels women were just as
satisfied as men. That analysis led the researchers to conclude that
gender is not an important predictor of satisfaction.
Freudiger (1983) study that focused on the life satisfaction of
three categories of married women, and concluded that life
satisfaction increased with age for currently and formerly employed
women and seemed to decrease with age for the never employed wife.59
Freudiger's analysis of life satisfaction for three categories of
married women also found that, "race, or whiteness," is a significant
contributor to life satisfaction for working wives, illustrating what
she referred to as the problems faced by black wives.60 A weakness in
Freudiger's study is that no reference was made as to what she
thought the problems were that black wives faced. In listing the most
significant variables in determining the life satisfaction of the
three categories of women, Freudiger's study found that "working
wives'" ranked race as sixth in importance; "formerly employed"
housewives ranked race as third in importance in terms of life
satisfaction, and "never employed wives" did not list race as a
significant variable in determining their life
satisfaction. However, Freudiger's (1983) findings support the
importance of race as an indicator of life satisfaction. 61
One study assessed the helpfulness of the media compared to other
sources used to determine satisfaction. Katz, Gurevitch and Haas
(1973) found that primary personal relations, holidays, and other
cultural activities are often more important than the mass media in
influencing decisions about satisfaction with life.62 For example,
newspapers represented the best medium to utilize for integrating
into the social/political order, while books were considered the best
medium for "knowing oneself". The researchers asserted that TV is the
least specialized medium because it may serve many different personal
and political needs related to personal satisfaction.
Data taken from the 1998 General Social Survey offered that most
respondents who were asked if they found life "exciting," "pretty
routine" or "dull" answered they found life to be "pretty routine."
The second largest group of respondents to the same question said
they found life to be "exciting." A black subset of respondents in
1987, who were asked the same question about life, said they found
life to be "pretty routine." The results indicated a mirror image of
responses between racially mixed and all black respondents, respectively.
Data Collection and Analysis
The random telephone survey respondents were selected from the
campus directories of two universities located in the southeastern
region of the United States. The 26-item survey was conducted
during a two-month period, February and March 2002, and consisted of
a sample of 385 respondents.
Thirty-four (34%) percent of the college-aged respondents were male
and 65% were females. Respondents varied in age from 17 to 53-years
old. The mean age was 21.6. The majority of study participants were
African-American (54.6%) and 31.1% were white. Other racial
breakdowns included: American Indians/Native Americans (1.6%);
Asians/Pacific Islanders (2.3%); Hispanic/Latin (6%); and Other
(4.4%). The Other category included respondents who indicated they
were bi-racial or wanted a specific hyphenated category such as
Scottish-American. Most respondents were in their junior (42.5%) or
senior (23.9%) year of college.
Approximately 37.9% of students reported they watched 2 hours of
television per day. The next largest group reported viewing
television 3 hours per day. Interestingly 17.8% reported they did
not watch television everyday. The mean number of hours respondents
viewed was 2.27 hours a day with a standard deviation of 1.614. Most
black and white students reported watching television for two hours
per day. However, more than twice as many black students (23%)
compared to white students (9%) reported viewing television for 3 or
more hours per day. More blacks (39.4%) than whites (27.7%) reported
they planned to watch television everyday.
In terms of specific uses most students reported that they watched
television for entertainment (78.7%) and information (82.3%). More
blacks reported they used television slightly less for entertainment
(82.7%) than they used it for information (87.1%). More whites
indicated just the opposite; they used TV less for information (75%)
than they used the medium for entertainment (89.6%).
Other notable findings indicated that approximately one quarter of
all students used television to escape reality (26.1%) Interestingly,
twice as many whites (36.2%) indicated they used television to escape
reality compared to blacks (16.3%). More blacks (53.4%) used TV more
when they had nothing else to do than did whites (45.7%).
Whites (50%) compared to blacks (52.6%) only differed by 2.6% in
response to using television when bored. Approximately one-quarter
of all college students indicated that they viewed TV to compare
(24%) their lives to the lives of television people and that they
mimicked (26.3%) people on television.
More whites (27.6%) reported that they compared themselves to people
on TV than did blacks (20.7%). In addition, more whites (30%)
indicated they mimicked people on television compared to blacks (20.3%).
Less than 18% of all racial groups reported viewing TV to improve
their lives and to get information on how to live their
lives. However, in both categories more blacks reported using TV
compared to whites to improve their lives and get information about
how to live their lives (see Table 1).
Table 1
Television Viewing Habits and Motivations for Viewing
Questionnaire
Statements
Strongly
Agree/Agree
(all races)
% of
all races
Strongly
Agree/Agree
%
Blacks
%
Whites
VIEWING HABITS
View TV Everyday
215
55.9
58.4
55.5
Plan To View TV Everyday
132
34.5
39.4
27.7
PRIMARY REASONS FOR TV VIEWING
View TV When Bored
200
54.3
52.6
50
View TV When Nothing Else To Do
194
53.2
53.4
45.7
View TV To Be Entertained
303
88.5
82.7
89.6
View TV to Escape Reality
95
26.1
16.3
36.2
View TV To Be Informed
317
84.5
87.1
75
LIFE SATISFACTION VIEWING UTILITY
View TV To Get Info On How To Live Life
43
11.8
12.6
9.5
View TV and Compare Life To That of TV People
88
24.0
20.7
27.6
View TV to Help Me To Improve My Life
60
17.2
17
13.8
View TV and want to Mimic People on TV
91
26.3
20.3
30
Table 2 indicates that 9.2% of the 209 blacks and 18% of 119 whites
surveyed reported they were not as satisfied with their lives after
viewing television. When asked to respond to the statement that "I
am satisfied with my life," 87.3% of blacks and 93.3% of whites
strongly agreed or agreed with the statement.
Table 2
Expressed Opinions about Life Satisfaction by Race
Variables
% Strongly Agree or Agree w/statement that After Viewing Television
I am not As Satisfied with my life
% Strongly Agree or Agree w/statement that
I am satisfied with my life
Blacks
9.2%
87.3%
Whites
18%
93.3%
Discussion
RQ1 asked if students indicated they were more or less satisfied with
life after viewing television texts?
After viewing television 9.2% of blacks indicated they were not as
satisfied with their life after viewing television compared to 18% of
whites. However, dissatisfaction with life and the utility of TV for
escape from the dissatisfaction was significantly linked (.264**),
p<.01. This finding supports the hypothesis that a correlation exists
between television viewing and life satisfaction beliefs (see Table 3).
The data from this study also indicates subtle differences between
blacks and whites in specific uses and gratifications of television.
RQ2 asked how race affected uses and gratifications of television
viewing. In effect, the data indicates that blacks and white may view
television for life satisfaction confirmations. Blacks in particular
may actually use television textual viewing to gather social cues
that are put to use upon leaving their subculture and entering the
larger culture controlled by the dominant white culture. As reported
by Tompkin (2000) blacks may actually use television to acquire
information for acculturation purposes to improve their lives and
chances for upward mobility. Such information seeking leads to the
reading or decoding of social cues about how to dress and interact in
social and career settings to assimilate and become more accepted
into the larger "whiter" environment of society. Both black and white
racial groups indicated they used television equally to be informed
and for the life satisfaction information they acquired.
When respondents were asked to indicate if they used TV to get
information on how to live their lives, more black respondents
reported in the affirmative, but again not at a significant level.
Blacks in contrast to whites even reported using television less for
entertainment than for information purposes, although both the
entertainment and informational viewing percentages hovered between
82% and 87%, respectively. In fact, study statistics for whites on
entertainment vs. information uses of television represented a more
or less mirror image of black responses. Whites indicated using TV
less for information and more for entertainment. Those uses and
gratifications seemed to replicate the reality of racial differences
in the larger society. If one is a member of the dominant culture,
one may not have a need to seek more information about that culture,
so being able to relax or escape reality when viewing television may
be an option for some white viewers reflecting their privileged
position in American society.
Another concern of RQ2 asked if there were racial differences in
terms of television uses and gratifications' influence on life satisfaction.
Based on study results, no racial differences in terms of television
viewing and life satisfaction were found. However, overall for both
racial groups, significant associations existed for specific
television viewing utilities (see Table 3). For example, evidence of
a strong association was found between TV viewing and respondents'
desire to mimic the lifestyles of people seen on television (.400**)
and respondents' utility of TV to get information to improve their
lives (.433**), p<.01. These findings and others as seen in Table 3
support the hypothesis linking TV viewing to life satisfaction.
The informational and escape needs of blacks and whites based on
this study appeared to be different and have more or less been
determined by larger societal mores. Yet such findings did not reach
the level of scientific significance. Therefore, the differences
simply reflect the obvious differences of television's utility
related to the reality of their existence and socio-cultural
positions in society. Most black/white racial differences in this
investigation were not dramatic or significant but indicated some
small noteworthy differences about how each racial group utilized
television's textual content.
RQ3 asked how did uses and gratifications of television viewing
affect life satisfaction? Based on the study's findings, the uses and
gratifications that all viewers get or even perceive that they get
from television may improve or confirm viewers' satisfaction or
dissatisfaction with life. This is true for all viewers from all
racial backgrounds. Black viewers who are seeking information to
better interact in the larger white culture expect to positively
influence their life satisfaction when they use TV content/textual
cues in their everyday lives. Certainly, the indication is that
black viewers' believe they are getting some sort of life
satisfaction from television viewing. For whites who appeared more
interested in using television for entertainment, TV offers escape
from reality, particularly when they have nothing else to do. At the
same time, because TV depicts more whites as having achieved a high
level of satisfaction with life, potentially, white college students
who have yet to achieve their career goals may experience
dissatisfaction with life when they view the mostly high-level status
of other whites seen on television. Television most often features
people who are highly attractive and successful (Bloch and Richins
1993) potentially eliciting feelings of dissatisfaction in both white
and black viewers.
Table 3
Pearson Correlation of Selected Variables about Influence of TV
Viewing on Satisfaction with Life
Variables
Watch TV to Help me Improve My Life
Mimic Lifestyles of People on TV
After Viewing TV Not as Satisfied
Plan to Watch TV Daily
TV Hours Watched Per Day
Watch TV to Escape Reality
Help me to Improve My Life
-
.388**
.433**
-
-
.126**
Mimic Lifestyles of People on TV
.388**
-
.400**
.152**
-.102*
.241**
After Viewing TV Not AS Satisfied
.443
.400**
-
-
-
.264**
Plan to Watch TV Daily
-
.152**
-
-
-.358**
-
TV Hours watched Daily
-
-.102*
-
.358**
-
-
Watch to Escape Reality
.126**
.241**
.264**
-
-
-
Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (1-tailed) **Correlation
is significant at the 0.01 level (1-tailed)
Conclusions
In general for blacks, the influence of race on satisfaction has more
to do with interactions in the larger social world and for whites the
influence may not be so crucial. For whites TV use seemed to be more
related to relaxation, escapist and entertainment needs.
End Notes
1.Kubey, R. and Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Television and The
Quality of Life: How Viewing Shapes Everyday Experience. Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates, Publishers: Hillsdale, New Jersey, pg. 71.
2.The General Social Survey (1998). [Online]. Available:
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/gss; The Gallup Organization. (2000).
[Online]. Available: http://www.Gallup.com.
3.Kubey and Csikszentmihalyi, Television and the Quality of Life, pg. 71.
4.Pingree, S., Hawkins, R., Bust Hitchon, J., Gilligan, E., Radler,
B., Kahlor, L., Gorham, B., Kolbeins, G., Schmidt, T., and
Kannaovakun, P. (2001). If College students Are Appointment Viewers.
Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 45(3), 446-463;
McIlwraith, R. (1998). I'm Addicted to Television: The Personality,
Imagination, and TV Watching Patterns of Self-Identified TV Addicts.
Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 42(3), 371-386.
5.Fujioka, Y. (1999). Television Portrayals and African-American
Stereotypes: Examination of Television Effects When Direct Contact
Is Lacking. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 76(1), 52-75.
6.Harwood, J. (1999). Age Identification, Social Identity
Gratifications, and Television Viewing. Journal of Broadcasting and
Electronic Media, 43(1), 123-136.
7.Katz, E., Blumler, J.G., and Gurevitch, M. (1974). Uses and
Gratifications Research. Public Opinion Quarterly, 37(4), 509-523.
8.Blumler, J.G., Brown, J.R. and McQuail, D. (1970). The Social
Origins of the Gratifications associated with television viewing. The
University of Leeds, duplicated paper.
9.Herzog, H. (1944). Motivations and Gratification of Daily Serial
Listeners. In P.F. Lazarsfeld and F.N. Stanton, (Eds.), Radio
Research, 1942-1943. New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce; Horton, D.
and Wohl, R. (1956). Mass Communication and Para-Social
Interaction: Observations on Intimacy at a Distance. Psychiatry,
19(3), 215-229; Katz, E., Blumler, J.G., and gurevitch, M.
(1974). Uses and Gratifications Research. Public Opinion Quarterly,
37(4), 509-523; Lasch, C. (1978). The Culture of Narcissism, New
York: Norton; Freedman, R. (1984). Reflections on Beauty as It
Relates to Health in Adolescent Females. Women and Health,
(Summer-Fall), 29-45; Rubin, A. (1985). Uses of Daytime Television
Soap Operas by College Students. Journal of Broadcasting and
Electronic Media, 29(3), 241-258; Richins, M. L., (1991). Social
Comparison and the Idealized Images of Advertising. Journal of
Consumer Research, 18(6), 71-83; Bloch, P. and Richins, M. (1993).
Attractiveness, Adornments, and Exchange. Psychology and Marketing,
10(6), 467-470.
10.Frisby, C. (2000). Black Like Me: How Idealized Images of
Caucasian Women Affect Body Esteem and Mood States of African
American Females. Presented to the Minorities and Communication
Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass
Communication Annual Convention; Appiah, O. (2000). The Effects of
Ethnic Identification on Multicultural Adolescents. Paper presented
at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass
Communication; Richins, M.L. (1991). Social Comparison and the
Idealized Images of Advertising. Journal of Consumer Research, 18(6),
71-83; Harwood, J. (1999). Age Identification, Social Identity
Gratifications, and Television Viewing. Journal of Broadcasting and
Electronic Media, 43(1), 123-136; Perkins, K.R. (1996). The Influence
of Television Images on Black Females' Self-Perceptions of Physical
Attractiveness. The Journals of Black Psychology, 22(4), 453-469;
Orange, C.M. and George, A.M. (2000). Child Sacrifice: Black
America's Price of Paying the Media Piper. Journal of Black Studies,
30(3), 294-314; Rubin, A. (1985). Uses of Daytime Television Soap
Operas by College Students. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic
Media, 29(3), 241-258.
11.Herzog, H. (1944). Motivations and Gratification of Daily Serial
Listeners. In P.F. Lazarsfeld and F.N. Stanton, (Eds.), Radio
Research, 1942-1943. New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce.
12.Horton, D. and Wohl, R. (1956). Mass Communication and
Para-Social Interaction: Observations on Intimacy at a Distance.
Psychiatry, 19(3), 215-229.
13.Fujioka, Y. (1999). Television Portrayals and African-American
Stereotypes: Examination of Television Effects When Direct Contact
Is Lacking. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 76(1), 52-75.
14.Lasch, C. (1978). The Culture of Narcissism, New York: Norton;
Bloch, P. and Richins, M. (1993). Attractiveness, Adornments, and
Exchange." Psychology and Marketing, 10(6), 467-470; Freedman, R.
(1984). Reflections on Beauty as It Relates to Health in Adolescent
Females. Women and Health, (Summer-Fall), 29-45; Katz, E., Blumler,
J.G., and Gurevitch, M. (1974). Uses and Gratifications Research.
Public Opinion Quarterly, 37(4), 509-523; Rubin, A. (1985). "Uses of
Daytime Television Soap Operas by College Students. Journal of
Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 29(3), 241-258.
15.Albarran, A. and Umphrey, D. (1993). An Examination of Television
Motivations and Program Preferences by Hispanics, Blacks, and
Whites. Journals of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 37(1), 95-103.
16.Ibid., pg. 95-103.
17.Pingree, S., Hawkins, R., Bust Hitchon, J., Gilligan, E., Radler,
B., Kahlor, L., Gorham, B., Kolbeins, G., Schmidt, T., and
Kannaovakun, P. (2001). If College students Are Appointment Viewers.
Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 45(3), 446-463.
18.Bogart, L. (1965). The mass media and the blue collar worker. In
A. Bennett & W. Gombert (Eds.), Blue collar world: Studies of the
American worker. Prentice-Hall: Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 416-428.
19.Basil, M.D. (1996). The Use of Student Samples in Communication
Research. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 40, 431-440.
20.Herzog, H. (1944). Motivations and Gratification of Daily Serial
Listeners. In P.F. Lazarsfeld and F.N. Stanton, (Eds.), Radio
Research, 1942-1943. New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce; Horton, D.
and Wohl, R. (1956). Mass Communication and Para-Social
Interaction: Observations on Intimacy at a Distance. Psychiatry,
19(3), 215-229; Tsao, J. (1996). Compensatory Media Use: An
Exploration of Two Paradigms. Communication Studies, 47; Rosengren,
K.E., and Windahl, S. (1972). Mass Media Consumption as a Functional
Alternative. In D. McQuail (Ed.), Sociology of Mass Communications.
Harmondsworth: Penquin; Katz, E., Blumler, J.G., and Gurevitch, M.
(1974). Uses and Gratifications Research. Public Opinion Quarterly,
37(4), 509-523; Lasch, C. (1978). The Culture of Narcissism, New
York: Norton; Bloch, P. and Richins, M. (1993). Attractiveness,
Adornments, and Exchange." Psychology and Marketing, 10(6), 467-470;
Freedman, R. (1984). Reflections on Beauty as It Relates to Health in
Adolescent Females. Women and Health, (Summer-Fall), 29-45; Blumler,
J.G., Brown, J.R. and McQuail, D. (1970). The Social Origins of the
Gratifications associated with television viewing. The University of
Leeds, duplicated paper; Albarran, A. and Umphrey, D. (1993). An
Examination of Television Motivations and Program Preferences by
Hispanics, Blacks, and Whites. Journals of Broadcasting and
Electronic Media, 37(1), 95-103; Kubey, R. and Csikszentmihalyi, M.
(1990). Television and The Quality of Life: How Viewing Shapes
Everyday Experience. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers:
Hillsdale, New Jersey, pg. 71.
WHAT IS THIS????????
21.Baran, S.J. and Davis, D.K. (2000). Mass Communication
Theory: Foundations, Ferment, and Future. Second Edition. Belmont,
CA: Wadsworth-Thomson Learning.
22.Herzog, Motivations and Gratification of Daily Serial Listeners.??????
23.Horton and Wohl, Mass Communication and Para-Social
Interaction: Observations on Intimacy at a Distance, pg. 215-229.
24.Ibid., pgs. 215-229.
25.Tsao, J. (1996). Compensatory Media Use: An Exploration of Two
Paradigms. Communication Studies, 47.
26.Horton and Wohl, Mass Communication and Para-Social
Interaction: Observations on Intimacy at a Distance, pg. 215-229.
27. Herzog, Motivations and Gratification of Daily Serial
Listeners.??????????????
29.Rayburn, II, J.D. and Palmgreen, P. (1984). Merging Uses and
Gratifications and Expectancy-Value Theory. Communication Research,
11(4), 537-562.
30.Katz, E., Blumler, J.G., and Gurevitch, M. (1974). Uses and
Gratifications Research. Public Opinion Quarterly, 37(4), 509-523.
31.Rosengren, K.E., and Windahl, S. (1972). Mass Media Consumption
as a Functional Alternative. In D. McQuail (Ed.), Sociology of Mass
Communications. Harmondsworth: Penquin.
32.Rubin, A. (1985). Uses of Daytime Television Soap Operas by
College Students. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 29(3), 241-258.
33.Katz, Blumler and Gurevitch. (1974). Uses and Gratifications
Research, pg. 509-523.
34.Richins, M.L. (1991). Social Comparison and the Idealized Images
of Advertising. Journal of Consumer Research, 18(6), 71-83.
35.Ibid., pg. 71-83.
36.Lasch, C. (1978). The Culture of Narcissism, New York: Norton
37.Freedman, R. (1984). Reflections on Beauty as It Relates to Health
in Adolescent Females. Women and Health, (Summer-Fall), 29-45.
38. Frisby, C. (2000). Black Like Me: How Idealized Images of
Caucasian Women Affect Body Esteem and Mood States of African
American Females. Presented to the Minorities and Communication
Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass
Communication Annual Convention
39.Bloch, P. and Richins, M. (1993). Attractiveness, Adornments, and
Exchange. Psychology and Marketing, 10(6), 467-470.
40.Clemente, F. and Sauer, W.J. (1976). Life Satisfaction in the
United States. Social Forces, 54(3), 621-631.
41.Potter, W. (1986). Perceived Reality and the Cultivation
Hypothesis, Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 30 (Spring), 159-174.
42.Horton and Wohl, Mass Communication and Para-Social
Interaction: Observations on Intimacy at a Distance, pg. 215-229;
Herzog, Motivations and Gratification of Daily Serial Listeners;
Bloch and Richins, pg. 467-470; Lasch, C. (1978). The Culture of
Narcissism, New York: Norton.
43.Fujioka, Television Portrayals and African American
Stereotypes: Examination of Television Effects When Direct Contact
Is Lacking, pg. 52-75.
44.Harwood, Age Identification, Social Identity Gratifications, and
Television Viewing, pg. 123-136.
45.Albarran and Umphrey, An Examination of Television Motivations and
Program Preferences by Hispanics, Blacks, and Whites, pg. 95-103.
46.Tompkin, L.G. (2000). African American Acculturation: The
Influence of Cultural Orientations and Interethnic Friendships on the
Life Satisfaction, Mental Health, and Achievement of African
Americans. Dissertation Abstracts International: The Humanities and
Social Sciences, 60(11), May, 4194-A-4195-A.
47.Kubey and Csikszentmihalyi, Television and the Quality of Life, pg. 71.
48.Ibid., pg. 71.
49.The General Social Survey (1998). [Online]. Available:
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/gss.
50.The General Social Survey (1988). [Online]. Available:
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/gss.
51.The Gallup Organization. (2000). [Online]. Available: http://www.Gallup.com.
52.Kubey, R. and Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2002, February). Television
Addiction Is No Mere Metaphor. Scientific American.
53.Henning, B. and Vorderer, P. (2001). Psychological
Escapism: Predicting the Amount of Television Viewing By Need for
Cognition. Journal of Communication, 51(1), 100-120.
54.Kubey and Csikszentmihalyi, Television and the Quality of Life, pg. 71.
55.Albarran and Umphrey, An Examination of Television Motivations and
Program Preferences by Hispanics, Blacks, and Whites, pg. 95-103.
56.Ibid., pgs. 95-103.
57.Clemente and Sauer, Life Satisfaction in the United States, pgs. 621-631.
58.Ibid., pgs. 621-631.
59.Freudiger, P. (1983). Life Satisfaction Among Three Categories of
Married Women. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 45, 213-219.
60.Ibid.,pgs. 213-219.
61.Ibid., pgs. 213-219.
62.Katz, E., Gurevitch, M. and Haas, H. (1973). On the Use of Media
for Important Things. American Sociological Review, 38(2), 164-181.
References
Albarran, A. and Umphrey, D. (1993). An Examination of Television
Motivations and Program Preferences by Hispanics, Blacks, and
Whites. Journals of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 37(1), 95-103.
Appiah, O. (2000). The Effects of Ethnic Identification on
Multicultural Adolescents. Paper presented at the Association for
Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.
Baran, S.J. and Davis, D.K. (2000). Mass Communication
Theory: Foundations, Ferment, and Future. Second Edition. Belmont,
CA: Wadsworth-Thomson Learning.
Basil, M.D. (1996). The Use of Student Samples in Communication
Research. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 40, 431-440.
Bloch, P. and Richins, M. (1993). Attractiveness, Adornments, and
Exchange. Psychology and Marketing, 10(6), 467-470.
Blumler, J.G., Brown, J.R. and McQuail, D. (1970). The Social
Origins of the Gratifications associated with television viewing. The
University of Leeds, duplicated paper.
Bogart, L. (1965). The mass media and the blue collar worker. In A.
Bennett & W. Gombert (Eds.), Blue collar world: Studies of the
American worker. Prentice-Hall: Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 416-428.
Clemente, F. and Sauer, W.J. (1976). Life Satisfaction in the United
States. Social Forces, 54(3), 621-631.
Freedman, R. (1984). Reflections on Beauty as It Relates to Health in
Adolescent Females. Women and Health, (Summer-Fall), 29-45.
Frisby, C. (2000). Black Like Me: How Idealized Images of Caucasian
Women Affect Body Esteem and Mood States of African American Females.
Presented to the Minorities and Communication Division of the
Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Annual
Convention.
Freudiger, P. (1983). Life Satisfaction Among Three Categories of
Married Women. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 45, 213-219.
Fujioka, Y. (1999). Television Portrayals and African-American
Stereotypes: Examination of Television Effects When Direct Contact
Is Lacking. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 76(1), 52-75.
The Gallup Organization. (2000). [Online]. Available: http://www.Gallup.com.
The General Social Survey (1988). [Online]. Available:
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/gss.
The General Social Survey (1998). [Online]. Available:
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/gss.
Harwood, J. (1999). Age Identification, Social Identity
Gratifications, and Television Viewing. Journal of Broadcasting and
Electronic Media, 43(1), 123-136.
Henning, B. and Vorderer, P. (2001). Psychological
Escapism: Predicting the Amount of Television Viewing By Need for
Cognition. Journal of Communication, 51(1), 100-120.
Herzog, H. (1944). Motivations and Gratification of Daily Serial
Listeners. In P.F. Lazarsfeld and F.N. Stanton, (Eds.), Radio
Research, 1942-1943. New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce.
Horton, D. and Wohl, R. (1956). Mass Communication and Para-Social
Interaction: Observations on Intimacy at a Distance. Psychiatry,
19(3), 215-229.
Katz, E., Blumler, J.G., and Gurevitch, M. (1974). Uses and
Gratifications Research. Public Opinion Quarterly, 37(4), 509-523.
Katz, E., Gurevitch, M. and Haas, H. (1973). On the Use of Media for
Important Things. American Sociological Review, 38(2), 164-181.
Kubey, R. and Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Television and The
Quality of Life: How Viewing Shapes Everyday Experience. Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates, Publishers: Hillsdale, New Jersey, pg. 71.
Lasch, C. (1978). The Culture of Narcissism, New York: Norton.
McIlwraith, R. (1998). I'm Addicted to Television: The Personality,
Imagination, and TV Watching Patterns of Self-Identified TV Addicts.
Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 42(3), 371-386.
Orange, C.M. and George, A.M. (2000). Child Sacrifice: Black
America's Price of Paying the Media Piper. Journal of Black Studies,
30(3), 294-314;
Perkins, K.R. (1996). The Influence of Television Images on Black
Females' Self-Perceptions of Physical Attractiveness. The Journals of
Black Psychology, 22(4), 453-469.
Pingree, S., Hawkins, R., Bust Hitchon, J., Gilligan, E., Radler, B.,
Kahlor, L., Gorham, B., Kolbeins, G., Schmidt, T., and Kannaovakun,
P. (2001). If College students Are Appointment Viewers. Journal of
Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 45(3), 446-463.
Potter, W. (1986). Perceived Reality and the Cultivation Hypothesis,
Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 30 (Spring), 159-174.
Rayburn, II, J.D. and Palmgreen, P. (1984). Merging Uses and
Gratifications and Expectancy-Value Theory. Communication Research,
11(4), 537-562.
Richins, M. L., (1991). Social Comparison and the Idealized Images of
Advertising. Journal of Consumer Research, 18(6), 71-83.
Rosengren, K.E., and Windahl, S. (1972). Mass Media Consumption as a
Functional Alternative. In D. McQuail (Ed.), Sociology of Mass
Communications. Harmondsworth: Penquin
Rubin, A. (1985). Uses of Daytime Television Soap Operas by College
Students. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 29(3), 241-258.
Schramm, W., Lyle, J. and Parker, E. (1961). Television In the Lives
of Our Children. Stanford, CT: Stanford University Press.
Tompkin, L.G. (2000). African American Acculturation: The Influence
of Cultural Orientations and Interethnic Friendships on the Life
Satisfaction, Mental Health, and Achievement of African Americans.
Dissertation Abstracts International: The Humanities and Social
Sciences, 60(11), May, 4194-A-4195-A.
Tsao, J. (1996). Compensatory Media Use: An Exploration of Two
Paradigms. Communication Studies, 47
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