Explain cultivation theory and provide examples of predictions made by the theory, and provide ...

Cultivation theory proposes that long-term immersion in a media environment leads to cultivation, or enculturation, into shared beliefs about the world. Unlike other approaches that focus on specific media messages, television programs, movies, or other kinds of text, Cultivation analysis is concerned with the more general and pervasive consequences of cumulative exposure to cultural media (Morgan & Signorielli, 1990, p. 16). Initiated by George Gerbner (2002) and his colleagues, cultivation analysis seeks to uncover how television, in particular, influences those who are heavy viewers. Those who watch television news, the theory goes, will share certain beliefs or distortions about the world. Moreover, this theory argues that media coverage shapes attitudes about one's own society and the issues it faces. For example, although crime rates have gone down overall in recent years, many U.S. Americans feel more insecure than ever. In their study on fear of crime, Daniel Romer, Kathleen Hall Jamieson, and Sean Aday (2003) surveyed 2,300 Philadelphia residents. Within that population group, they found a relationship between the widespread belief that crime is a significant problem and the amount of local television news coverage of crimes. The point of the study is that Philadelphia media coverage cultivates attitudes and beliefs that shape everyday life in Philadelphia, with a key element of daily life being an exaggerated fear of crime.