Beauchamp/Baran, Introduction to Human Communication 2e Student Resources

Watch this short video to see Dr. Michael Morgan, long-time collaborator of Cultivation Theory's founder, George Gerbner, offer his explanation of the Mean World Syndrome. Then choose the most appropriate answer for each of the following questions.

Video titled: The Mean World Syndrome – Media as Storytellers Video

Transcript Area

Quiz Content

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. The Mean World Syndrome argues that the more television people watch ____________.

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. Dr. Morgan says that as people become more frightened they start to change how they behave in their everyday lives; for example taking extra precautions when out in public or refusing to walk down the street at night. A Critical Cultural theorist would say that, in this case, _______ is influencing __________.

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. Dr. Morgan explains that when considering the Mean World Syndrome we should not look at a single TV program, film, or video game, but at the entire media context. He later explains, however, that of all the media, the one that appears to make the greatest contribution to people's perception of a mean world is ___________.

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. Despite the fact that crime rates continue to fall, there persists a long-standing and well-entrenched public perception that the U. S. is experiencing rising crime rates. Cultivation Theory would attribute this disconnect to media's ability to cultivate ___________.

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. Dr. Gerbner (the more mature gentleman in the light blue shirt) says that looking at media violence from a cultivation point-of-view means that TV's major effect isn't necessarily to make people more violent ("I'm not going to go down the street to be a mugger") but more likely to make them more fearful about going down the street at night. But we have learned about a theory that suggests that seeing media violence does indeed influence some people to imitate or identify with what they've seen on screen. It's ____________ theory.