Media.

SOURCE - credible expert, physically attractive, quick speaker

MESSAGE - fearful, not direct

MEDIUM - audio-visual

TARGET - low self-esteem

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1. Attention -Must notice attempt at persuasion

2. Comprehension -Message must be understood

3. Reactance -Agree or Disagree

Led to much research into what makes communication persuasive.

Model sees people as rational.

Approach assumes people always think carefully.

Social psychologists suggest people do not always consider info as thoroughly as suggested.

Recent approaches follow Dual process models...

1. Central route. 

Follow arguments and consider counter arguments.

Persuasion depends on quality of argument.

Attitude change is likely to be permenent.

2. Peripheral Route.

Minimal cognitive effort.

Person pays little attention. Attitude change is likely to be temporary.

People who are high in need for cognition are more likely to use central processing.

Personal relevance and experience can affect choice of route.

Hovland Yale and ELM see attitudes as belonging to the individual. But some are collective, such as prejudice.

Potter argues that traditional approaches to attitudes do not consider collective.

Attitudes shift and are often contradictory.

Psychologists suggest attitudes are not measureable entities but resources, they are used to persuade.

1. Capture Attention

Eye catching images.

2. Comprehension.

Messages should be clear and simple to encourage peripheral processing.

3. Create a favourable association.

classical conditioning. distinctive music means we know the ad before we see it. liked adverts are talked about and this provides reinforcement.

4. Make it memorable.

Mere exposure hypothesis: the more we are exposed the more we like it.

Tv has a major impact in determining views about the world

it is more effective in persuasion than any other media because it combines visual and auditory input.

The most successful ads are irritating or offensive.

Physiological Responses.

A provoked individual who has watched violence could show their high level of arousal. This could be mistaken as an aggressive response.

**helps to explain aggressive behaviour that occurs after watching

**overlooks self control and moral restraint.

Cognitions.

Cognitive Priming: Idea that watching violence stores scripts of violent acts. They are activated in similar situations.

**Researchers suggest media influence is influenced by political desire to blame TV for social problems.

**Assumption that everyone consumes media in the same way.

**Deterministic and reductionist.

Rushton found when children were shown pro-social programmes, their pro-social behaviour attitudes improved.

Van Evra - watching pro social programmes is associated with increases in sharing and co-operation.

Rosenkoetter examined children watching an episode of the Cosby show. They were interviewed to see if they grasped the moral.

Ability to benefit from these programmes depends on understanding of the moral.

Based on Bandura's Research.

Children exposed to a violent model play more aggressively, especially if the model received a reward.

*Learning via Direct Experience

*Learning via Vicarious Experience.

Children choose highly Dominant and powerful individuals as models.

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**An individual behaving anti- or pro- socially depends on past experience and the current situation.

**Banduras research has many ethical issues.

Children exposed to violent models develop social cognitive structures which can influence their behaviour.

Schemas: View the world as dangerous

Scripts: Apply previously seen violence to solve their own conflicts.

*Normative Beliefs: See violent behaviour as a part of everyday life.

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**(Gerbner et al) children who watch violence are more likely to interpret others' behaviour as hostile.

**It has been shown that childrens' normative beliefs are related to what they watch on TV.

- Increased physiological arousal.

- Redcued helping behaviours

- Increased Aggressive feelings, behaviour and cognitions.

- Desensitisation.

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+ Children with lack of self confidence can gain a sense of participation

+ Improve hand eye co-ordination.

+ Channel negative emotions

+ Make friends, team spirit.

+ Strategic and analytical thinking skills.

Games differ from filmed violence, the player takes an active role.

Most studies only look at the short term, games a recent, longitudinal studies do not exist.

Most research is lab, it lacks ecological validity

Issues with cause and effect

Critics argue that if there are any effects, games will be one of many factors that contribute to later violence.

One sided relationships.

Other person is often unaware of the first persons existence

When a close relationship ends, those involved experience Distress. The same should be true for parasocial relationships.

Eyal and Cohen assessed reactions to the final Friends episode.

Amount of distress was predicted by the intensity of parasocial relationships.

Lonliness.

Asche and Muccutcheon found shyness and lonliness was weakly associated with strength of parasocial relationships.

Age.

Adolescents are the most likely. They are less likely to have an established social network.

Attachment.

Resistant attachments are the most likely to form parasocial relationships as there is no risk of rejection.

Avoidant are the least likely.

Explanation could be too simple, there is no single answer to what sort of person has parasocial relationships.

Different factors determine attraction to a celeb.

Cannot assumes all people have consistent attachment types through life.

Females should be attracted to male celebs with lots of resources.

Men who achieve a high status become more attractive to females.

Men should be attracted to fertile/young celebrities.

In real relationships, similar attractiveness is sought.  In a parasocial relationship the fans choice in celebrity can coincide exactly with their preferences.

**Research is consistent in showing men love young and women love resources.

**Most applicable when fans are intensely interested in the celebrity's attractiveness.

**Does not explain why millions have no attraction to a celeb.

Erotomania can arise from an obsession with a celeb. They have delusions the celeb has fallen in love with them and have made romantic advances.

Maltby et al suggest 3 dimensions to celeb worship.

*Entertainment Social

*Intense Personal

*Borderline Pathological.

Absorption-Addiction Model.

1. Absorption

find out as much as possible about the celeb, attempting to develop closeness.

2. Addiction.

Crave more closeness and extreme delusional forms of thinking and behaviour.

Research has established three types of worship.

Nearly all research is correlational, so cannot determine cause and effect.

CAS relies on honesty of Ps about feelings. Could be demand characteristics.

Motives:

Cupach and spitzberg suggest 4 categories

intimacy, aggression, issue-based, disability-based.

Personality

Low agreeableness and conscientiousness.

High Neuroticism.

Attachment

Preoccupied attachment - individual is too involved in the other and feels dependent.

**All stalkers do not have preoccupied attachment

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**Preoccupied are only likely to stalk in paticular situations.

**Stalking is not typically violent or by the mentally ill.

**research is correlational

**It is likely that celeb stalkers have similar characteristics to non-celeb but there is not enough evidence to be sure.

**Motives are diverse, it has not been possible to develop a general theory to apply to most cases.