MASS COMMUNICATION AND SOCIALIZATION

Do the portrayals of human misery in the media act to arouse our sympathy & pity? Sentiments are relevant to socialization because they determine to what extent an individual will be sensitive to the coexistence & demands of others. Lois B. Murphy's research (SOCIAL BEHAVIOR AND CHILD P...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Public opinion quarterly 1973-01, Vol.37 (4), p.524-540
Main Author: Hyman, Herbert H.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Children
Directions in Mass Communications Research: A Symposium
Human aggression
Mass media
Pity
Social behavior
Social psychology
Socialization
Socialization (see also Socialized)
Sympathy
Sympathy/Sympathetic
Television violence
Violence
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Summary:Do the portrayals of human misery in the media act to arouse our sympathy & pity? Sentiments are relevant to socialization because they determine to what extent an individual will be sensitive to the coexistence & demands of others. Lois B. Murphy's research (SOCIAL BEHAVIOR AND CHILD PERSONALITY: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF THE ROOTS OF SYMPATHY, NY: Columbia U Press, 1937) is cited to show that observing violence & distress is just as likely to provoke sympathetic as aggressive impluses in children. What we define as aggression & what we consider justified aggression affects our sympathies, & our sympathetic behavior may in turn become aggressive. The general dullness of our conceptions, along with other variables, accounts for the lack of sympathy in many of us, despite wide exposure through the media to painful & distressful situations. Probably only a few individuals are capable of having their sympathies aroused as a direct result of contemporary media presentations. S. Karganovic.
ISSN:0033-362X
1537-5331
DOI:10.1086/268110