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Cultivation Theory
Cultivation theory is one of the core media theories that explains the long-term process of media influence on people. Cultivation Theory was first proposal by George Gerbner in 1960, who was a communication and dean professor at the University of Pennsylvania. The theory suggests that people who are constantly exposed to television programming tend to recognize social reality through the world of media. This exposure to media, especially messages of aggression, may influence a viewer’s perception of real life.

Cultivation Theory Description
Cultivation theory is a broad study focused on the effects of mainstream media, and it argues that the world image presented by the media cannot fully reflect reality. Cultivation theory can be defined as when people build their values, attitudes, and beliefs by being exposed to media over long periods.

The theory shows that television is a significant source of information and entertainment, which offers various conceptions on social content including race, gender, sexuality, etc. The audience is unavoidably invaded by it in their daily life because the repetitive pattern of messages and images has formed a mainstream or consistent value. This theory believes that aggression messages in regular television program will affect a person's perception of reality. Consequently, their opinions and beliefs, especially their preconceived notions, will be unconsciously shaped and strengthened by television programming.

According to George Gerbner, cultivation theory can be analyzed through three components, including institutional process analysis, message system analysis, and cultivation analysis. As the first component, institutional process analysis investigates the production of media messages, and how the media content distributed on the broadcasting platforms. The second component, message system analysis, focuses more on the children’s television programs, which involves a broader content analysis of the media industry. The third component, cultivation analysis, involves longitudinal surveys of the different levels of influence the media has on people, which indicates how television programming contributes to viewers’ perception of the real world.

George Gerbner, Founder of Cultivation Theory


George Gerbner was born in Budapest, Hungary, on August 8, 1919, and he is known for communication research into television content effect and the development of the cultivation theory. At his early age, Gerbner joined the U.S. Army and became a paratrooper to fight the Nazis in World War II.

After the war, to gain teaching credentials, George Gerbner completed a master’s degree with a thesis titled “Television and Education” at the University of Southern California and a Ph.D. in the school’s audiovisual department. In 1964, George Gerbner was hired to serve as dean of the Annenberg School of Communication, and Gerbner became a national leader and expert in communication study.

George Gerbner proposal cultivation theory in the 1960s and he established the television violence profile in 1967, which is part of the Cultural Indicators Project. The Cultural Indicators Project was conducted with a database that including more than 3,000 television programs and 35,000 characters, which provides a long-term consistent monitoring of violence in popular media broadcast content. By investigating the violence profile, Gerbner noted that the violence media content makes people believe the world is more dangerous than it really is, which is a cognitive bias called “mean world syndrome”. In 1973, George Gerbner further developed cultivation theory, and he formulated three types of cultivation theory analysis patterns, including institutional process analysis, message system analysis and cultivation analysis. George Gerbner died on December 24,2005 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Mean World Syndrome
George Gerbner developed the concept of mean world syndrome in the 1970s, which is a cognitive bias occurs in people who are exposed to violence-related media content for long periods. Due to long-term exposure to violence-related television programs or news reports, people may experience increased fillings of anxiety, depression, and fear. The violence-related media content may raise the false delusions of persecution to people, and they may start to believe that the world is full of danger.

The Application of Cultivation Theory
Cultivation theory focuses on the consequences of exposure to the symbolic media environment, and it is a complement to traditional analysis approaches to media effects. Cultivation theory has been widely used in TV violence research to explain why children watching violent cartoons become more hysterical and anxious. The repeated performances of violent scenes may strengthen people's inherent notion that the world is dangerous and insecure to some extent. It even further reinforces that violent behavior is a natural response to conflicts. By apply cultivation theory, scholars can monitor the violence-related content in prime-time network broadcast programming. Cultivation theory, therefore, can help decision-makers regulate the transmission of violence-related content in the television, internet, or even social media.

Cultivation theory can help people understand media content dynamics, which provides guidelines to recognize the key features of broadcasting. This theory can help people better distinguish the repeated content of media, and it can regulate the media effects, like dispel gender-role stereotyping on television.