A definition of perceived reality of televised content was logically developed and empirically tested. The purpose was to achieve a more precise measurement of this construct which is increasingly considered to be an intervening variable in media effects research. In previous studies, subjects' perceptions of reality, in particular televised content, were sometimes found to be helpful in predicting changes in their attitudes and behaviors as reflections of that content. Also, several studies were conducted to determine the relationship of perceived reality with demographic and television usage variables. Results of this body of research are not conclusive enough to allow one to determine whether or not perceived reality is in fact a useful intervening variable in the media effects process. Therefore, it was argued that a more precise definition of perceived reality is needed. / A 100-item instrument was formulated based on a synthesis of the literature, in particular a study by Hawkins (1977). Items were developed which measured subjects' demographic background, television usage habits and perceptions of reality. The perceived reality items were written to measure perceptions at three levels of specificity (television in general, show types and specific shows) and two referents (people in shows and events in shows). It was hypothesized that the concept of perceived reality is not uni-dimensional but rather that it consists of three dimensions: Magic Window, Discrepancy (between television characters and real life people) and Instructional (social lessons). / Subjects were selected from three age populations: adolescents (12 to 15 years old), college students (18 to 24 years old), and older adults (55 years of age and older). A total of 186 subjects completed the questionnaire. / Perceived reality was found to have three component dimensions: Magic Window, Instructional and Identity. Magic Window is a dimension reflecting the degree to which a person believes a television program shows actual actions in the ongoing lives of real people and, as such, that the presented content is independent of the television coverage of it. The Instructional dimension reflects the degree to which a person believes that televised content presents useful social information that can be applied in real life. The Identity dimension reflects the degree to which a person believes there are people portrayed on television that conform to people known in real life and that those people act in such a way as to portray useful lessons for the viewer. / Scales measuring each dimension were found to have high reliability (Magic Window, (alpha)= .83; Instructional, (alpha)= .85; and Identity, (alpha)= .86). A subject's value on any of these three scales was not found to be related to demographic variables (age, sex, race, parent's education, parent's occupational status or household income) or to television usage variables (amount of viewing, types of shows favored or motives for viewing). / It was concluded that the construct of perceived reality was not uni-dimensional and that it is probably a psychological trait that cannot be adequately explained by a person's television usage habits or demographic background. Policy implications were discussed and a plan for future research was outlined. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-03, Section: A, page: 0905. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_74445 |
| Contributors | POTTER, W. JAMES., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 117 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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