Investigating the Relationship Between Exposure to Television Programs that Depict Paranormal
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In order to investigate the resonance hypothesis implied in RQ1, we ran regres- sion equations separately for respondents who reported prior experience with a paranormal event (n ϭ 58; 29%) and for those who reported no prior experience (n ϭ 138; 69%). These equations were set up in exactly the same way as the ones reported in Tables 2 and 3. When we used the measure of total TV viewing, the regression analyses revealed that after considering the demographic variables, viewing was unrelated to paranormal beliefs for both groups of respondents. However, when we used the measure of paranormal TV viewing, different results emerged for each group. Table 4 displays the results for the group who reported no prior experience with a paranormal event. Table 5 displays the results for the group who did report such an experience. As these tables reveal, viewing paranormal programs on TV was unrelated to paranormal beliefs for those who reported no prior experience with the paranormal. But for those who did report such an experience, viewing paranormal programs contributed an additional 11% of signifi- cant variance to the prediction of paranormal beliefs (p Ͻ .007).
Discussion Consistent with past research, Table 1 reveals that paranormal beliefs were certainly prevalent in the random sample we drew from the Midwestern city. If the influence of TV programs on an audience is likely to be greater among those who are TABLE 4 R
R ESULTS FOR P REDICTING B ELIEF IN THE P ARANORMAL FROM P ARANORMAL V IEWING
A MONG
R ESPONDENTS W HO
EPORTED N O P RIOR
E XPERIENCE W ITH THE
P ARANORMAL Variables Entered Multiple R R 2
Step 1: Age
Ϫ.05 Sex
.24* ( p Ͻ .02)
Income Ϫ.02
Education Ϫ.18
Weekly Religious Service Ϫ.04
Intensity of Religious Belief .02
.32 .10
Step 2 Viewing Paranormal .33 .11
.09 Note: The entire regression model was significant [F (7,119) ϭ 2.04; p Ͻ .05]. TABLE 5 R
R ESULTS FOR P REDICTING B ELIEF IN THE P ARANORMAL FROM P ARANORMAL V IEWING
A MONG
R ESPONDENTS W HO
EPORTED P RIOR E XPERIENCE W ITH THE
P ARANORMAL Variables Entered Multiple R R 2
Step 1: Age
Ϫ.12 Sex
.09 Income
.19 Education Ϫ.46* (p Ͻ .002) Weekly Religious Service .09 Intensity of Religious Belief Ϫ.02 .50
.25 Step 2
Viewing Paranormal .60
.36 .35* ( p Ͻ .007)
ϭ 3.79; p Ͻ .003]. 108 COMMUNICATION MONOGRAPHS undecided about a given phenomenon, then the percentages of respondents who expressed uncertainty about the paranormal are particularly important for the study of media impact. As the table shows, there are significant numbers of respondents in this category for most of the belief items. Of particular interest in Table 1 are the percentages of respondents who indicated uncertainty about various paranormal belief items. It seems reasonable to assume that in areas of uncertain belief, the mass media are potentially a more powerful source of influence. While the percentages of respondents who endorsed belief in the paranormal were relatively unchanged from the earlier survey reported by Sparks et al. (1997), the data continue to indicate widespread belief and uncertainty about the existence of paranormal phenomena. In such a cultural environment, media messages about the paranormal would seem to hold considerable potential to reinforce and change what people believe. The first hypothesis was that television viewing (particularly viewing of paranor- mal programs) would be positively correlated with paranormal beliefs. This hypoth- esis was supported. As the regression equations reported in Tables 2 & 3 reveal, viewing paranormal programs accounts for a significant portion of variance in paranormal beliefs even after controlling for age, sex, income, education, and two different measures of religiosity. It is important to note that this result cannot be interpreted unequivocally as evidence for the impact of paranormal programming. Surveys of this type simply do not permit conclusions that establish causal direction. It is always possible that some unmeasured third variable accounts for the relation- ship that was observed. It is also possible that the relationship indicates that those who believe in the paranormal are more likely to view paranormal programs. While this is certainly a reasonable conjecture, it is also important to recall that the experimental evidence reviewed earlier clearly shows that exposure to paranormal programs affects beliefs. Of course, it is possible that the relationship is bi- directional. Future research should be designed to test the selective exposure hypothesis that believers in the paranormal seek out paranormal media. RQ1 asked about the evidence regarding cultivation’s resonance hypothesis. The earlier study by Sparks et al. failed to find any support for resonance. However, in the present study, evidence consistent with the resonance hypothesis did emerge. The relationship between media exposure to the paranormal and paranormal beliefs was present only for those respondents who reported personal experience with a paranormal event. This finding is completely counter to the one found in the earlier survey of the same community where the relationship held only for those who reported no personal experience with a paranormal event. One approach to these conflicting findings is to compare the two surveys and focus on the differences between the two studies. As in any replication study, it is prudent for the investigators to make changes from the initial study in ways that might enhance the generalizability of the findings. In this study, we measured exposure to a greater number of paranormal programs (nine vs. four) than did Sparks et al. (1997). Perhaps the most significant difference in the measures that were used in the two studies is the fact that in the present study, there was a total of five paranormal programs (55% of the paranormal programming measure) that could be classified as fiction (X-Files, Early Edition, Touched by an Angel, Profiler, and Millennium) compared to only one such program (X-Files) in the earlier survey (25% of the paranormal programming measure). If the current measure of paranormal program- ming was heavily weighted toward fictional programs and the one used in the earlier 109 TELEVISION AND PARANORMAL BELIEFS Yüklə 199,07 Kb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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