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CULTIVATION THEORY AND MARRIAGE Farmer 1

Amelia Farmer

Cultivation Theory and Marriage

December 12, 2011


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Cultivation Theory and Marriage

There is no question that television still dominates Americas media culture. There is

typically at least one in every household; many times one in each room of a household. Although

today there are multiple sources of media, television still dominates Americans attention when it

comes to information gathering and entertainment. That being said, it is likely that many of the

opinions and beliefs that Americans have are derived from what they have seen on television

throughout the course of their lifetime. This idea is part of cultivation theory. George Gerbner

claimed that because TV contains so much violence, people who spend much of their time

watching television are more likely to form an exaggerated belief that the world is a scary and

violent place (Griffin, 2011, p. 366).

Gerbners theory focuses mainly on violence in the media, specifically television. He

believed that constant exposure to violence would mainstream audiences to have a common

outlook of it, and constant exposure to the same images will cause a common outlook to develop

among viewers (Griffin, 2011, p. 371). Although Gerbners theory focuses primarily on media

violence, this theory could be applied to other ideas as well. This theory generally is concerned

with the effects of different media, or television programs, on the attitudes and behaviors of the

viewers on a certain issue, such as expectations for a family dynamic; specifically, marriages. It

is important to study the effects of media on our perceptions of marriage because it could affect

our expectations of what marriage is like, and these changing views on marriage could affect a

persons future and either satisfaction or disappointment.

Previous studies on this topic have shown that the idealized expectations for marriage

contribute to high divorce rates, and the medias portrayal of marital relationships are likely the

source of these unrealistic beliefs (Bradford, Rhodes, and Edison, 2005, p. 1). When imagining


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television shows from the past few decades until today such as The Brady Bunch, Family

Matters, Home Improvement, andModern Family, it is hard to argue with the fact that many of

these popular sitcoms portrayed a somewhat traditional family, where the parents are happily

married and the kids are close with them. There are also several shows such asBrothers and

Sisters, Cougar Town, and Gilmore Girls which show more non-traditional families or families

that have either experienced divorce, death, or single parenthood in their relationship.

The question that Bradford, Rhodes, and Edison (2005) sought to answer in their study

was whether or not there existed a correlation between viewing of romantic television programs

and relationship expectations. In the study, the participants were asked to fill out a questionnaire

that determined what their relationship expectations were as compared with the amount of media

they used. They were then asked to watch the final twenty minutes of the movie Sleepless in

Seattle, and then fill out the same questionnaire. The study found that there was in fact a

correlation between reported habitual viewing of romantic television programs and relationship

expectations, as well as that those who reported using more relationship-themed media had more

idealistic views on marriage (Bradford, Rhodes, and Edison, 2005, p. 3). This study determined

that there not only is an effect on habitual television viewing and perceptions of marriage, but

also short term effects (20 minute Sleepless in Seattle clip). Overall, this study supports previous

studies and the cultivation theory in that over time, constant exposure to something on television

will result in the changing of that behavior to a certain homogenized ideal (Griffin, 2011).

Many studies have been conducted on how media viewing changes our views on

relationships and marriage expectations, but what about the flip side of that? Divorce is also

portrayed in television movies and shows quite frequently, and viewers are likely getting a

skewed view of the incidences of divorce in the world. According to a study by Paterno (1998),


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television programming over-estimates the rate of divorce in America (p. 6). This same study

also found that television portrays high rates of divorced non-remarried families, as well as

widowed parenthood. In addition, the number of never-married families is vastly underestimated.

This study supports the idea that distortions of reality when it comes to divorce and marriage do

exist. The question is, which one is more predominant?

When looking at romantic movies and television shows, there seems to be a great amount

of traditional portrayals of the American family as well as non-traditional, divorced or widowed

families, with some television shows showing all types of family dynamics. It is hard to

determine which is more predominantly put out there for viewers. In a study by Johnson &

Holmes (2009), it was found that in many romantic films, contradictory information was shown;

for example, many films or shows portrayed couples as having characteristics of a new, exciting

relationship as well as the serious intimacy of a more long-term relationship (p. 358). This could

likely confuse adolescents who are looking to media to help explain romantic relationships. In

this study, the researchers coded romantic gestures and incidences in forty different romantic

films, including Runaway Bride, Sweet Home Alabama, and Serendipity. From the results,

Johnson and Holmes determined that adolescents are likely going to be left disappointed in their

real lives; these films show relationships developing quickly in the emotional sense without

really explaining why they develop so quickly (2009, p. 368). There were also many movies

which ended in a happy, romantic relationship, even though there may have been instances of

cheating or heartbreak prior to this; this is confusing to adolescents as well.

Scripted television shows and movies, however, are not the only way in which television

can portray marriage. Reality shows such as Say Yes to the Dress and big, televised celebrity

weddings such as the Kardashians hype up the wedding aspect of marriage, making it something


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that female viewers dream of and put great expectations into because of these fabulous fairy

tale weddings they are seeing on television. This in fact, however, is not reality; these television

shows that focus on weddings bias our perception because they do not show the aftermath of the

wedding and what occurs in the first few years of a marriage. Another issue that can affect

viewers perception of marriage is the fact that it seems as if celebrity divorces and troubles in

their marriages are focused on much more in television entertainment news than the good things

about their marriage. This could be a form of bias that is portrayed to impressionable viewers.

In conclusion, television viewers perceptions of marriage are going to depend on which

shows they are being exposed to. Although studies point to the fact that divorce is over-

represented, there are still many shows out there which portray the traditional family or that at

least end with a happy romantic ending. When looking at how media affects our perceptions of

marriage from the view of the cultivation theory, it is likely that viewers are going to get a very

mixed and sometimes biased representation of marriages through television viewing. The

important thing to remember, however, is that whatever view of marriage is being portrayed,

viewers are likely going to follow that view and turn it into their own attitudes and beliefs about

marriage. Either way, research suggests that viewers are going to be set up for disappointment in

our lives if we follow the view that television gives us.


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References

Bradford, M., Rhodes, N., & Edison, A. (2005). Cultivation of Relationship Expectations

through Accessibility. Conference Papers -- International Communication Association, 1-

5.

Griffin, E. (2011). A first look at communication theory. (8th ed.). McGraw-Hill

Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages.

Johnson, K. R., & Holmes, B. M. (2009). Contradictory Messages: A Content Analysis of

Hollywood-Produced Romantic Comedy Feature Films. Communication Quarterly,

57(3), 352-373. doi:10.1080/01463370903113632

Paterno, D. J. (1998). Making Sense of the American Family: Audience Constructions of Social

Realities through Television and Interpersonal Relationships.

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