The role of media

• • Media provides role models of which children identify with and want to imitate.
• Rigid Stereotypes

  Media provides rigid stereotypes where men are seen as independent and women are dependant. A study found that TV adverts generally put men in more autonomous roles while women were in family roles.

  ->This suggests that the media has a role in reinforcing gender stereotypes.
• Self -efficacy


  Media also gives information to men and women about how to adopt certain behaviours. Seeing other people perform gender-appropriate behaviours increases a child's belief that they are capable of carrying out such behaviours.
• A03

  Limitation) Gender roles in media don't have a causal relationship.

  It was found that young children are not passive recipients of media messages. In fact, media representations that affirm existing gender norms in a child's head are more likely to be reinforced. But if the media representation is not aligned with the child's gender norms than its likely to be rejected.

  ->Suggests that media is a secondary influence compared to that of a child's upbringing.
• A03

  Strength) Evidence supporting the influence of media on gender comes from McGhee and Frueh.

  They tested the relationship between the amount of television children watched and their conformity to gender stereotypes. They discovered that children who watched more TV were more likely to hold rigid gender-stereotypical beliefs.
• A03

  Strength) Williams conducted a study on an isolated Canadian town just before they received a TV signal for the first time. And then again 2 years later. Williams found that before the TV signal, children had lower expectations of gender stereotypes compared to another town that already had a TV signal. Two years later, the children had stronger gender stereotypes.