What cable television programs a person watches will have a big effect on how they view and act in the real world. A person who watches a lot of television often will think the world as a more violent place than in reality. With the government fighting for a la carte prices how will this effect our views of the world? If you look at popular programming, shows like the Soprano’s show a lot more violence than other programs. If one chooses to just order channels with violence how will this effect our society?
According to the study “ Self-relevant scenarios as mediators of likelihood estimates and compliance: Does Imaging Make it so” people are more likely to believe an idea that has been put in their heads even if it is not based on fact but only fiction. The article says that these ideas could change our behavior. First the thought of increase violence may lead them to expect violence to occur in the real world. Second if the viewer feels they are more likely to perform the act they develop a more favorable attitude to the action. This means that a viewer of the Soprano’s might see Tony hit some one with a baseball bat, think its more common than it really is in real life, become accustomed to this behavior and one day might hit some one with a bat. The person according to this theory is just doing what the believe is more common in the real world and have become desensitized to the action.
People who believe this theory is true might not think that al a carte channel selection would be beneficial to societies’ actions. If one is not getting positive stimuli from less popular programming and less violent channels their actions will reflect what they watch. A la carte pricing means that people will probably no longer pay for PBS channels that show a more realistic view of the world. The channels would create a self-relevant scenario creating a more violent real world.
If a la carte pricing on cable television becomes a reality it will be interesting to see what channels people end up purchasing. The selections people choose will have an effect on how people react in the real world. This is true in many forms just not in violence. Style, violence, vocabulary all are effected by the media. I feel that the poor population will be effected the most by this influence of the selection of channels because they are more likely to only order the popular violent channels and not get a variety of ideas. Maybe without a la carte pricing people sometimes watch less popular channels without violence that helps to skew the viewer’s sense of the real world back to reality.
Gregory, W. L., Carpenter, K. M. & Cialdini, R. B. (1982). Self-relevant scenarios as Mediators of Likelihood Estimates and Compliance: Does Imaging Make It So? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , Volume 43, 89-99.
