The images of life conveyed by television appear to have substantial impact on the expectations and standards that guide teenagers' choices and that shape their sense of satisfaction with their own life circumstances. This study compared the perceptions of 5th through 11th grade adolescents (N=133) of their own life experiences with those of their favorite television characters and the adolescent's closest friends. The congruence between the subjects' own personal experience of family restrictiveness, criticism, punitiveness, and sex roles and the experiences of both television characters and the adolescents' peers was assessed. The relationship between any incongruence and reported dissatisfaction was investigated in order to estimate the relative importance of television and peer role models. The influence of television and peers on body image and smoking was investigated. The relative importance of exposure to televised and real-life role models was assessed by considering the individual that the adolescent reported admiring most. Findings revealed that, although dissatisfaction was associated with wishing one's own life more closely resembled television, the overall television-self experience discrepancy scores were not related to family dissatisfaction. This suggests that adolescents may not use the specific family experiences they observe on television in establishing the standards against which they evaluate their own *.rcumstances. (Author/NB) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** PREDICTORS OF ADOLESCENT SELF APPRAISAL: PERCEPTIONS OF TELEVISION CHARACTERS VS. PEERS The images of life conveyed by television appear to have substantial impact on the expectations and standards that guide teenagers' choices and that shape their sense of satisfaction with CD their own life circumstances. This study compared 133 5th through 11th grade adolescents' perceptions of their own life experiences with those of their 00 favorite television characters and the adolescents closest friends. In The congruence between the subjects' own personal experience of family restrictiveness, criticism, punitiveness, and sex roles and VIZ the experiences of both T.V. cnaracters and their peers was g:1 assessed. The relationship between any incongruence and reported c..4 dissatisfaction was investigated in order to estimate the relative importance of television and peer role models. The influence of T.V. and peers on body image and smoking was investigated. The relative importance of exposure to televised and real-life role models was assessed by considering the individual that the adolescent reported they most admire. Michael R. Carbonneau Pamela Haring Bethanne Brown Al Ferguson Catherine Chambliss, Ph.D. "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY CGS r1 cklarnbl; TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)." Ursinus College 2 U.S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Oe or Educanona Rnsearch and Improvement ." 1TIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER IERICI This document has been reprOduced as received from the person or organization originating it Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy Introduction Numerous studies have investigated the impact of media on adolescents' attitudes and behavior (Gordon, 1985; Nendl & McDermott et al, 1989; Livingstone, 1990; Shoemaker & Reese, 1991; Stack 1990). In particular, the images of life conveyed by television appear to have a substantial impact on the expectations and standards that guide teenagers' behavioral choices and that shape their sense of satisfaction with their own life circumstances. The average adolescent is exposed to 26.7 hours of television per week (Selnow, 1986). This immersion comprises much of the adolescent's experience of the outside culture, and might reasonably be expected to shape the adolescent's sense of normative behavior. The experiences of fictional characters on television may frequently provide a yardstick against which adolescents compare themselves and their families. If they evaluate their actual life situations by contrasting them with the images they've absorbed from television, then they may feel disappointed or deprived when real experience falls short of the expectations shaped by fictional families and heroes. On the other hand, it is possible that by adolescence, television viewers are sufficiently cognitively sophisticated to distinguish between the fantasies portrayed on television and the day-to-day realities they expect to encounter. They may perceive television characters and families as highly artificial renditions of social reality, and accord them with little weight in judging their own real experiences. It is possible that adolescent standards and expectations are far more shaped by their interactions with peers than by television. Information about social reality gleaned through peer relationships and observing the families of friends might be more influential because it is viewed as more relevant and realistic. Furthermore, direct, ective reallife encounters with peers may be more salient and memorable than passive exposure to the televised world. The present study will compare adolescent's perceptions of their own life experiences with those of their favorite television characters and their closest friends. The congruence between the subject's own personal experience of family restrictiveness, criticism, punitiveness, and sex roles and the experiences of both the T.V. characters and their peers will be assessed. The relationship between any incongruence and reported dissatisfaction will be investigated, in order to estimate the relative importance of television and peer role models. The influence of T.V. and peers on body image and smoking behavior will also be investigated. Lastly, the relative importance to exposure to televised reallife role models will also be assessed by considering the individual that the adolescent reports they most admire.

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Predictors of Adolescent Self Appraisal: Perceptions of Television Characters vs. Peers.

As children spend greater amounts of time watching television, there is the increasing likelihood that what they see and hear will factor prominently into their educational experiences. Indeed, in many countries, it has been demonstrated that children spend more time in front of the television than they do in a formal classroom. In terms of exposure time alone, there is a potential for television to serve as an informal educational tool. A variety of studies have demonstrated not only the potential for television to teach its young viewers, but the reality that children are learning a host of lessons through this constant exposure. While most previous studies have looked at the learning of content from television exposure, the present research considers the learning of structure, and specifically learning about the nature of problem resolutions. This paper reports evidence that among heavier viewers, there is the perception that problems in real life are resolved in a manner consistent with the w...

Gary W. Selnow

Papers

Television Viewing and the Learning of Expectations for Problem Resolutions