what is cultivation analysis
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Cultivation theory suggests that exposure to media, over time, subtly "cultivates" viewers' perceptions of reality. Gerbner and Gross assert: "Television is a medium of the socialization of most people into standardized roles and behaviors. Its function is in a word, enculturation".[4] Within his analysis of cultivation, Gerbner draws attention to three entities—institutions, messages, and publics.[5]
Though most researchers tend to focus on television as it is the most common form of media consumption in the world, Cultivation Theory has been shown to encompass many different forms of media, such as newspapers, film, and even photographs. This can apply anytime social observation occurs in any form outside a natural environment.[6]
Initial research on the theory establishes that concern regarding the effects of television on audiences stem from the unprecedented centrality of television in American culture.[1] Gerbner posited that television as a mass medium of communication had formed into a common symbolic environment that bound diverse communities together, socializing people into standardized roles and behaviors.[7] He thus compared the power of television to that of religion, stating television was to modern society what religion once was in earlier times. Thus, Gerbner's research focused on the larger meaning of heavy television consumption instead of the meaning behind specific messages.