Agreement with Opinionated TV Characters across Cultures

Abstract

Canadian adults see less humor and realism in Bunker show than does U.S. sample. Dogmatism is related to agreement with Archie.

Beyond the satire: Selective exposure and selective perception in “In Living Color”

“…Both studies found that, compared to U.S. viewers, individuals from other countries were less likely to watch the program. Both Tate and Surlin (1976) and Vidmar and Rokeach (1974) reported that foreign audiences found the show to be lacking in humor and realism.…”

“All in the Family”: Is Archie Funny?

“…A cross-cultural analysis by Tate and Surlin did reveal a greater appreciation of the humor in All in the Family by Americans than by Canadians (18). However, Vidmar and Rokeach did not find a significant difference between the American and Canadian subgroups concerning the perceived degree of humor in All in the Family (20).…”

“…Meyer found that the physical aspects of the characters, role stereotypes, and comedy behavior, a n d not the "views of life" espoused by the characters, are the aspects of the show which dominate the perceptions of six-to-ten year old children (10). A cross-cultural analysis by Tate and Surlin did reveal a greater appreciation of the humor in All in the Family by Americans than by Canadians (18). However, Vidmar and Rokeach did not find a significant difference between the American and Canadian subgroups concerning the perceived degree of humor in All in the Family (20).…”

“…most clear-cut finding to date is that the highly bigoted viewers are more apt to agree with the point of view expressed by Archie Bunker than are less bigoted viewers (1,2,15,18,20). This finding has been interpreted by researchers as the basis for reinforcing bigotry within bigoted individuals through the viewing of the program.…”

"Roots: The Next Generation"-Who Watched and With What Effect?

“…Such research has, however, shown that viewers frequently prefer media characters and programs which support their beliefs or behaviors (e.g., Vidmar and Rokeach, 1974;Tate and Surlin, 1976;Surlin and Tate, 1976;Brigham and Giesbrecht, 1976;Wilhoit and deBock, 1976;Atkin et al, 1979). Selective exposure is more readily 1 The present research emerges out of another study concerning a specially created TV program ("The Great American Values Test") that we designed to bring about increases in egalitarian and proenvironmental beliefs and behavior.…”