Gender portrayal in Hong Kong and Korean children's TV commercials: A cross‐cultural comparison

This study examined gender portrayal in a sample of 345 television commercials broadcast during children's programmes in Hong Kong and Korea using content analysis. Literature suggests that Hong Kong culture differs from Korean culture on the dimension of Masculinity/Femininity proposed by Hofstede. The differences between the two countries provide a valid test of theory, and suggest hypotheses about the gender portrayal in children's advertising. The results of the study showed, contrary to expectations from Hofstede's framework, that the gender portrayal of central characters and the level of gender stereotyping in Hong Kong commercials was similar to those of Korean commercials. Possible explanations include the emerging homogeneous youth market using a standardized advertising strategy, and the rising concern for women's rights in Korea.     

Gender Portrayals Across the Life Span: A Content Analytic Look at Broadcast Commercials

This study investigated the role that age plays in gender portrayals in contemporary television commercials. A content analysis of 2,315 characters appearing in commercials aired during a composite week of prime-time programming on 6 major broadcast networks was conducted. The study compared images of female participants from childhood through the senior years to identify the extent to which female members of different age groups replicate conclusions drawn about images of females-in-general in advertising. The study also contrasted images of female characters from different age groups with their same-age male counterparts to shed additional light on the complexity of gender portrayals in prime-time commercials. The findings indicate significant differences among same-age gender portrayals and same-gender age portrayals. Results are interpreted within a social cognitive theory framework and directions for future research are articulated.     

Teaching Castells [Review of the book Castells and the Media,by Philip N. Howard]

This study examines gender role and sexual content in television advertising messages, and the cognitive elaborations of adolescents processing these messages. Adolescents viewed and commented on television advertisements of beer and non-beer products in the contexts of sports and entertainment programming. Results found that a majority of the ads contained traditional gender role content. Fewer ads combined sexual with traditional gender role content. The adolescents' comments criticized female imagery, while their comments on male portrayals were relatively neutral. More than half the respondents challenged ad content, including product claims, realism, and production techniques, with females counterarguing more than males.     

Players and Whiners? Perceptions of Sex Stereotyping in Animé in Japan and the US

This study examined cognitive and affective responses of Japanese (N=199) and American participants (N=194) to the depiction of gender in a Japanese animé popular in both countries. As expected, Japanese respondents indicated more familiarity with the animation and also reported that they were fans to a greater extent than Americans. Japanese participants and males showed greater agreement with sex stereotyping in the depiction of characters. Males also showed greater liking for characters and expressed the belief that they were positive role models. American females disliked the characters, especially the female character, significantly more than all other participants. Finally, participants, regardless of country, who held conventional views of gender perceived fewer stereotypes in the depiction of the characters. Given the current interest in animé, implications of findings from viewing sex-stereotypical images and directions for future research are discussed.     

Credibility of Radio News

This study used a statewide sample of 400 Alabama residents to analyze the relative credibility of local radio news, as compared to local television and local radio. The results indicated that local radio news has a level of credibility that is lower than that of local television, but is comparable to that of local newspapers. This finding confirms previous studies that have noted that media consumers tend to have a higher regard for television than any other news medium, but this difference was not as dramatic as those reported by studies that have used forced-choice questions. Local television is indeed more credible than local radio news, but not dramatically so.     

Sex role stereotypes on children's TV in Asia a content analysis of gender role portrayals in children's cartoons in Hong Kong

This is a content analysis of 31 randomly‐selected children's television cartoons in Hong Kong, where all such programs are imported from foreign countries. No such programs are produced in Hong Kong. The study analyzes personality and appearance attributes of 277 cartoon characters. As expected, male characters outnumbered female characters by a ratio of 2:1; however, contrary to expectations, female characters enjoyed far greater representation in cartoons produced in Japan than they did in cartoons produced in the U.S. and Great Britain. On other measures, characters tended to conform to hypothesized gender‐related stereotypes, with males being more aggressive, rough, sloppy, and strong, and females being more beautiful and feminine.     

Gender and Emotion Stereotypes in Children’s Television

The purpose of the present study was to assess the prevalence of emotion stereotypes in children’s television programming, in both educational and non-educational programming. It was hypothesized that gender stereotypes of emotion would still be prevalent in both entertainment and educational programming, with females showing more fear and sadness and males showing more anger, and that all shows would have more male than female characters. A total of 8 children’s programs were included for analysis: 4 entertainment programs and 4 educational programs. Programs were coded for the total number of males and females and for the emotions displayed by each character: happiness, sadness, anger, and fear. Overall, the analyses revealed that the majority of shows still have more male than female characters. Males were found to portray more of all emotions than females. Educational programming did not differ much in the amount of stereotypical versus counter-stereotypical emotion portrayed. Entertainment programming showed a trend toward more counter-stereotyped emotions. Future research should explore the influence of viewing specific shows on young children’s current gender stereotypes to assess the immediate impact of such viewing.     

Content analysis of shyness portrayals in television advertising

This study tested the hypotheses that shyness is under‐represented in television advertising and that among shy characters, women and children are over‐represented. Network commercials were content‐analyzed for their characterizations of inhibited behaviors. Results indicated that shyness was rarely exhibited and, within the shy portrayals, men and children were more likely to be depicted as shy.     

The incidence of sex discrimination,sexual content,and hostility in television humor

Feminist groups have contended that women are portrayed more often as the butt of humor on prime‐time television than are men, citing this as an example of sex discrimination. The present study was conducted to investigate the accuracy of this charge. Other aims of the study were to assess the frequency of sexual and hostile humor on television and to determine whether the Family Viewing Hour contains less hostile and sexual humorous content than other times. To fulfill these goals coders recorded and classified humorous incidents sampled from the prime‐time (8–11 p.m.) viewing hours on the three major commercial networks in October, 1977. The results indicated that in absolute terms males were more often the object of humorous disparagement than were females. However, males appeared more frequently in principal roles on television and thus were more available as targets of disparagement. When the frequency with which males and females appear was taken into account, males disparaged females significantly more than females disparaged males. Thus, there is some support for the charge of sex discrimination. Other findings indicate that hostile humor is no more common than nonhostile humor; and nonsexual humor is more frequent than sexual humor. Finally, the survey indicated that sexual and hostile humor was as common during the Family Viewing Hour as during adult viewing hours.     

Trivializing the News? Affective Context Effects of Commercials on the Perception of Television News

This study examined whether affect induced by television commercials influences the perception of news programming. An experiment showed that viewers in positive moods generated by television commercials perceive news stories viewed both after and before watching the commercials as more entertaining, relaxing, realistic, and more credible than viewers exposed to neutral commercials do. Of interest, viewers in positive mood, as compared to neutral mood, perceived the topic presented in the news story as less important and serious.     

Portrayals of Women in Transnational Arab Television Drama Series

This content analysis of 15 Arabic and 3 Turkish drama serials on transnational Arab television examined the gender portrayals of characters. The analysis of 743 characters found that women were underrepresented, less likely to have recognizable jobs, and more likely than men to be portrayed in sex-typed occupations, activities, and settings. The analysis also revealed that programs with female writers were significantly less gender stereotypical. Moreover, differences were found among the producing Arab countries in terms of the portrayals of women; conservative countries had more sex-typed portrayals than the more liberal Arab countries, whereas Turkish programs had similar portrayals to Arabic programs produced in the liberal Arab states. The general findings are discussed in comparison to U.S. programming, and in relation to selective exposure, identification with characters, and potential effects on Arab viewers' gender role beliefs.     

Sexual References and Consequences for Heterosexual,Lesbian, Gay,and Bisexual Characters on Television: A Comparison Content Analysis

A content analysis was conducted to examine sexual references and consequences among lesbian, gay, bisexual (LGB), and heterosexual characters on television. The sample was composed of programs portraying an LGB lead or reoccurring character. Results showed that heterosexual and LGB characters engaged in sexual talk and behavior in similar contexts. When discussing LGB sexualities, however, heterosexual characters were disproportionately likely to make jokes; LGB characters were disproportionately likely to discuss coming out. LGB characters depicted in sexual references were more likely to be in dialogue with a heterosexual character than another LGB character. Sexual consequences were more common for heterosexual characters than LGB characters. No gender differences existed in frequency of sexual references or consequences among LGB characters, evidence that the sexual double standard found in previous research may not apply to LGB characters. Results are discussed in terms of potential effects of exposure.     

Public trust: a comprehensive investigation on perceived media credibility in China

The purpose of this study is to provide a comprehensive investigation on perceived media credibility in China. In order to assess people's attitudes toward six media formats (television [TV], newspapers, radio, magazines, websites, and mobile devices), a series of surveys were conducted with a random sample of 5807 residents in 10 cities in China. Findings indicated that Chinese respondents perceived TV to be the most credible among all media and that TV was rated as more credible than newspapers. In addition, two official mouthpieces, China Central Television and the People's Daily, were both perceived to be highly credible. But readership in general was a nonfactor in terms of credibility. These findings challenged conventional thinking on media credibility. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

Theory into practice: Connecting theory and practice: Women scientist role models in television programming

Bern's gender schema theory (Bern 1981, 1983, 1993) provides a useful framework for examining the influence of women scientist role models on girls’ perceptions of science and scientists. The purpose of this paper is (1) to describe how Bern's gender schema theory serves as a framework for guiding future research, (2) to examine the fundamental premises of Bern's gender schema theory as they relate to the processing of information about science and gender roles, and (3) to identify key conditions and criteria from gender schema theory to guide the design of television programs that use role models to reduce gender‐stereotyping of science.     

Little in Common: Racial and Gender Differences in Adolescents' Television Diets

The assumption that adolescents exist in a common youth culture that cuts across race and gender lines is examined. A sample of 2,942 middle schoolers completed questionnaires. Of the 7 40 television shows listed, only 4 were watched regularly by at least one-third of 4 audience segments (Black females, Black males, White females, White males). Few Whites watched any of the Black teens' top IO shows, and only 2 of the girls' top IO shows were on the boys' list. These data provide little support for the notion of a common youth culture, at least as reflected in current television programming.     

Enhancing responses to television advertisements via the transfer of residual arousal from prior programming

Viewers rated television commercials seen two and one‐half to four minutes after highly arousing film segments as significantly more effective and enjoyable than the same commercials seen after less arousing programming.     

Representations of Race in Television Commercials: A Content Analysis of Prime-Time Advertising

Given the paucity of contemporary examinations of racial/ethnic minority portrayals in television advertisements, this study analyzed the frequency, context, and quality of 2,3 15 speaking characters in a one-week sample of prime-time television commercials. Results reveal different patterns of portrayals when African American, Asian American, Latino, Native American, and White characters are featured in television advertisements. The implications of these images are examined from the perspective of social cognitive theory to provide insights into their possible impact on audience members' self-perceptions.     

Changes in cultural representations on Indonesian children's television from the 1980s to the 2000s

This study describes the changes over time in the portrayal of socio-cultural characteristics; namely gender, age, ethnicity, religious outlook, family unit, violence experienced, living conditions, and cultural values in Indonesian children's television programs. Using systematic-quantitative content analysis of popular locally produced Indonesian children's television programs in the 1980s and the 2000s, this study found that all socio-cultural characteristics changed over time, except for gender representation with male actors consistently outnumbering female actors. There were some predominant socio-cultural characteristics in the 1980s, the era of authoritarian broadcasting system in Indonesia: most of the major characters were children and preteens, from Western Indonesia, not showing religious symbols or practices, having more than one sibling, and the majority of the adult characters were married. In the 2000s, the era of liberal broadcasting system, major characters were children and teens, showing certain religious symbols, having no or only one sibling, and the majority of the adult characters were single. Indonesian children's television brought certain cultural values to the fore for their young audiences to identify themselves with: self-direction and benevolence.     

Measuring Extremes: A Quantitative Content Analysis of Prime Time TV Depictions of Body Type

The current content analysis examined representations of body type on prime time television. A composite week of U.S. television was randomly sampled, yielding 1,254 characters in 89 programs. Character attributes also were evaluated. Results suggest that women have become increasingly thin on TV. Thinner characters were more attractive than overweight characters. The few obese and overweight characters presented were less articulate, less intelligent, and more likely to be ridiculed than thinner characters. Black characters on prime time were heavier than other racial/ethnic groups and these characters were seen as more likeable. Implications are discussed from social cognitive theory and cultivation theory perspectives.     

Gender Roles on Prime-Time Network Television: Demographics and Behaviors

This study provides an update of gender demographics and behaviors on network prime-time television. While some inequities were found to persist, continued progress seemed to be the norm. Males were found still more physically aggressive, but females more verbally aggressive, especially in comedies-a condition consistent with recent commentary. Also notable was the discrepancy behind the camera, where males predominate and which was found related to on-camera demographics.