Antisocial and
Prosocial Behavior on Prime-Time TV was a content analysis done by Stuart J. Kaplan and Leslie A. Baxter.
The units of analysis were 22 prime-time series programs. The samples were taken in February of 1980 during sweeps week. During this time there were the greatest numbers of people viewing these programs. One episode of each of the 17 programs produced 12 hours of programming for analysis. The coding instruments used were analyses of the portrayed causes for prosocial and
antisocial behavior on popular television programs. The data was systematically formulated and focused on specific coding schemes. The variables of the study focused on these behaviors and how they varied amongst gender. Another variable found in the study were the causes of the prosocial or antisocial act.
The study characterized each unit as either internally or externally
motivated. An internally motivated action occurs due to an inherent satisfaction of the activity. In other words the activity was caused by some type of internal motivation. An externally motivated act is done in response to a gender role demand or some type of external gratification. To understand these two motivational actions one can look at reasons a person commits a murder. An internally motivated murder is done with no specific reason or gratification. The murderer simply kills someone for the sole purpose to kill another human being. An externally motivated murder would be done in order for the murderer to gain property or some type of gratification from the victim. Internally motivated actions are conceived as harsher and a highly negative social act. An externally motivated action can be understood to a certain degree. The action my not be socially expectable, but it can be attributed to something therefore understood. When looking at the coding schemes the data seems exhaustive. On the other hand, there is evidence that the data is not mutually exclusive. In table one the locus of attribution act, contains several act types the same action can fall under. For example the unit of reward can contain compliment. A person can certainly consider a compliment as a type of social reward. Another non-mutually exclusive act type can be physical aggression and theft. It is possible for a character to commit a theft as well as a physically aggressive action all within the same act.
The results of the data are extremely informative. They appear to test the research question very well. The theory of cultivation provides a structure to how television affects its viewers. Gerbner argues television has the ability to subconsciously cultivate attitudes of society upon its viewers. Many content analyses have attempted to provide data supporting this idea. This study does not focus on the violent act by itself. It branches away from previous content analysis and provides information for expansion. By looking at types of behavior and portrayed causes, a prediction regarding the viewers’ implicit theories of social causality can be made. The study focuses on portrayed motivations for prosocial and antisocial behavior in popular television programming. The content analysis found the majority of behaviors are due to internal motivation. There were exceptions found, such as the emergence of internally caused behavior when the type of act and actor’s sex were taken into account. This difference provides important factors of constructed social reality presented in popular television programming. Another exception showed 80% of physical actions attributed to external causes. Physical, antisocial behaviors pose the greatest threat to social order. For this reason a physically antisocial action, requires a justifiable reason. Justification for these types of actions includes social roles that are physical by nature. Law enforcement and contact sports are common examples of these legitimate social roles, which entice physical action. This shows how violence found in the media and society is more likely accepted, when there is an external motivation. Internally motivated violent acts are far more perplexing. When someone acts in a violent way for no reason it is conceived as extremely negative to others. The study found no portrayals of extreme internal attribution, thus producing a single category of internal locus. There were infrequent counts of extreme external motivated acts when the strong and moderate categories were combined. The analysis found females more likely to commit internally motivated actions. The content analysis also found a difference between antisocial and prosocial goals; antisocial acts were found more likely to be attributed than prosocial actions.
Much of this study can be useful when designing our own study. The internal design can be used to help us create an efficient content analysis. We can create a systematically efficient study by looking at where the designers of this content analysis succeeded and where they struggled. The weak points of the coding schemes can help us formulate stronger coding schemes. We can learn from the lack of mutually exclusive data. This will help us create coding schemes better suited for each specific unit of analysis. By looking at previous studies like this we are able to produce face validity of our content analysis. The content analysis contains some weak structural points; however its overall validity is competent. Its results strongly support the research question and provide a suitable guide for our own content analysis.