The Cultivation of Idealistic Moral Expectations: The Role of Television Exposure and Narrative Engageability

Abstract

The aim of this study was to gain a better understanding of how fictional television shapes people’s expectations about the moral workings of the real world, relying on cultivation theory and models of narrative and moral effects as theoretical frameworks. Using a cross-sectional sample of the general German adult population, this study investigated the relationship between television viewing time (overall television and three genres—crime drama, medical drama, sitcoms) and narrative engageability with three idealistic moral expectations (just world beliefs, professional altruism of doctors, tolerance of otherness). Although genre viewing was not related to idealistic moral expectations, overall television viewing and narrative engageability proved to have consistent positive relationships. Results indicate that television viewing, the audience’s eagerness to engage with narratives (narrative engageability), and moral expectations about the real world are intertwined and mutually dependent.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by a grant of the German Research Foundation (DFG) to the first author (grant no. BI 838 8-2).

Notes on contributors

Helena Bilandzic

Helena Bilandzic (Ph.D., Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich, 2003) is a full professor at the Department of Media, Knowledge and Communication at the University of Augsburg, Germany. Her research interests include media effects related to social and moral issues, the environment and health, narrative experience and persuasion, and cultivation.

Cornelia Schnell

Cornelia Schnell (M.A., University of Augsburg, 2014) is a PhD student and lecturer at the University of Augsburg, Germany. Her research interests include narrative persuasion, media psychology, and identity work in the context of social media.

Freya Sukalla

Freya Sukalla (Ph.D., University of Augsburg, 2017) is a research associate at the Institute of Communication and Media Studies at Leipzig University, Germany. Her research interests include narrative persuasion, health communication, and media psychophysiology.