Cultivation Theory and the Question of Media Violence

Cultivation theory established its core arguments through a series of ‘violence profiles’ published from the late 1960s through to the early 1980s. Violence remained a signature feature of TV entertainment throughout this period. Heavy TV viewers tended to be afraid, suspicious, cynical, isolated and pessimistic, and heavy diets of prime time seemingly exercised a homogenising effect on audiences. These arguments placed cultivation theory at the centre of debates on media influence, but success came at a price. The violence profiles were criticised methodologically and politically. Critics found cultivation theory to be culturally conservative. Additionally, the Clinton regime appropriated cultivation findings in industry-appeasing media policies that were anathema to Gerbner. Records show that Annenberg did chastise Gerbner for his relationships with critical scholars, and it was only in his post-Annenberg work that the latter was free to engage in a more polemic writing style. The sharpening of a critical edge in Gerbner’s later work indicates that for the violence profiles, sustained success demanded a degree of political caution.