Tag Archives: Influence

Wicked Witch or Job Candidate?

19 Wednesday Sep 2018

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Wicked Witch or Job Candidate

I have observed an increasing number of articles coming across my news feeds and social media how inaccurate perceptions of aging women impacts them in the workplace. A recent WSJ article about women over 50 looking for work caught my attention as the trends in the workplace and media have some similarities.  The article cited a study conducted in 2015 at the University of California, Irvine where researchers submitted 40,000 fake job applications from both male and female “candidates” across three age ranges.  Unfortunately, significant evidence was found of age discrimination against older women. The author also noted that women often take jobs that are below their capacity, skill level and pay grade and are judged more harshly than their male counterparts for their appearance (Weber, 2017). Being someone who believes the “data doesn’t lie”, I looked at Census and labor statistics.

Women over 40 make up 48% of the U.S. population and men over 40 are roughly 44% (United States Census Bureau, 2017). However, when it comes to unemployment women tend to fare worse than men as they age. Unemployment in the 45-54 age range is higher for women (3.6% of women vs 3% of men), same for the 55-64 range (2.8% for both genders), and higher in the over 65 segment (4% of women vs 3.1% of men) (Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey, 2018).

In the age of awareness and press coverage around unconscious bias, you would think the problem of discrimination and false perceptions associated with age and gender would lead to a more enlightened public. So, the question is, why? Why are women in higher age groups subjected to tougher hurdles and unfair perceptions by other groups? One variable to look at is the media we have consumed. If you think logically about the media consumed by multiple generations, older women have not usually been portrayed in a positive light. For example, Snow White had an evil older step mother, The Little Mermaid had Ursula the old gray-haired villain and 101 Dalmatians’ villain was Cruella Deville. The list goes on and on. See a theme here? If you don’t think these portrayals haven’t impacted our perceptions, please read on…

Cultivation theory in psychology posits that media develops the public’s worldview, especially in children. Media created worldviews, especially those with high exposure, can influence schemas as to what is perceived as normal, particularly with individuals in groups that have little exposure to other groups other than through media (Signorielli, 2004). Portrayals of age groups in television and film can influence our perceptions as to the size of a demographic group, as well as their competencies. Negative portrayals of older age groups can and will create perceptions, particularly with younger demographics, because they are not as likely to critically examine media portrayals. However, perception formation does not only impact younger generations, those in the aging group tend to hold negative stereotypes and perceptions about their own group as well (Lauzen & Dozier, 2005b).

A double standard associated with aging men and women exists in television, film and advertising messages about older women. In many films, women are often portrayed as younger in age compared to male characters and female characters are described as elderly at an earlier age than males. Women are often considered older in the film and television industry by age 35, where this age is higher for men (Bazzini, McIntosh, Smith, Cook, & Harris, 1997). Women’s value in film emphasizes looks and youth whereas men have additional attributes that define their worth. In an analysis of the top 100 grossing films in 2002, Lauzen and Dozier (2005a) found that male characters over the age of 50 were depicted as active in all aspects of life, whereas females were not. Men are portrayed as if they still have things to accomplish as they age, while women are portrayed with less purposeful lives, such as career aspirations (Lauzen & Dozier, 2005a).

Television isn’t any better than film and over time has portrayed aging women as becoming old earlier in life and are less visible than males. Furthermore, aging female characters are portrayed as less useful and with diminished capacity particularly around prestige and elements that would represent importance and vitality compared to men of the same age (Bazzini et. al., 1997: Signorielli, 2004). A study conducted in 2005 on primetime television characters found that representation, recognition and respect are not the same for men and women as they age. Specifically:

  • Aging female characters had less representation than their male counterparts starting in their 40s.
  • Portrayals of leadership increased with age, however when analyzed, men were much more likely to play leadership roles in their 40s and 50s compared to women.
  • Occupational power portrayals had a positive linear relationship to age for both genders however men in their 50s were more likely to have occupational power compared to females of the same age.
  • Male characters of all ages were likely to have goals whereas women in their 40s were most likely to have goals.

Lauzen & Dozier’s research concluded that there is double standard of respect afforded to aging characters based on gender. Male characters were more likely to have leadership roles, occupational power and goals compared to women, which could have potential effects on older women such as reinforcing a stereotype bias against them in the workplace (Lauzen & Dozier, 2005b).

Some of you reading this article may look at the age of the research I am referencing and say, “This research is between 10 – 20 years old and so much has changed”. With women’s issues receiving more attention in the media, it wouldn’t be farfetched to provide proof points of the changing times by referencing actors such as Lilly Tomlin and Jane Fonda in Grace and Frankie or Judy Dench or Helen Mirrin in powerful roles in recent years. However, this is a false assumption because cultivation theory posits that what we see in the media creates our world views regardless of the veracity. A study conducted in 2016 analyzed over 2000 movie screenplays and the gender associated with dialogue. As women aged, their percentage of dialogue quickly diminished while men’s dialogue increased in age. For example, women between 22-31 received 38% of screenplay words (men were 20%) and between ages 42-65 women received 20% while men received 39%. The numbers for over 65 were abysmal for both genders, however women fared worse with 3% compared to males at 5% (Anderson & Daniels, 2016).

The Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film’s 2017 analysis of the top 100 grossing films of 2017 did not provide an encouraging picture. Women’s total speaking roles were 34% of all characters which is sad considering they represent half the population. However, when their unfair portion of speaking roles were broken down by age, the story continues to favor the younger woman as men over 40 accounted for 46% of all male characters whereas women over 40 were only 29%  (Lauzen M. M., 2018). While it is wonderful to see some older women taking on powerful lead roles, the attention it receives is certainly not the norm.

There you have it, as women age in media and entertainment, if they appear at all, they are often portrayed as old, ugly, evil, less competent, less powerful, have little to accomplish and receive less respect than their male counterparts. American culture associates beauty with goodness and therefore a woman’s value tends to be associated with her looks favoring the young (Bazzini, McIntosh, Smith, Cook, & Harris, 1997). The time has come for all supervisors, recruiters and human resource departments to rethink assumptions and check unconscious bias on aging women as well. Women over 40 are a sizeable portion of the population, we are not invisible and dammit we are just as smart, capable and appealing as our male counterparts. America’s unemployment is low, skilled talent is a growing issue and women over 40 represent an opportunity to fill the gap. Is your perception of that woman’s qualifications based on data or is Cinderella’s evil stepmother influencing your opinion?

References

Anderson, H., & Daniels, M. (2016, April). Film dialogue from 2000 screenplays, broken down by gender and age. Retrieved from The Pudding: https://pudding.cool/2017/03/film-dialogue/index.html

Bazzini, D. G., McIntosh, W. D., Smith, S. M., Cook, M., & Harris, C. (1997). The aging woman in popular film: Underrepresented, unattractive, unfriendly, and unintelligent. Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, 36(7-8), 531-543. doi:10.1007/BF0276689

Labor force statistics from the current population survey. (2018, July 6). Retrieved from Bureau of Labor Statistics: https://www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cpsee_e16.htm

Lauzen, M. M. (2018). It’s a man’s (celluloid) world 2017. Retrieved September 1, 2018, from Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film: https://womenintvfilm.sdsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/2017_Its_a_Mans_Celluloid_World_Report_3.pdf

Lauzen, M., & Dozier, D. (2005a). Maintaining the double standard: Portrayals of age and gender in popular flms. Sex Roles, 52(7/8), 437-446. doi:10.1007/s11199-00593710-1

Lauzen, M., & Dozier, D. (2005b). Recognition and respect revisited: Portrayals of age and gender in prime-time television. Mass Communication, 8(3), 241-256.

Signorielli, N. (2004). Aging on television: Messages relating to gender, race and occupation in prime time. Journal Of Broadcasting & Electric Media, 48(2), 279-301.

United States Census Bureau. (2017, June). Annual estimates of the resident population by sex, age, race, and hispanic origin for the United States and states: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2016 more information. Retrieved from American Fact Finder: https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=bkmk

Weber, L. (2017, October 10). After 50, women struggle to find a foothold at work. Retrieved from Wall Street Journal: https://www.wsj.com/articles/after-50-women-struggle-to-find-a-foothold-at-work-1507608181?ns=prod/accounts-wsj

 

 

 

What Is a Constant Cycle of Violent News Doing to Us?

06 Saturday Aug 2016

Posted by in Media Effects, Media Literacy, Media Psychology, Psychology

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Nothing good. Experts suggested limiting your exposure to violent imagery and social media.

Source: What Is a Constant Cycle of Violent News Doing to Us?

By KATIE ROGERS        JULY 15, 2016

It has been a rough year.

By now, our violence is down to a pattern, and there is a choreography to our reactions.

A killer seeks out a nightclub, a church, an airport, a courthouse, a protest. Someone is shot on video, sometimes by the police, and marchers fill the streets. An attack is carried out in France, America, Turkey, Bangladesh, Lebanon, Tunisia, Nigeria, and then claimed and celebrated by a radical terror group.

Our phones vibrate with news alerts. The talking heads fill air over cable news captions that shout “breaking news” in red. Rumors and misinformation abound. The comments erupt on Twitter, Facebook and news sites.

Journalists create multimedia stories that focus on videos, photos and graphic accounts from victims and witnesses. The experts give interviews, and the latest tools of immediacy are put to use. After the deadly terror attack in Nice, France, The Times invited grief counselors to be interviewed on Facebook Live. Within days, attention had turned to a shooting in Baton Rouge that left three law enforcement officers dead.

So, what is this doing to us?

It depends on the individual, but living in a digitally linked world where broadcasts of violence are instantaneous and almost commonplace means that many of us are becoming desensitized, Anita Gadhia­ Smith, a psychologist in Washington, said Friday.

“With the frequency of shootings and terror attacks there is a sense of anxiety that’s building in people,” she said, “a sense of vulnerability and powerlessness.”

Dr. Smith added: “There is a heightened alarm, but there can also be some desensitization that’s happening.”

The constant stream of news on social media can also be traumatic. A team of researchers at the University of Bradford in England told a British psychology conference last year that exposure to violent imagery on social media can cause symptoms that are similar to post-­traumatic stress disorder, defined as a persistent emotional reaction to a traumatic event that severely impairs one’s life.

In an analysis conducted by the Bradford researchers, 189 participants were shown images and provided with stories of violent events, including the Sept. 11 attacks, school shootings and suicide bombings.

The researchers’ analysis showed that 22 percent of those who participated were significantly affected by what they saw.

The study also found that people who view violent events more often were more affected than people who saw them less frequently, and that people who described themselves as extroverts with outgoing personalities were at a higher risk to be disturbed by the images.

What can we do about it?

The self­-care advice hasn’t changed. It is natural to want to follow along with incremental updates on social media and in the news. But it’s important to know that this can heighten your anxiety.

Anne Marie Albano, a clinical psychologist and the director of the Columbia University Clinic for Anxiety and Related Disorders, said in an interview after the 2015 Paris attacks that it might be a good idea to limit your exposure to social media.

Designating times to plug into the news — checking Twitter in the morning over coffee, but not listening to the radio while driving your kids to school, for instance — can help you manage anxiety if you are feeling stressed.

“This will help you balance a realistic and credible threat with information that is sensationalized,” Dr. Albano said, “or a rush to report something or talk about something that doesn’t have the impact that you would think it has.”

If you’re feeling anxiety about a possible attack, compare your fear with the facts.

When you fear the worst, it’s hard to remember that, say, a flight or a train ride has extraordinarily high odds of being safe. But you have to try.

Humans are bad at assessing risk, Martin Seif, a psychologist who specializes in treating anxiety disorders and the fear of flying, said in an interview late last year.

“Every single anxiety­ management technique is based on the premise that your reaction is out of proportion” to the likelihood of danger, Dr. Seif said.

Also, remember to take a breath.

A guide to dealing with terrorism released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation encourages closing your eyes and taking deep breaths to feel calmer.

Taking a walk or talking to a close friend can also help.

The guide also recommends avoiding alcohol and drugs, exercising regularly and eating healthy foods — basic self-­care guidelines that help reduce stress.

Make sure you have a plan to contact your family if something happens, especially if cellular networks are overloaded or transportation is disrupted, but remember that you most likely will not need it, experts say.

If you have children, the American Psychological Association recommends asking them how they are feeling about the news. Keep in mind that it is possible for children to be influenced by news reports and the adult conversations around them.

Lastly, keep your daily routine.

Dr. Albano said that a primary worry in the field of psychology is people “going out of their way to be so safe that it shrinks their world.”

“Terrorists thrive on this kind of thing,” she added. “They want to see the population change their practices.”

Going out of your way to avoid interacting with strangers — by refusing to take mass transit, for example — can stoke fear and anxiety in children, she said.

The best way to help children cope with acts of violence is to start by listening to them, Sean Rogers, a psychotherapist who works with children and teenagers, told The Times on his Facebook Live appearance.

”Listening is curative,” he said. “It is the basis of all therapies.”

Madison Mills contributed reporting.

© 2016 The New York Times Company

Additional Reading “It’s a Mean World, Or Is it?“

Looking Into the Black Box

22 Tuesday Mar 2016

Posted by in Advertising, Psychology

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Looking Into the Black Box

by Donna L. Roberts. Ph. D.

Researchers studying the psychology of consumer behavior have long struggled to identify the variables that comprise the proverbial black box of consumer decision making and advertising influence (Advertising Research Foundation, 1964; Baumgartner, 2002; Bearden, Netemeyer & Teel, 1989).  Furthermore, personality researchers too, have endeavored to determine the many specific aspects of behavior that are influenced by the differing personality variables (Bosnjak, et al., 2007).

Practically speaking, the fundamental purpose of advertising is to unequivocally generate a response that advances sales and thus ultimately improves profits.  Clearly businesses would not spend billions of limited corporate resources on an endeavor that would not at least attempt to significantly contribute to profitability.

Advertising is everywhere in the modern environment – on radio, television and computers, in magazines and newspapers, on billboards, on buildings, on public transportation, on the clothing, shoes and accessories of sports and entertainment figures and strategically placed in films, television shows and websites.  Far from being a passive mirror of society and reflection of already established consumer needs, advertising exerts influence that is cumulative, often subtle and at least partially unconscious.  If the average American is inundated with over 3000 ads per day (Du Plessis, 2008; Kilbourne, 1999; Vollmer & Precourt, 2008), which are theorized to influence and manipulate his/her behavior, then a thorough understanding of this powerful persuader is undoubtedly in the best interest of behavioral researchers, clinical practitioners and certainly the individuals themselves.

Understanding individual differences in response to external stimuli would contribute to a better understanding of both these differences and how the process of influence and persuasion work in our daily lives.  More fully understanding how particular types of messages carry more or less influence with differing personalities could be useful in shaping more effective assessment measures and subsequent approaches to therapy and counseling that take personality into consideration, similar to the way in which one adjusts teaching styles and modes with regard to individual learning styles.

 

References

Advertising Research Foundation. (1964). Are there consumer types? New York, NY:

ARF.Baumgartner, H. (2002).  Toward a personology of the consumer. Journal of Consumer Research, 29(2), 286-293. doi:10.1086/341578

Bearden, W. O., Netemeyer, R. G., & Teel, J. E. (1989). Measurement of consumer susceptibility to interpersonal influence. Journal of Consumer Research, 15(4), 473-481. doi:10.1086/209186

Bosnjak, M., Bratko, D., Galesic, M., & Tuten, T. (2007). Consumer personality and individual differences: Revitalizing a temporarily abandoned field. Journal of Business Research, 60(6), 587-589. doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2006.12.002

Du Plessis, E. (2008). The advertised mind: Ground-breaking insights into how our brains respond to advertising. Sterling, VA: Millward Brown.

Kilbourne, J. (1999). Deadly persuasion: Why women and girls must fight the addictive power of advertising. Boston, MA: Free Press.

Customer Engagement: Older Methods Make a Fresh Approach

23 Friday Jan 2015

Posted by in Advertising, Media Psychology, Psychology, Public Relations

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By Liza Persson

The American department store chain J.C. Penney is bringing back its’ mail order catalogue to increase its customer engagement (Reuters, 2014). My first thought was that mail order catalogues seem so quaint these days.

My second one was: it’s smart to bring it back. Without it, a swipe of customers would be lost, because for them the purchase is just one step in a much longer process preceding and following that transaction for which having an actual, physical, mail order book is indispensable, a process far more important than the product one ends up buying.

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McLuhan and the Global Membrane of Communication

16 Wednesday Jul 2014

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“We remake the world through our technologies, and these in turn remake and extend us, in ever spiraling lattices of complexity. McLuhan uncannily foresaw the future, where electronic technology would shape and expand cultures and societies into a global membrane of communications.” – B.W. Powe, York University

 

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09 Sunday Feb 2014

Posted by in Media Psychology, Psychology, Social Psychology

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Recapping the previous four posts on this topic, Mark Zuckerberg’s new non-profit consortium of information and communication technology (ICT) corporations would like to connect the remaining 5 billion inhabitants of the planet to the Internet who are not now connected (Internet.org, 2013). This post examines the implications of what the  studies conducted on a reduced scale involving the distribution of laptops in Ethiopia found.

What has been established is that when Western ICT is available on a daily, long term basis to an individual who lives in a third-world, collectivistic environment, the ICT does cause change in individual self-construal, fosters the growth of individualistic, modern and agentic values, and increases levels of abstract reasoning among children. Although, these changes are individually significant, it does not immediately alter the individual’s culture and they are, from what appears to date, subsumed into the culture’s uniqueness (Hansen & Postmes, 2013; Hansen & Postmes, 2013; Hansen, Postmes, van der Vinne, & van Thiel, 2012; Kocsev, Hansen, Hollow, & Pischetola, 2009).
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Zuckerberg’s Dream of Connecting the World: What Can We Expect? (Part 4 – The Findings)

20 Monday Jan 2014

Posted by in Media Effects, Media Psychology, Psychology

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Recapping the previous posts on this topic, Mark Zuckerberg’s new non-profit consortium of information and communication technology (ICT) corporations would like to connect the remaining 5 billion inhabitants of the planet to the Internet who are not now connected (Internet.org, 2013). Many of the five billion people in question will most likely come from collectivistic non-western cultures. This post examines the results of studies conducted on a reduced scale involving the distribution of laptops in Ethiopia during which the researchers claim to have found the “first systematic evidence that usage of Western ICT can instigate cultural change in a traditional developing country” (Hansen N. , Postmes, van der Vinne, & van Thiel, 2012, p. 230).
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Zuckerberg’s Dream of Connecting the World: What Can We Expect? (Part 3)

30 Monday Dec 2013

Posted by in Media Effects, Psychology

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Recapping the earlier posts on this topic, Mark Zuckerberg’s new non-profit consortium of information and communication technology (ICT) corporations would like to connect the remaining 5 billion inhabitants of the planet to the Internet who are not now connected (Internet.org, 2013). Many of the five billion people in question will most likely come from collectivistic non-western cultures. What effects can we expect?

As connecting the world’s populations has never been attempted before, literature focusing on the potential effects is non-existent. As a result, a reduced scale of the effort can be examined in regard to the insertion of Western ICT into countries that have not been previously exposed to it en masse or subject to its effects.

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Quote

Ian Bogost – The Georgia Institute of Technology

25 Wednesday Dec 2013

Posted by in Media Effects, Psychology

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“…the result of any media experience throughout history has been a change in the reader, viewer, or interactor’s ideas and actions in the world, even if in subtle ways” (Bogost, 2008, p. 16).

References

Bogost, I. (2008). Fine Processing. Persuasive Technology (pp. 13-22). Oulu: Springer.

Zuckerberg’s Dream of Connecting the World: What Can We Expect? (Part 2)

28 Thursday Nov 2013

Posted by in Media Literacy, Psychology, Social Psychology

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Recapping the previous post on this topic, Mark Zuckerberg’s new non-profit consortium of information and communication technology (ICT) corporations would like to connect the remaining 5 billion inhabitants of the planet to the Internet who are not now connected (Internet.org, 2013). Many of the five billion people in question will most likely come from collectivistic non-western cultures. From here we’ll look at the following questions:

  1. What types of individual psychological effects can be expected from the insertion of Western ICT in a collective environment devoid of such equipment?
  2. Will there be changes in culture, and if so how might they manifest themselves and how long might it take?
  3. What may religious beliefs have to do with the impact of ICT?

Continue reading →