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Industry: Email Alert RSS FeedVariation in the application of the "promiscuous female" stereotype and the nature of the application domain: influences on sexual harassment judgments after exposure to the Jerry Springer Show
Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, April, 2005 by Tara Ferguson, Jeff Berlin, Erica Noles, James Johnson, William Reed, C. Vincent Spicer
Attributions of Victim Responsibility
The second set of analyses examined whether the effect of exposure condition on attributions of victim responsibility was mediated by differences in promiscuity perceptions. As reflected in the results of the ANOVAs, exposure condition predicted the dependent measure (i.e., attributions of victim responsibility) in the first equation, [beta] = -.25, t = -3.12, p < .01, and the potential mediator (i.e., promiscuity perceptions) in the second equation, [beta] = -.69, t = -11.31, p < .001. In partial support of the predictions, perceptions of promiscuity did mediate the effect of exposure condition on attributions of victim responsibility. In the third equation, perceptions of promiscuity did marginally predict attributions of victim responsibility, [beta] = .21, t = 1.73, p = .08, and the effect of the exposure condition was reduced to nonsignificance, [beta] = -.11, t = -1.03, p > .25.
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Perceptions of Academic Success
Given the research that has shown that the activation of the promiscuous female stereotype can generalize to perceptions of women in nonsexual domains (e.g., Zillman & Bryant, 1982), participants' responses to the passage regarding the probability of a young woman's success in college were analyzed. The results indicated that, when compared to those in the nonpromiscuous condition (M = 5.32), those in the promiscuous condition (M = 6.34) were less certain that the woman could succeed at a prestigious university, F(1, 137) = 6.89, p < .01.
The Impact of Previous Exposure to the Jerry Springer Show
According to cultivation theory, viewers come to "cultivate" television information by integrating it into their perceptions of real-world phenomena (Gerbner, Gross, Morgan, & Signorelli, 1994; Shrum, 1996; Shrum, Wyer, & Guinn, 1998). More important, the theory suggests that there is a positive relationship between the extent of television exposure and the degree of "television-based" reality distortions. The theory further implies that the magnitude of such distortions can have a direct influence on attitudes and behaviors. To assess how the extent of previous exposure to the Jerry Springer Show might affect subsequent attitudes and perceptions, a median split of the participants' reported frequency of Jerry Springer Show viewing was employed to divide participants in to high exposure (M = 4.01 shows per week) and low exposure (M = 0.5 shows per week) groups. The results indicated that previous exposure had no impact on perceptions of promiscuity, F(1, 137) = 0.33, p > .25, perceptions of trauma, F(1, 137) = 0.23, p >.25, or attributions of victim responsibility, F(1, 137) = 0.5, p > .25. Conversely, when compared to those in the high exposure condition (M = 5.58), those in the low exposure condition (M = 6.99) reported greater perceived probability that the Jerry Springer Show clips could affect attitudes and/or behavior, F(1, 137) = 8.58, p < .01. There was no significant difference between men (M = 2.23 shows per week) and women (M = 2.45 per week) on the extent to which they had viewed the show, F(1, 137) = 0.99, p > .25. Finally, those in the high exposure condition (M = 6.45) reported a greater liking of the Jerry Springer Show clips than did those in the low exposure condition (M = 1.56), F(1, 137) = 427.07, p < .001.
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