Cultivation and social media: A meta-analysis

Abstract

This is a meta-analysis of 460 effect sizes, from 66 independent samples, comparing social media usage to a variety of attitudes and beliefs, from the perspective of cultivation theory. We found an overall effect size of .123 and identified several significant moderators. Our analyses revealed higher effects for studies looking at exposure to specific types of content (as compared with general social media use), for younger samples, and for Asian samples. Observed effects were lower when active use was measured. We discuss our results in regard to the applicability of cultivation theory to the study of the effects of social media.