Abstract
BackgroundTill et al. (2016) reported that in an Austrian sample approximately one in ten respondents incorrectly believed that Austria still practices, or recently practiced, the death penalty, and that there is a positive association between the amount of weekly television viewing and this gross misperception of the Austrian justice system.MethodsAn endorsed, prereviewed, preregistered close (N = 597) served to test the veracity of these reported effects. This was coupled with the conceptual extension part, which (a) investigated the potential influence of watching American crime series, (b) accounted for further possible confounds, and (c) tested the generalizability of the effect of television viewing to online streaming.ResultsOnline survey data (N = 597) replicated the one-in-ten prevalence of incorrect answers with the 5-item death penalty questionnaire used in the original study, but not, when asking directly about Austria’s death penalty practices (prevalence: 0.3%). Younger age, but not the amount of television viewing or online streaming, suggestibility, or preferred TV genre consistently predicted incorrect answers in the death penalty questionnaire. Incorrect answers were Mokken-scalable (i.e., formed a common scale, complying with a non-parametric item response model) and were highly consistent. In contrast to the replication study results, a small meta-analysis of all available evidence (three studies, including the present replication) suggested that the aggregate effect of television viewing nominally was significant, albeit small.ConclusionThe replication study yielded mixed results, which indicate the perception of a high prevalence of beliefs that there is capital punishment in a country without death penalty probably is due to a faultily designed questionnaire and thus a research artifact. Also, positive associations of television viewing with such beliefs likely are only small at best.
Highlights
Can television (TV) influence the perception of the real world? According to cultivation theory, the answer is yes (Gerbner et al, 1980, 1986)
Individuals watching a lot of TV might believe that, for example, assumptions or stereotypes seen on TV apply to the real world and, in turn, might utilize such erroneous information to form biased judgments
Based on the findings reported in the original study, the aggregate of the 5-item questionnaire appears to be highly internally consistent (Cronbach α = 0.89; calculated by us on the basis of data reported in Till et al, 2016); examining individual items separately appeared to be less informative
Summary
The answer is yes (Gerbner et al, 1980, 1986) In this framework, television is described as a socializer, noticeably influencing individuals’ conceptions of reality. In line with cultivation theory, Till et al (2016) summarized previous studies in the field of media psychology, citing evidence for biased judgments about real-world events as a result of TV consumption. They noted that research so far has only focused on biased judgments and expectations about the real world (so-called first-order effects) and the resulting behavior (so-called second-order effects) of television exposure. Till et al (2016) reported that in an Austrian sample approximately one in ten respondents incorrectly believed that Austria still practices, or recently practiced, the death penalty, and that there is a positive association between the amount of weekly television viewing and this gross misperception of the Austrian justice system
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