soap opera viewing and anxiety levels of women

SOAP OPERA VIEWING AND ANXIETY LEVELS OF WOMEN

by

BILLY R. COOK, B.A.

A THESIS

IN

MASS COMMUNICATIONS

Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University in

Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for

the Degree of

MASTER OF ARTS

Approved

May, 1979

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my thanks to the members of my

committee. Dr. Dennis Harp and Dr. Billy Ross, and especially to my

chairman. Dr. Alexis Tan, whose constant encouragement has made this

endeavor a very rewarding experience.

I would, also, like to thank my wife, Michele, and my parents

for their continuous encouragement, patience and love which helped me

through the hard times and allowed me the incentive to complete this

work.

n

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS n*

LIST OF TABLES v

Chapter

I. INTRODUCTION 1

Need for the Study 1

The Problem and Its Development 3

Research Hypotheses 4

Scope of the Study 5

Limitations of the Study 6

II. REVIEW OF PREVIOUS RESEARCH 9

Television Programs as Reflections of Our Society. ... 9

Television Programs and Aggressive Behavior 12

Television Programs as Entertainment . . 13

Television Programs as an Escape 14'

Television's Passive Effect 15

Television as a Socializing Medium 17-

Television as a Form of Dream 22

Television Viewing as a Means of Reducing Anxiety. ... 23

Soap Opera Programs and Theories on Television's Function 26

m

III. METHODS AND PROCEDURES 30

Respondents 30

Procedure 30

The Questionnaire 33

Statistical Treatments Used 47

IV. RESULTS AND ANALYSES 48

Description of Sample 48

Descriptive Analyses 49

Correlational Analyses 53

V. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 73

Summary 73

Recommendations 76

Practical Applications 77

LIST OF REFERENCES 79

APPENDIX 84

TV

LIST OF TABLES

TABLE ' PAGE

1. Average Number of Hours Spent with Media 50

2. Number of Hours Per Week Spent Viewing TV Programs . . . . 51

3. Anxiety Levels 52

4. Comparison of Anxiety Levels 52

5. Partial Correlation: TV Programs with Anxiety Levels. . . 54

6. Partial Correlation: Anxiety Levels with Age, Income and Education Levels 56

7. Partial Correlation: Soap Opera Viewing with Anxiety Levels 58

8. Partial Correlation: Anxiety Levels with the Extent of Reading Newspapers 61

9. Partial Correlation: Anxiety Levels with the Extent of Reading Magazines 62

10. Partial Correlation: Anxiety Levels with the Extent of Listening to the Radio 63

11. Partial Correlation: Anxiety Levels with the

Use of the Media 64

12. Partial Correlation: Anxiety Levels with Subjects' Age. . 66

13. Partial Correlation: Anxiety Levels with the Subjects' Income Level 67

14. Partial Correlation: Anxiety Levels with the Subjects' Education Level 71

15. Partial Correlation: Subjects' Age, Income and Education Level with Media Use 72

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Need for the Study

Television since its beginning has been of great interest to

researchers. This concern, in fact, is a carry-over from radio and the

interest in the effect of that medium upon its listeners. The majority

of research, however, has dealt with television as a whole and in generc

terms. Katz, Gurevitch and Haas (1973) studied how television affected

the needs and gratifications of its viewers, finding that the less

educated used television to satisfy their self-oriented needs more than

did the higher educated viewet^ Social and personal stress, as well as

anxiety, has been seen to affect viewing habits of the television

audience, too. ^Jh® ^^^^ stress reported by the viewer the more the

viewer depended upon television to relieve his tension (Pearlin, 1959).

This "safety valve" concept, however, like other research on

television and viewing habits of its audience, has been rather general

in scopein reference to the media and the audience as well. As noted

by Anderson and Meyer (1975), there is a need for research to limit

itself to certain types of programs of one medium and their relation

ship to one segment of the population. From this limiting it is

expected that more accurate and enlightening results can be found that

will allow us to further our understanding of the exact power and

influence of television.

Simply limiting the medium we are researching, however, is not

enough. We must, also, concentrate on attitudes, needs and emotive

states of audiences (Anderson and Meyer, 1975). By doing this we will

be able to narrow the possibilities as to the relationships shared by

a particular program and the various traits of the viewer. This in

turn will shed more light on what programs affect what type of viewer,

as well as, how those programs are reflected in the viewer's lifestyle

and our society.

The variety of programs offered by television and the variety

of viewers available for these programs demand that we search for not

just a relationship between television and its viewers, but what kind

of relationships exist between certain types of programs and certain

types of viewers.

Though women outnumber men in the United States by more than

five million (1977 Census), there seems to be a limited amount of

research that has been carried out that offers any insight as to how

this majority of the population is affected by television. This

deficiency of research is reflected well in the area of soap opera

programs, where most studies are content analyses, describing the

effects of these programs on audiences should be researched, even if

for no other reason than the number of viewers they attract. It has

been estimated that as many as /55% of American women follow at least

one soap opera program (Edmonson and Rounds, 1973).^ If this is correct

than soap operas have a combined audience of over 71,000,000 women.

The Problem and Its Development

One of the major problems of research concerning television is

that much of the research has dealt with the medium and its effect upon

children and adolescents in our society. The majority of the population

however, is not found in this age group. Over 36% of the United States

population is comprised of females over the age of 17 (1977 Census).

Though women over the age of 17 make up over one-third of the

population little research has been done to note how they use television

or how they are affected by television programs. It has been found that

women watch television more than men by as much as 8% (LoScuito, 1972).

It is likely then, that if television does have an effect upon its

viewers women viewers will reflect television's influence best.

These statistics raise the question as to how this majority of

the population is affected by television programs and what types of

programs affect them and in what ways?

Rosenblatt and Cunningham (1976) found a strong relationship

between the amount of television used and the use of television as a

means of avoiding interpersonal and interfamily conflicts. Pearlin's

(1959) study adds additional support to this idea indicating that

people with high levels of stress watch television more than people

with lower levels of stress. Pearlin's study, also, states that these

high stress people report a greater attraction to programs that help

them forget their problems.

^ ^ I f Edmonson and Rounds (1973) are correct in their estimate

that 65% of the females in the United States follow at least one soap

V opera program and if television does act as a "safety valve" or an

escape from the viewer's problems, then this sizable portion of the

population may be jiaving their lives affected in some way to some

extent. These viewers must, also, have higher anxiety levels in

comparison to the rest of the population if Pearlin's theory is correct,

The lack of research on this problem is one of the greatest

problems itself. The vast majority of research done on soap opera

programs only reflect the content of these programs and lend little if

any insight as to how these programs affect their viewers.

Lazarsfeld and Kendall (1948) found that women who listened to

a lot of soap opera programs did so in order to help them forget their

problems. This has been reinforced by other studies (Maccoby, 1954

and Pearl in, 1959), but only in a broad sense. No direct relationship,

in fact, has been discovered to connect soap opera viewing and anxiety

levels of the soap opera audience.

Further research dealing with television and its effect upon

its viewers, has offered a multitude of explanations. Television is

said to cause passivity (Glynn, 1956), to reinforce our social values

and mores (Tunstall, 1970), to misrepresent our social system (DeFleur,

1964) and to allow the viewer to escape as in dreams (Stephenson, 1967).

The lack of research on specific programs and populations, however,

makes it difficult to draw any conclusions regarding the effects of

soap opera viewing on women.

Research Hypotheses

Based on previous research indicating that viewers wvth^ high

anxiety levels tend to watch_jtelevision more^his study will test the

following hypotheses:

/ 1. The higher the anxiety level reported by an individual

the more television viewing the individual will engage in.

2. Based on the previous hypothesis, the higher a woman's

anxiety level the greater the number of hours she will

report spent watching soap opera programs.

3. Since soap opera programs deal mainly with self-esteem of

the characters and the interpersonal relationships of

characters, heavy viewers of soap opera programs will

report a higher level of anxiety in these two areas.

4. Due to television's lower demand on the viewer it will

show a higher degree of relationship to anxiety than the

use of other media.

Scope of the Study

This study was designed to investigate any possible relation

ship that might exist between certain types of television programs or

other media and the anxiety reported by women.

Investigation of this specific relationship, it is felt, will

lead to a greater understanding of the exact impact of one type of

program of one medium; in this case television. The narrowing of the

research arena will hopefully give a more precise view of the inter

relationship between a program viewer and the program.

The idea of anxiety and how television affects the viewer's

retention of it may have changed since the 1950s as our society has

changed. This study is directed toward establishing whether that

relationship remains the same or in what way it may still exist.

Anxiety affects our daily lives as it lends to our inter

acting with other people and ourselves. A new view at this problem

is certainly warranted to observe how the use of the media has changed

in relation to the anxiety that exists within the viewer.

With this in mind this study attempts to determine whether

women still use soap opera programs to escape from their problems and

anxieties.

Limitations of the Study

Several aspects of this study are limiting in the ways in

which the results may be related. One such point is the area of the

study. It is undertaken in a conservative community that is somewhat

isolated from other large cities. This may result in responses not

representative of the general population of the United States, but

rather only of other conservative communities and the women of those

communities.

A second limitation to consider is the segment of the popu

lation used in the study. By using only women the analysis of results

must render themselves only to women and more specifically to women of

conservative areas. This limitation, however, is self-imposed and is

expected to be beneficial to further understanding of exact relation

ships.

A third possible limitation is the time during which surveys

were distributed. The subjects were canvassed during the hours of

10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. during the week and on Saturday. This may

lead to an over-representation of non-working women, but it is hoped

the distributing of surveys after 5:00 p.m. during the week and all

day Saturdays will have helped relieve this problem to some extent.

The fourth limitation is the surveying of respondents in terms

of past viewing experiences. Questions were worded so as to request

the average number of hours spent viewing or using a particular medium

or type of program. Therefore, responses may tend to be related in

terms of post-viewing experiences. «

Fifthly, it must be noted that the surveys were left with the

respondents without any type of supervision and the ability to control

any outside interference was negated. Since the questionnaires were

left with the subjects and recovered at a later time the possibility

of other family members interfering with the responses to the questions

must be considered. Also, there was the chance for the respondent to

go back and change answers after a lengthy reevaluation of their

responses. This could result in lower deviations between the responses

by the subjects in the study.

A sixth limitation is the lack of information on the racial

composition of the respondents. No attempt was made to determine how

many of the subjects were Blacks, Chicanes or Anglo-Saxons. This type

of information, therefore, is not available to help determine the

differences that may exist in the viewing habits between the various

races. It needs to be noted that the interviewer encountered several

occasions when residents were not able to participate in the study

because they could not speak enough English to understand the inter

viewer much less the questions listed on the survey.

8

Finally, no attempt was made to ascertain the different type

of magazines, radio programs or newspaper articles the subject read

or listened to most. Thus, results dealing with magazines, newspaper

or radio involvement will lend themselves only to broad interpretations

CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF PREVIOUS RESEARCH

Television Programs as Reflections of Our Society

In 1970 each household in the United States watched an average

of six hours of television per day. Women viewed an average of thirty

hours of television per week while men watched an average of twenty-

four hours per week (Advertising Age, 1971). Comparing these figures

with research on content analysis of television programs presented

during prime time which show that 75% of the characters are males who

occupy the upper classes and who are mostly single, several questions

are raised (Gerbner and Gross, 1976). Is this type of program really

very accurate in portraying life in the United States? If television

is beneficial as a reinforcing agent of our social system how do such

programs affect the viewers' perception of our society?

Some writers claim that television does indeed present an

accurate view of the society in which the U.S. people live (Kaplan,

1975). Research on content analysis of programs, however, would seem

to point to a different summation. Piepe, Emerson and Lannon (1975)

note that the content of American serials overemphasizes higher

occupational status, as well as, the values of youth, achievement and

materialism through the characters in the programs. They, also.

10

indicate that there is an avoidance of topics such as natural death,

illness and unemployment.

This misrepresentation has been noted to be prevalent in soap

opera serials, too./ Downing (1974) noted that the image of women

projected by soap operas is one where over 90% of the women were middle-

class and white. Only 1% of the women were overweight or in ill health

and the average age of the characters was between 25 and 34 years of

a g e . ^ ^

It has been reported that over 18.6 million homes in the United

States watch daytime television which amounts to over 30% of all the

households in the U.S. (Edmonson and Rounds, 1973). And as many as 20 to

50 million people view soap operas each day (Mankiewicz and Swerdlow,

1978 and Katzman, 1972). With this large number of people watching _ "

these programs any relationship between watching the programs and their

effects on the life of their viewers certainly warrants additional _

research.

The occupations of characters of most television programs, also,

follow the pattern of misrepresentation that has been cited. In over

250 half-hour shows that were investigated by DeFleur (1964) there was

an underrepresentation of jobs of lesser prestige while there was an

excess of higher occupations such as doctors and lawyers. Part of the

misrepresentation extends to the roles available to the viewer. Tele

vision often stereotypes the behavior of the characters in the program

many times concentrating on the deviant or dramatic traits of the

characters (DeFleur, 1964). This centering on the deviant and dramatic

traits of the characters tends to reinforce stereotypes and

11

misconceptions that the viewing public has of society (Kinzer, 1973

and Goldsen, 1975).

Soap operas, also, exemplify this type of misconception, often

in an unrealistic manner. Pregnancy is seen as a goal or purpose of

female characters though the world of the dirty diapers and the crying

baby is seldom seen (Kilguss, 1974). It is, also, noted that there is

a large degree of incest, distrust, joylessness, fear and loneliness

and the projection of the woman's role as in the home (Kilguss, 1974).

This type of misrepresentation, however, is not the view

expressed by all researchers. Ramsdell (1973) says that many issues

that prime time television programs do not deal with are considered in

soap opera programs (Mankiewicz and Swerdlow, 1978), such as illegiti

macy, abortion, divorce, death, lovers, senior citizens, juvenile

delinquency, drinking and other social problems. Downing (1974) adds

that the view of women in soap operas is not necessarily a negative one

as women are shown as human beings who are respected and are responsible

members of a family. „J<inzer (1973) clarifies that these soap operas,

that are perhaps misrepresentative of the United States lifestyle, do

have their benefits in that they grind out the message to the viewers

that crimes will be punished and social values upheld. She does note,

however, that really strong subjects are often avoided such as homo

sexuality and lesbianism.

As there can be seen there are strong arguments on both sides

of the issue as to whether television does indeed present an accurate

view of American life. The actual misinterpretation by the viewer,

however, of what he or she sees on television is not so easily defined

12

As noted^by Katzman (1972), soap operas have a great potential

power in that they can establish or reinforce our society's value

system, legitimize behavior and remove negative connotations about

sensitive topics such as drugs and premarital s'exTxThese effects,

however, have not been thoroughly investigated.

Television Programs and Aggressive Behavior

The study of aggressive behavior on television and its effect

on the population has generally directedJ_tself tow_ar_d the adolescent

jnewers since it is felt that children are more subsceptible to

aggressive acts shown on television than are adults. The correlation

between the rise in the consumption of television and the rise in

delinquency during the last decade (Adler and Cater, 1976) helped

arouse interest in the public in this problem. It has been noted,

however, that aggressive behavior is not solely responsible for

aggressive acts after viewing violent programs. Zillmann, Johnson and

Hanrahan (1973) noted in their study that viewers of a film which had

a happy ending and a closure to the problem presented in the film

tended to be pacified such that any aggressive acts seen by the viewers

were not reflected in any post-viewing aggressive behavior.

The idea that other factors are related to aggressive behavior

is, also, cited in Feshback's (1976) study. The viewers of Feshback's

film who indicated that they considered the film to be fantasy displayed

a tendency toward a reduction in aggressive behavior after viewing the

film while those who saw the film as real were stimulated to more

aggressive behavior.

13

Thomas and Drabman (1975) note in their study of fifth grade

boys and girls that the viewing of media violence actually increased

the subjects' toleration of aggressive acts in real life. This

toleration they claim came about due to the reinforcing by the film of

aggressive behavior. This reinforcement then dictated such aggressive

behavior as acceptible and the subjects then reflected this acceptance

of aggressive acts around them.

( Goldsen (1975) supports Feshback's findings noting that shows

with aggressive acts act as nothing more than a single, massive

desensitization session for the entire country. She cites that the

problem with violent shows is in that such continuous anesthesizing of

human feelings tends to make the public less concerned with aggressive

acts in real life. So, the real harm of violent programs isn't so much

in their possible causation of other aggressive acts, but in their

tendency to make the viewing public less concerned with the violence

that occurs around them.

Television Programs as Entertainment

The use of television as entertainment is a role which the

program producers have always indicated as a very positive trait of

television. Researchers, however, tend to direct their work towards

proving the media as being much more than just entertainment for the

masses.

Stephenson (1967) notes that the mass media should be used to

give pleasure and not required to do the job of other organizations

and institutions. He says it should be possible for the viewer to use

the media as a form of relaxation. Few researchers, however, have

14

supported Stephenson's claims. This lack of support belies the accep

tance by many that even pure entertainment can't be accepted as doing

nothing more than just entertaining its audience. The viewer receives

more from the presentation than just relaxation even if nothing more

than a temporary release of his tension.

Katz, Gurevitch and Haas (1973) noted in their study that needs

associated with oneself were best satisfied by television for those

that were less educated. It was found, also, that television helped

kill spare time (Katz, Blumler and Gurevitch, 1974).

Television Programs as an Escape

A function of television that has held much support is the idea

of the medium being an excellent avenue for escape (Wenner, 1976; Katz

and Foulkes, 1962 and Hyman, 1973). It has been seen that people use

television to escape for various reasons. /Lazarsfeld and Kendall (1948)

found that women were escaping from the drudgery of housework and their

everyday lifestyles via radio soap operas. ^These women claimed to feel

better knowing that other people (soap opera characters) were worse off

than them (housewives)T^Herzog (1944), also, noted that women reported

feeling a greater sense of satisfaction from their frustrations by

listening to radio melodramas.

Wiebe (1965) states that people escape to television to embrace

the things that they once knew and enjoyed such as in childhood. The

problem he adds, however, s that many viewers become unable to see

reality as reality and so the viewer may come to see television as

reality and may become somewhat dysfunctional in their behavior,'

15

Modern man, it is said, turns to the media because he is alone,

lonesome and isolated (Steinberg, 1966). This isolation, it seems, has

developed from the rapid advancement in technology and the withdrawal

of the family unit into the household. The family doesn't engage in

large gatherings or social functions like they did in the past as the

opportunity for such activities has decreased since the family unit has

become mobile and detached, as well as individual family members.

It is noted by Wiebe (1965) that there are three types_of

behavior associated with television and television programs. One type

of behavior is directive where messages come from an authority figure,

the second is maintainence whjre messages reflect and reinforce the

social structure and the third is restorative where fantasies and day

dreams are offered. This restorative behavior usually involves char

acters on programs displaying attributes that society doesn't deem as

acceptable such as violence, sexual permissiveness and crime. Wiebe

claims that restorative behavior is depicted by many programs and these

programs allow the viewer to escape and live through daydreams and

fantasies he has, but which are dictated by society as improper.

Pearl in (1959^) noted that it doubtful whether television propels

its escape viewers into a euphoria, but more likely that the viewer

uses it simply to forget temporarily their troubles and worries. So,

escaping to television doesn't mean a viewer relieves his anxiety

totally through the use of the media.

Television's Passive Effect

The passivity with which television infects its audience is

another theory on the effect of the medium. Glynn (1956) noted that

16

heavy television viewers were less socially interested than those who

viewed TV less. These viewers were, also, found to be less interested

in engaging in activities outside of the home (Glynn, 1973). This type

of effect by television is noted to act like a buffer or insulator,

protecting the viewer from emotions and stimuli that is being continu-

ously injected into the lives of the viewers by society (Hyman, 1973).'

This buffer effect has been explained in terms of a narcotizing

dysfunctional ability which is later shown by the viewer's actions

(Lazarsfeld and Merton, 1948 and Tan, 1977). This refers to the idea

that heavy television viewers become inactive social participants in

society. They are less interested in external activities and social

gatherings.

Novic and Landman (1974) note that the media offers vicarious

experience for genuine participation by the viewer and by such it

encourages passivity and uninvolvement by the audience. This passivity

is found in TV news, too. Television news that ends on a cheerful note

has been seen to cancel out the urgency of the information the news

program has presented the viewer (Menaker, 1972), thus, leaving the

viewer more passive about the news and events presented by news

programs.

The passive effect of television has, also, been evidenced in

the aspirations of the viewers. Teenage females who watched television

a lot expressed a lower desire to attend college than those who viewed

TV less (Tuchman, 1976).

Television's passive effect upon its viewers is found among

soap opera viewers, too (Goldsen, 1975). Goldsen notes that our

17

emotions need exercise and TV allows us to engage in this type of

exercise. She adds, however, that soap operas reduce our passions and

so the viewer remains drab or unreactive to emotional situations that

wer^seen on TV when the same type of emotional situation presents it

self in real life. She says this lack of reaction to social situations

is due to the fact that TV_actually desensitizes the massive audience

elicited by television programs. This mass desensitization is later

observed, she claims, through the inability or Ijicjc of tjie^viewer to

react to emotional situations.

Television as a Socializing Medium

Television is, also, theorized to be a major reinforcer of our

social strata and the structure of our society (Goldsen, 1975). This

support of our social values comes through the various characters of

television programs and the association of these characters with the

accepted social norms of our society. Television helps maintain this

social control and dictates the social norms of society and as such

structures social life by dictating those social values, goals and

beliefs society deems appropriate (Tuchman, 1976).

Television, also, supports the morals of our society through

institutions (Adler and Cater, 1976). While the family, schools and

other social institutions have lost some of their ability to success

fully socialize society's members, television has increased its ability

to perform this job. This dictation of social values is exemplified

through the actions of program characters which act in accordance with

the social values our society has noted as acceptable. Television,

thus, teaches this behavior to the viewer not only as acceptable

18

behavior, but in what situations such behavior is considered appro

priate (Barans and Meyer, 1974). The viewer often imitates the behav

ior of TV characters and as such is practicing the acceptable behavior

displayed by these characters. Thus, television in this way socializes

the viewer to act in a certain way.

Tunstall (1970) notes that broadcasting is effective in

reinforcing existing attitudes and ideas more than actually changing

attitudes. He says this possibly is because most of the viewers are

conservative and the strongest choice any viewer usually displays is

the freedom of choice to reject unfamiliar actions and TV programs

which show such actions.

The positive traits of the socialization of the viewing public

by television is noted by Friedman (Katz and Foulkes, 1962) as he

suggests that children who are close to their mothers and fathers use

TV to draw themselves even closer to their parents. Rosenblatt and

Cunningham (1976) cited in their study that television actually acts

as a glue and holds the family together even though stress exists in

the family unit.

Television, also, supports the types of actions the viewer

encounters in his everyday life (Dembo, 1972). Dembo says TV

reinforces the situations the viewer is involved with during the day

and notes to the viewer whether the actions he has experienced are

appropriate.

It has been reported that television dictates to its viewers

the desire to want something (Tuchman, 1976). Tuchman cites how tele

vision shows characters with nice homes and all the luxuries a person

19

might want. Further evidence of the power of television is noted by

the fact that the Marcus Wei by television program received over 250,000

letters asking for medical advice during the first five years of pro

duction (Gerbner and Gross, 1976).

Television programs, also, reinforce our social strata by citing

where evil comes from, who is the bad person and how such a person

should be treated (Goldsen, 1976). Fass (Adler and Cater, 1976) states

that TV in America provides us with choices and a grand pluralism of

tastes and interests while it dictates the scope of those tastes and

when those tastes or interests may be legitimately indulged. She says

television is able to do this as it creates a connection to the viewer's

life through serials and other weekly programs.

Stephenson (1967) supports this idea by noting that television

fosters mutual socialization where people have something to talk to

each other about. He says one of the ways to foster this mutualization

is to normalize and homogenize the attitudes and values of the people.

TV does this by displaying similar values repeatedly and teaching those

values through the actions of program characters.

The media which backs up accepted behavior may, also, be capable

of supporting behavior that is not totally acceptable to society. It

is noted that news does both by presenting stories where acceptable

behavior and unacceptable behavior is rewarded (Gutman, 1972).

The idea that television may dissocialize extends to the

prospect of viewers becoming inactive participants in society. Barton

(1977) cites that elderly persons watch soap operas as a means of

social interaction. They use soap opera programs to substitute for the

20

lack of interpersonal relationships that they are capable of being

involved with. The lack of interpersonal relationships often occurs

as these elderly persons are restricted in their activities due to age

or illness. McQuail, Blumler and Brown (McQuail, 1972) support this

idea with their findings which note tha^people use television for

companionship and a means of engaging in a personal relationship with

out leaving the security of their home. It is noted that they may

result in the viewer withdrawing from the real world into a world of an

interpersonal relationship with the television set or particular programs

and characters.

The idea of social interaction extends even further as viewers

use television programs as a basis of social intercourse. Often this

type of relationship is used in a constructive manner when viewers use

their knowledge and familiarity of television programs to help initiate

and build face to face social interactions with others (Lichty, 1965

and Horton and Wohl, 1956).

Steinberg (1966) cites that modern man turns to the media

because he is alone, lonesome and isolated. Bauer and Bauer (Steinberg,

1966) says this use of the media is a substitute for healthy and

rewarding interpersonal relationships. In this way modern man is

capable of selecting the types of relationships he wants to be involved

with. He can choose the roles or characters he agrees or identifies

with most.

/ Many viewers, in fact, select programs which display characters

(^ the viewer feels is closest to himself (Perrow, 1971). This idea of

identification is, also, noted with soap opera viewing. Edmonson and

21

Round^s (1973) say the viewer's and the soap opera character's life

styles often parallel. The viewers may even model themselves after one/

of their favorite characters. This identification often is outside of

the awareness of the viewer and may be consciously unintentional

(Elliot, 1956). By unconsciously identifying with the program char

acter, however, the viewers tend to socialize themselves according to

the social values expressed by the character.

Baran and Meyer (1974) say children are turning more and more

toward program characters as behavioral models with which to identify.

Several studies back up this tendency (Katz and Foulkes, 1962 and Weiss,

1969).

, The power of television it can be seen is very strong. Klapper

(Piepe, Emerson and Lannon, 1975) notes, however, that the media does

not influence its viewers by itself. Changes television brings on or

the success of its reinforcement of existing values is dependent upon

other variables such as the viewer's acceptance of the various types

of programs and the characters of these programs.

Some rjesearchers, however, claim that programs, and soap operas

in particular/are a mass misrepresentation of our world. They claim

that these misrepresentations misdirect the viewer's ideas on the proper

norms and values of our society and has resulted in a reduction in the

stability of our society along with the breakdown of family life and

the isolation of the individual (Mankiewicz and Swerdlow, 1978). 'It

may be due to this reduction in stability that soap operas are so

popular.

22

It is noted that though soap operas may misrepresent our

society, this misrepresentation is actually a trait which can be very

beneficial (Newcomb, 1974)./Dr. John R. Lion (Newcomb, 1974) cites

that s^ap operas are the most realistic program on television as they

depict life with all of its complexities and insolubilities, even

though in a somewhat caricatured fomu) He says he uses soap operas to

show his patients the anxiety and torment criminals must endure and

how happiness is not always engendered by wealth. He says these ideas

are but a few examples which show how soap operas depict our society's

values and by such actions soap operas have a great potential benefit

to its viewers.

Nixon (19^2) says the viewer knows life is not perfect and when

he commits a wrong he must suffer the consequences. She claims that

/soap operas establish a strong bond between the viewer and the char

acter by the ability of the character to suffer through human frailties

and problems day after day just as real people like the viewer must do

(Mankiewicz and Swerdlow, 1978).

Television as a Form of Dream

Another theory as to the use of television is the viewer's use

of TV as a form of dream. This idea parallels Pearlin's (1959) basic

idea as to the higher use of television by those people who report a

higher level of stress.

imagination is, also, noted to be a form of dream (Stephenson,

1967) and by using the television to play out those daydreams or

aspirations not deemed appropriate the viewer can satisfy the frus

trations he has had denied by society (Maccoby, 1954). Wood (1976)

23

supports this idea stating that events and characters on television

are used by society to transform fears and unresolved problems into

less threatening forms. The viewer is then able to live out his

unfulfilled desires without violating norms or behavior established

by society.

Wiebe (1969) says one of television's functions is to offer the

viewer a release for restorative behavior where they can displace their

fantasies frustrated by society?? He adds that this restorative

behavior is great as a release of hostile emotions, but only in small

amounts, therefore, it is only a temporary release of these frustrations.

It has been found that books were cited as more helpful for

satisfying needs associated with oneself for higher educated people,

but the lesser educated said TV was the more helpful medium for

satisfying these same needs (Katz, Gurevitch and Haas, 1973). It may

be that the higher educated are more accustomed to mental exercise and

as such this type of activity fulfills their needs better where lesser

educated persons find the media that are less demanding mentally to be

more satisfying. Wiebe (1969) supports this idea noting that tele

vision maximizes the immediate gratification available for the viewer

while requiring less intellectual or physical effort.

Television Viewing as a Means of Reducing Anxiety"

The idea of television as a means of escape has raised the

question as to what the viewer is escaping from. One of the ideas

previously expressed has been the escape from or release of anxiety.

Pearl in (1959) found that the higher the level of stress reported by

24

an individual the higher the amount of television he watched. His

study did not extend itself, however, to tell us if these heavy tele

vision viewers increased or reduced their anxiety levels by watching

television. It was noted earlier that children used television in an

attempt to avoid conflicts by watching television more (Maccoby, 1954).

The children in Maccoby's study are adults today and it is worthwhile

determining whether these persons still use television as a means of

avoiding interpersonal anxieties.

Lazarsfeld and Kendall (1948) indicated a relationship between

anxiety and media consumption, too. Their study found that women who

listened to radio soap operas a lot reported being more anxious.

Johnstone (Katz and Foulkes, 1962) discovered that the lower one's self-

esteem, the more time that person reported viewing television programs.

Still "even if it is true that alienation and deprivation tend to drive

people to seek refuge in the mass media it is not at all self-evident

what they find when they get there" (Katz and Foulkes, 1962). It has

not been discovered whether they find a release for their anxieties

and frustrations or just a temporary escape from these troubles. If

women do indeed gain an emotional release from their viewing of melo

dramas (Herzog, 1944), then one would expect soap opera viewers to

depict such a relationship. Herzog (1944) notes that the release of

the viewer's anxieties comes from the compensation of their own private

troubles by the melodrama programs, as well as, an escape from the

normal routine and advice for their personal problems.

Psychologists have used images and fantasy materials to help

patients release emotions and anxieties and to exercise feelings

25

(Goldsen, 1975). This "imaginal desensitization" is a method whereby

the patients self-extinguish their anxieties by learning not to be

excited by images and other cues that had previously brought on the

stress. Goldsen (1975) says TV performs this type of function through

the positive reinforcement the viewer receives from television programs

She states that our emotions need exercise just as much as our body.

Thus, by playing out or exercising our anxieties through television

characters we are able to reduce our anxiety. Goldsen (1975) warns,

however, that we may be so desensitized that we become unreactive to

emotionally exciting circumstances.

It has been reported that films which have happy endings and

a complete closure of the problem it presents tended to reduce

aggessive behavior and feelings (Zillmann, Johnson and Hanrahan, 1973).

This type of reaction, thus, supports the idea that television programs

are capable of reducing emotions and anxieties.

It has been noted by Seligman (1975) that systematic desensiti

zation is a good method of reducing anxieties. This process enables

the person to slowly reduce his anxieties. He adds that systematic

desensitization is most successful if it is voluntary and the person

has control of the situation. Television exemplifies this idea in

that the viewer controls the operation of the TV set and does so only

at his leisure. It cannot be said, however, that the viewer controls

the effects of television programs on himself entirely.

Wood (1976)^noting that TV programs were similar to dreams

says television programs may actually take the place of problems in

the viewer's world and as such helps reduce the viewer's anxieties.

26

If this is correct one might expect heavy television viewers to be less

anxious.

There are those that support the opposite view, however, which

cites that the more one views TV programs the more anxious he becomes,

Leckenby and Surlin (1976) found that heavy television viewers reported

a feeling of higher alienation than did light viewers. Heavy TV

viewers, also, were noted to feel estranged from the world around them

and to be readily acceptable to bigoted and racist views portrayed on

television by programs such as Sanford and Son and All In The Family.

This indicates that the viewer is more likely to adopt these racist \

attitudes as well.

Gerbner and Gross (1976) support this view citing that heavy

television viewers were 35% more likely to agree that people couldn't

be trusted. These viewers, also, report the world as more dangerous

and frightening than do those people who view TV less, as well as, the

extent of interpersonal violence in our society (Gerbner and Gross,

1976).

Soap Opera Programs and Theories on Television's Function

Research on soap opera programs and their viewers is available,

but the vast majority of such research deals primarily with the content

analysis of such programs and the demographics of soap opera viewers

(Edmonson and Rounds, 1973; Downing, 1974; Mankiewicz and Swerdlow,

1978; Goldsen, 1975; Ramsdell, 1973; Kaplan, 1975; Katzman, 1972 and

Kinzer, 1973). The lack of research on the effects of soap operas on

their viewers has been noted (Katzman, 1972 and Barton, 1977) and is

\

, :jy -.-' ^ - ^ -27

dealt with (Barton, 1977 and Wenner, 1976), but no conclusive results

have been reported.

As noted earlier, some researchers claim soap opera programs / ---^

are somewhat accurate reflections of our society (Mankiewicz and^

Swerdlow, 1978) and societal norms of behavior (Barton, 1977) while

others believe these programs serve no other purpose than to misrepre-

sent the structure of our society and to mislead its viewers (Ramsdell,

1973 and Goldsen, 1975).

The proponents of soap opera programs as accurate interpre

tations of our society note that these programs are actually more

reflective of our lifestyle because they concern themselves with the

conflict between an individual and society which is the same level of

perception with which the viewer is most familiar (Kaplan, 1975). It

has been stated that this is enhanced, also, with the slowing down of

the action of the program to where it takes place at the same pace as

the viewers' life (Mankiewicz and Swerdlow, 1978). Viewers are more

familiar with problems slowly developing and being alleviated as occurs

in soap opera programs. Other drama shows, however, present a problem,

work with it and solve it in one hour or even one-half hour. And, as

in life, problems in soap operas aren't always solved and follows a

character for his entire career on the program (Mankiewicz and Swerdlow, 1978).

Barton (1977)^notes that this method of socialization as it

occurs on soap opera programs is beneficial, especially to the more than

14 million people over fifty years of age who watch these programs. He

says the viewing of these programs is not escapist, but may be the

28

result of the viewer's interactions with others in the world. These

soap opera programs then tend to reinforce real world communication.

There are reports where people and researchers use soap opera

programs to treat their patients (Lion in Newcomb, 1974 and Kilguss,

1974). They use the programs to demonstrate to their patients how

criminals suffer and wealth doesn't guarantee happiness. It is noted

that the survival of a soap opera's character despite their short

comings results in the viewer having some of their own pain and

frustrations removed (Newcomb, 1974).

It has been reported, however, that soap opera programs support

misconceptions (Kinzer, 1973), Women characters in the soap operas

are shown in negative manners if they want a career more than a baby

(Ramsdell, 1973). Children aren't portrayed accurately as only 5% of

the parts in soap operas are of children (Goldsen, 1975). The

misrepresentation continues as 95% of the characters are white and

over 90% are middle class or upper class citizens which is not repre

sentative of the real population percentages in the United States

(Downing, 1974 and 1977 Census).

So, whether television causes passivity, socializes or \

dissocializes, allows the viewer to escape or reduces or increases the

viewers' anxieties is of great interest. Since diverse theories exist,

however, the key to answering this problem lies in answering questions

on relationships between specific programs and their viewers. Soap

operas with their enormous audience of over 50 million (Katzman, 1972)

and the lack of research relating to the relationship that exists

between the two certainly offers a tremendous challenge.

29

Based on the previous research indicating that viewers who

were more anxious watched television more and the content analysis of

soap opera programs which showed a tendency toward a misrepresentation

of society, this study proposes that those women who watch soap operas

more will have higher anxiety levels. And since soap operas are noted

to deal with personal problems more than with politics or world prob

lems it is expected that heavy soap opera viewers will have higher

anxiety levels dealing with self-esteem and interpersonal relation

ships than low or non-soap opera viewers.

CHAPTER III

METHODS AND PROCEDURES

Respondents

The respondents used in this study were women 18 years of age

and older residing within the city limits of Lubbock, Texas, and

specifically in homes and apartments situated within the census blocks

recorded by the 1970 Census of the United States for the city of

Lubbock, Texas. Of 417 women who accepted surveys only 250 returned

them and only 245 of these were usable. The five that were not usable

were rejected because only about 10% of the survey questions were

answered.

Procedure

A pretest for the study was conducted the first week of April

in 1978. One-hundred surveys were distributed door to door and picked

up at a time agreed upon by the researcher and the respondent; 81

surveys were recovered and the questionnaire was found to be a reliable

instrument for measuring the variables under investigation by the study.

An additional 315 surveys were used in the study of which 169 were

returned. With the 81 surveys from the pretest a total of 250 surveys

were returned of which 245 were usable.

To obtain the blocks to be used for the canvassing of respondents

the researcher began by listing all of the blocks found in the 1970

30

31

Census for the city of Lubbock, Texas. The block numbers were printed

on two-inch square pieces of paper and were twice folded in half then

placed in a large tub and mixed together for five minutes. The block

numbers were then drawn from the tub and listed in the order in which

they were drawn. Only 300 block numbers were listed as it was felt

that this would allow for enough respondents with which to complete the

study. The rest of the block numbers were separated from the ones

already drawn, however, in case additional block numbers were needed

to complete the canvassing of subjects for the study.

The surveys were distributed door to door from 10:00 a.m. to

7:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday the last week of April and the first

week of May of 1978. The first 293 surveys distributed were left with

the women of the house only if they agreed to participate in the study.

If more than one woman over the age of 17 lived at a residence then

surveys were left for each one. The last 124 surveys were left with

women who agreed to participate, or if no one answered the door, a

questionnaire was left with the address of the researcher and a stamp

already on it so that it could be mailed to the researcher after it was

completed. The last 124 were distributed in this manner since the end

of the school year was approaching an end. It was felt that the sub

ject's viewing habits and media use may be altered at the end of the

school year since the respondent's children would be home and vacations

would be taken by the family.

Due to the large number of surveys used in the study and since

only the researcher distributed the surveys, there was a need to save

as much time as possible. Telephone interviews would have necessitated

32

an immense amount of time to obtain as many surveys as were included

in the study. It was, also, felt that a telephone interview would

have reduced the anonymity and as such may have reduced the ability

to gain answers that were other than those that are "socially

acceptable." It was felt that distributing surveys personally would

increase the return rate and the large percentage of returned surveys

(59.9%) seems to support this idea.

After recovering the completed surveys the researcher then

coded the 109 variables on computer data sheets which were then used

to aid in punching the computer cards. Two computer cards were used

to record the data from each survey. Statistical analysis was then

carried out and the results tabulated.

It was felt that the characteristics of the sample population

of the study are representative of the women's population in Lubbock,

Texas, and the United States though the average numbers and percentages

are higher for the sample population. The average age for women was

29.3 years of age for the United States, 35.1 for the city of Lubbock

and 40.7 for the study's sample population. Sixty-one percent of United

States women were married while 60% of Lubbock women were married and

77% of the sample population reported being married. Of United States

women 41.4% reported being employed, 44.1% of Lubbock women said they

were employed and 37.7% of the subjects in the study were employed. The

average income for the United States households was $10,169, $8,474

for Lubbock households and $14,020 for the sample population's house

holds. The average numbers of years of education was 12.0 years for

the United States women, 12.2 years for Lubbock women and 14,2 years

33

for the sample population. The differences seen between the sample

population and the United States and Lubbock populations it is felt is

due to the number of years since the United States and Lubbock figures

were reported. The 1970 Census for the United States and the city of

Lubbock, Texas, was used to obtain figures for their populations and

it is felt that the changes that have occurred during the last eight

years would account for the differences between the figures.

The Questionnaire

The questionnaire used for this study was divided into two

major sections (Appendix). The first section asked questions as to the

subjects' demographics and the extent of their involvement with various

media and television programs. These questions were used to obtain

information about the subjects' lifestyle and characteristics and the

amount of time they spend with newspapers, magazines, radio and tele

vision programs. Measuring these variables would allow this study to

make correlations between the subjects' anxiety levels and their personal

characteristics and their involvement with the various media and tele

vision programs in particular.

The second section was composed of 42 Likert-scale questions

concerning the subjects' agreement with statements about their self-

esteem, interpersonal relationships, the economy, politics or govern

ment and world affairs. These statements and the subjects' degree of

agreement with them was used to rate the respondents' various anxiety

levels. These anxiety levels were then correlated with other variables

to ascertain whether any significant relationships exist between the

variables.

34

A pretest was carried out to determine the reliability of the

questions and statements on the questionnaire and only minor rewording

was found to be necessary. The final questionnaire consisted of five

pages and through sample testing with three volunteer undergraduate

students it was found to take approximately 10 to 15 minutes to com

plete.

Demographic Characteristics

The first section of the questionnaire concerned itself with

the demographics of the subject and the extent of their involvement

with the various media and television programs. The first question

asked the subject to denote their marital status. The 100 pretest

questionnaires did not list widow as a possible response, but several

women filled in widow as their response, so, the researcher added the

choice of widow on the remaining 317 surveys. Marital status was coded

as (1) for those married, (2) for single respondents, (3) for divorced

persons, (4) for those who were remarried and (5) for widowed subjects.

The question on age, it was felt, was self-explanatory and the

age listed by the respondent was the number coded for the variable, A

two-digit variable was used since it was expected that the likelihood

of receiving a questionnaire from a 100 year-old woman was very small.

The number of children the subject had was, also, felt to be

self-explanatory, so, the number reported by the respondent was then

coded as listed on the questionnaire. No respondents reported more

than eight children, so a one-digit variable was used to code the

subjects' responses. The respondents were asked to list the ages of

35

their children, also, but this information was later decided to be

omitted from the coding of information and was not used in the study.

The fourth question requested the subjects' occupation. Occu

pations listed by the respondent was then categorized by the researcher

in 9 areas which were coded from 0 to 8: (0) included students and

retired women, (1) housewives, (2) secretarial-type jobs, (3) nurses

and other medically related professions, (4) sales clerks, (5) laborers,

(6) counselor positions, (7) teachers and (8) various and select pro

fessions not included in the other eight areas.

The fifth question asked the number of years the respondent had

lived in their present location. The answers were coded as a two-digit

variable using the answer given by the subject.

The sixth question requested the religious preference of the

subject. The answers were then listed in 9 areas which were coded from

0 to 8. The areas were: (1) Baptists, (2) Church of Christ,

(3) Methodist, (4) Episcopalian, (5) Catholic, (6) Lutheran, (7) First

Christian, (8) Mormon and (0) another religious preference or no

preference indicated by the respondent.

The seventh question elicited the respondent's husband's occu

pation. The answer to this question was, also, rated and coded from

0 to 8 with (0) being for retired men and students, (1) technician or

engineer, (2) laborer, (3) salesman, (4) medical or legal professions,

(5) teachers, (6) financial professions, (7) public employees and

(8) various and select occupations not included in the other areas.

The respondent was then asked to list the combined yearly

income of herself and her husband. On the pretest questionnaires it

36

was an open-ended question, but on the remaining questionnaires the

subjects were given 8 ranges in which their combined income might fall

and were asked to designate the range that would include their combined

income. The answers were then coded according to the range the income

fell into. The codes and ranges used were: (1) 0-$5,000, (2) $6,000-

10,000, (3) $11,000-15,000, (4) $16,000-20,000, (5) $21,000-25,000,

(6) $26,000-30,000, (7) $31,000-40,000 and (8) $41,000 and above.

The last question of the first section (#28) asked the sub

jects to indicate the highest level of education they had obtained.

Many questionnaires did not have this question listed on them, so, the

number of respondents who answered this question was very small. This

question was left off the stencil and so it had to be written in, but

it was mistakenly left off many surveys and the researcher did not

always remind respondents to fill in their highest level of education.

The answers which were obtained for the question were listed numerically,

The first grade through high school was coded as 1 to 12, a freshman in

college was coded as 13, a sophomore—14, a junior--15, a senior—16

and a college graduate was coded as 17. A person with a Master's

degree was coded as 18 and a subject with a doctorate was given 19 for

a code. Doctors and lawyers were notated with the code of 20.

Mass Media Use

The ninth through the eleventh questions asked the subject to

give the number of hours per week they spent reading newspapers (9),

magazines (10) and listening to the radio (11). Their answers were

then rounded off to the nearest half-hour and were coded with a

37

three-digit number with a decimal point after the second digit which

allowed up to 99.5 hours per week to be recorded.

The twelfth question requested the number of hours per week

the subject watched television. Their answers were then rounded off

to the nearest half-hour and coded as a four-digit number with a

decimal after the third digit which allowed up to 999.5 hours to be

recorded. The reason why a four-digit number was used was that a

survey was returned that listed over 100 hours spent during the week

watching television.

Questions thirteen and fourteen asked the respondents to give*

the number of hours per week they spent watching daytime and night

time television. Their answers were then coded as three-digit numbers

with a decimal after the second digit so that up to 99.5 hours could

be recorded.

Questions fifteen through twenty-two asked the subjects to

list the number of hours they spent per week viewing TV news (15),

game shows (16), comedy shows (17), drama shows (18), soap operas (19),

variety shows (20), sports programs (21) and musical programs (22).

The order in which the programs appeared on the questionnaire was

determined by lottery. All programs were felt to be self-explanatory

except drama shows, so, the researcher defined drama shows for the

respondents as surveys were distributed. Answers were rounded off to

the nearest half-hour and coded as three-digit numbers with a decimal

coming after the second number so that up to 99.5 hours could be

recorded.

38

The twenty-third and twenty-fourth questions asked the

respondents to give the number of newspapers (23) and magazines (24)

they read each week. Their answers were coded as two-digit numbers

determined by the number they reported. This information was not used,

however, after the surveys were returned since it was felt to be

redundant to question nine and ten and unnecessary for the analysis

of results.

Questions twenty-five and twenty-six asked the subjects to

give the number of game show (25) and soap opera (26) programs they

watched each week. Their answers were coded as two-digit numbers as

to the number of programs they reported. This information was, also,

felt to be redundant and unnecessary to the study and was not used in

analyzing the results.

Question twenty-seven asked the respondents to give the number

of soap opera programs they watched more than three times a week.

Their answers were coded as two-digit numbers as to the number they

reported. This information, however, was not used in the analysis of

results, either, since it was, also, felt to be redundant and unnecessary

to the study or its results. It was, also, felt by the researcher that

many of the respondents did not understand the question, plus, many did

not answer the question.

Self-Esteem Anxiety

Self-esteem is the measurement of a person's positive feelings

about himself. If a person feels good about himself he will have a

high degree of self-esteem. If he is not sure about himself he will

have a low degree of self-esteem and thus, will have a high degree of

39

self-esteem anxiety. Self-esteem anxiety was measured in the second

section of the questionnaire by seven statements which were based on

Robinson and Shaver's Measures of Social Psychological Attitudes.

These statements were then coded from 1 to 5 as to the anxiety

displayed by the extent of agreement or disagreement with the state

ment by the subject. The statements used and the codes and scores

associated with the five possible responses were:

I often wish I were someone else.

strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree (5) (4) (3) (2) (1)

I can not be depended upon.

strongly agree agree not sure disagree (5) (4) (3) (2)

Strongly disagree (1)

I often get discouraged at what I am doing.

stronqly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree (5) (4) (3) (2) (1)

I'm a lot of fun to be with.

stronqly aqree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)

There are a lot of things about myself I would change if I could


I can make up my mind without too much trouble.

strongly agree agree (1) (2)

not sure disagree strongly disagree (3) (4) (5)

40

Most people are better liked than I am.

strongly agree agree not sure disagree stronqly disagree (5) (4) (3) (2) (1)

Agreement with their deficiencies indicates a degree of

anxiety about themselves, so, agreement in the statements to their

deficiencies or their lack of faith in themselves indicates a higher

degree of anxiety than those people who disagree or disavow these

deficiencies. The total score for a respondent to the seven state

ments was computed during the computer run and was the subject's self-

esteem anxiety score or level.

Interpersonal Anxiety

Interpersonal anxiety relates to how well a person feels about

other people. This, also, includes the trust one has in other people

and the extent of allowing oneself to become involved in a relation

ship with other people. Twelve statements were used to test for the

subjects' interpersonal anxiety and was based on Robinson and Shaver's

Measures of Social Psychological Attitudes. These twelve statements

were based on a five-point Likert scale and the codes and scores used

to gauge the subjects' responses were:

Nice guys finish last.


Basically people are good and kind.


41

Most of the people who get ahead in the world are dishonest and

use others to get ahead.


Most people are more concerned about themselves than others.

strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree (5) (4) (3). (2) (1)

Faith in others is essential for survival these days.


You've probably got to hurt somebody if you are going to make

something of yourself today.


It is hard to get ahead without using other people.


Basically other people don't care what happens to you.


If you don't look out for yourself, others will take advantage

of you.


42

If you start doing favors for people they will just walk all over

you.


Anyone who completely trusts others is asking for trouble.


One of the best ways to judge a man is by his success in his job

or career.


The higher a subject scored on a question the higher their

interpersonal anxiety level. Total interpersonal anxiety was computed

as the total score on all twelve statements.

Economic Anxiety

Economic anxiety is the feeling of a person as being unable to

control his economic situation. This includes the person's image of

his or the nation's standard of living and the ability for him or his

nation to improve the economic situation in the future. Thus, people

who report a low image of the economic stability of their nation or

themselves are simply notating their economic anxiety as being higher

than those people who are more positive about the economy. Eight

statements were used to determine the level of economic anxiety of the

subjects and were based on Robinson and Shaver's Measures of Social

Psychological Attitudes, The statements were rated on a five-point

Likert scale and were coded and scored as follows:

43

The standard of living in the United States is declining.


The economic situation in the United States is improving.


My husband has gotten as far as he can possibly go in his profes

sion (job).


The progress of my mate toward success has been disappointing.


The chance of advancement for my family is very limited.


The economic situation in the United States is getting worse.


The chance of advancement of my husband is very limited.


The possibility of my children bettering themselves is greater

than that of myself and my mate.


44

The total economic anxiety level for each of the respondents

was computed by adding all of the scores over the eight statements to

ascertain a total economic anxiety score or level for a subject.

Political Anxiety

Political anxiety is the feeling by a person of not having the

power to change or influence their government or political structure.

Seven statements were used to rate the extent of the subjects' political

anxiety or alienation and were based on Robinson and Shaver's Measures

of Social Psychological Attitudes. The statements were rated on a five-

point Likert scale with the responses being coded and scored from 1 to

5 with 5 indicating the highest degree of anxiety for that statement.

The statements and the codes and scores used were:

For the most part the government serves the interest of a few

organized groups, such as business and labor.


Our voting system allows for the little man to be heard.


I believe public officials don't care much what people like me

think.


People like me don't have any say about what the government does.


45

Sometimes politics and government seem so complicated that I can't

, really understand what is going on.


Though the government seems impotent it does get things done better

than any other system of government could.


As the government is now organized and operated, I think it is

hopelessly incapable of dealing with all of the crucial problems

facing our country today.


The total political anxiety level of the subject was computed

as the total score the respondent reported for the seven statements.

The higher the score computed for a subject's answers, the higher their

political anxiety.

World Affairs Anxiety

World affairs anxiety is the anxiousness a person has about the

stability of the world he lives in. This includes his feelings about

the strength of his country and its ability to influence world affairs.

The subjects' world affairs anxiety was determined by their answers to

eight statements concerning the stability of the world and the strength

of the United States in reference to world affairs which were based on

Robinson and Shaver's Measures of Social Psychological Attitudes. The

46

statements were rated on a five-point Likert scale and the answers were

coded and scored as follows:

The threat of nuclear war is decreasing.


The ability of the United States to protect its citizens is

decreasing.


The United States holds the key to world peace.


The threat of nuclear war is very real.


The ability of the United States to influence world affairs is

decreasing.


The United States' position in the world is declining.


The United States remains the most powerful nation in the world.


47

The United States is still the most influential nation in the

world.


A subject's total world affairs anxiety was obtained by adding

all of the subject's scores for each of the world affairs statements

together to get a total sum.

Combined Anxiety

The respondents' combined anxiety levels were determined by

adding together the total scores for self-esteem anxiety, interpersonal

anxiety, economic anxiety, political anxiety and world affairs anxiety.

Statistical Treatments Used

The data gained from the questionnaires was tabulated through

analysis by various testing methods. These methods included partial

correlations ranging from first order to fifth order correlations and

regression analysis. The partial correlations were found to be the

most beneficial method of testing the data and were the primary tests

used to gauge and analyze the results. The data was computed and

analyzed using the Texas Tech Computer Center.

CHAPTER IV

RESULTS AND ANALYSES

Description of Sample

Seventy-seven percent of the women in this study were married

with single women (8.2%) the second highest group. Women who were

widowed (6.2%), remarried (4.1%) and divorced (3.7%) comprised the

third, fourth and fifth marital categories respectively. Women 18 to

25 years of age made up 25.4% of the sample population, followed by

those 56 years of age and older (21,2%), 26 to 35 years old (20.2%),

46 to 55 years of age (19.7%) and those 36 to 45 years old (14,5%),

The average age for the respondents was 40 years old.

Of the subjects in the study, 29.5% reported having two children

while those with none (20.3%), one (19.0%), three (16.0%), four (8.4%),

five (5.1%), six (1.3%) and eight (.4%) comprised the rest of the sample

population.

The majority of the respondents were housewives (47.6%), fol

lowed by students and retired women (14.7%), secretaries (12.4%),

laborers (8.0%), nurses (5.3%), sales clerks (4.4%), various occu

pations (3,6%), teachers (3.1%) and counselors (.9%). The average nub-

ber of years the subjects had resided in their present location was

8.65 years. Of the subjects, 25,7% had lived in their present home for

one year or less. Two percent of the subjects had lived in their

48

49

present location for the last 2 to 5 years, followed by those having

lived in their present home for the last 6 to 10 years (14,8%), 11 to

15 years (9.1%), 16 to 20 years (10.8%), 20 to 25 years (7.8%), 26 to

30 years (4.0%), 31 to 35 years (0.4%) and 36 to 40 years (0.4%).

The largest percentage of the subjects in the sample reported

a combined yearly income of $11,000 to $15,000 (26,2%). The rest of

the respondents listed their yearly incomes as $16,000 to $20,000

(19.3%), $6,000 to $10,000 (16.6%), $5,000 and less (12.3%), $21,000

to $25,000 (9.6%), $26,000 to $30,000 (7.5%), over $40,000 (6.4%) and

$31,000 to $40,000 (2.1%). The average yearly income reported by the

subjects was about $14,000.

The largest majority of the respondents reported having gradu

ated from high school (27.2%), followed by those having graduated from

college (21.4%) and those having completed two years of college or the

equivalent of two years of college (19.4%).

Descriptive Analyses

Involvement with the Media

The average number of hours spent each week reading newspapers

was 4.475 hours which means less than one hour (.6392 hour) was spent

each day with a newspaper. The largest percentage of the respondents

(16.6%) reported spending 7.5 hours per week reading newspapers

(Table 1),

An average of 2.563 hours per week was recorded as being spent

reading magazines. The largest number of respondents said they didn't

read magazines at all (16.7%) (Table 1).

50

TABLE 1

AVERAGE NUMBER OF HOURS SPENT WITH MEDIA

Media Type Per Week Per Day

Newspapers 4.475 .639

Magazines 2.563 .366

Radio 10.324 1.475

Television ' 23.102 3.300

Nighttime TV 13.762 1.966

Daytime TV 7.338 1.048

n = 245

The average number of hours reported spent with listening to

the radio was 10.324. The largest number of respondents said they

listened to the radio seven hours or less each week (62.8%) (Table 1).

The average number of hours per week spent watching television

was 23.102 hours which is an average of 3.3 hours per day. The average

number of hours spent viewing nighttime television (13.762) was cited

as almost twice that of daytime television (7.338) (Table 1), The

largest number of hours per week spent watching television was

reported by.the subjects as being spent viewing TV news programs (5,125)

followed by drama shows (4.993), soap opera programs (4.116), comedy

shows (3.353), sports programs (1.961), variety shows (1.957), game

shows (1.755) and musical programs (1.379) (Table 2),

The largest number of respondents reported that they watched

Ih hours of news programs each week (20,0%) and 61.9% of the respondents

TABLE 2

NUMBER OF HOURS PER WEEK SPENT VIEWING TV PROGRAMS

51

TV Programs

TV News

Game Shows

Comedy Shows

Drama Shows

Soap Operas

Variety Shows

Sports

Musical Shows

Most # Hrs.

49.0

30.0

30.0

56.0

36.0

10.0

14.0

20,0

% of Total

(0.4)

(0.4)

(0.9)

(0.4)

(0.4)

(2.3)

(1.3)

(0.5)

Fewest # Hrs.

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

% of Total

(7.5)

(61.9)

(26.3)

(23.3)

(44.5)

(36,4)

(43.2)

(42.5)

Average # Hrs.

5.125

1.755

3.353

4.993

4.116

1.957

1.961

1.379

said they didn't watch any game shows during the week. The majority

of the subjects, also, noted that they didn't watch any comedy programs

(26.3%), drama shows (23.3%), soap opera programs (44.5%), variety

shows (36.4%) and sports programs (43.2%) during the week on the

average (Table 2).

Anxiety Levels

The highest possible score for each anxiety level is indicated

in Table 3 along with the average score for each specific type of

anxiety and the combined anxiety level of the subjects in the study.

A higher score indicates a higher degree of anxiousness by the respondent

toward a certain area of concern. The average score for the entire

sample was based on various possible scores for each type of anxiety.

The scores were compared to each other by basing them all on a total

score of 210 (Table 4) and it is noticed that the average score for each

52

TABLE 3

Anxieties

Self-esteem Anxiety


Economic Anxiety

Political Anxiety


Combined Anxiety

Maximum Score

Possible

35

60

40

35

40

210

ANXIETY

Largest Score

27

47

37

34

40

156

LEVELS

% of Total.

(0.9)

(0.4)

(0.5)

(0.9)

(0.4)

(0.6)

Smallest Score

7

15

14

11

16

71

% of Total

(0.4)

(0.4)

(0.5)

(0.9)

(0.4)

(0.6)

Average Score

16.987

30.487

23.540

21.134

25.097

116.421

TABLE 4

COMPARISON OF ANXIETY LEVELS (Based on a Maximum Score of 210)

Anxieties Average Score Difference Between Average Scores

Self-esteem Anxiety


Economic Anxiety

Political Anxiety


Combined Anxiety

101.922 - 4.783

106.705 16.880

123.585 3.219

126.804 4.955

131.759

116.421

53

area of anxiety is higher for those anxieties which the subjects have

no control over. Self-esteem anxiety has the lowest score (101.922)

followed by interpersonal anxiety (106.705), economic anxiety (123.585),

political anxiety (126.804) and world affairs anxiety (131.759). The

farther the area of anxiety is from the subjects' sphere of influence

the higher the average anxiety level. This reflects the subjects'

feeling of being unable to influence those matters not under their

direct control. This is further indicated by the degree of change in

the anxiety levels between those anxieties dealing with personal traits

(self-esteem and interpersonal anxieties) and those dealing with non-

personal characteristics (economics, politics and world affairs). This

is, also, noticed in the change from the average interpersonal anxiety

level (106.705) to the average economic anxiety level (123.535)

(Table 4). The difference between these two levels of anxiety (16.88)

is the greatest change between any two levels of consecutively listed

anxieties.

Correlational Analyses

Anxiety Levels and Television Viewing

Though results indicate that anxiety levels do have a signifi

cant relationship with the viewing of specific types of television

programs (Table 5), no significant relationships were found to exist \/

between overall television viewing and the various anxiety levels of

the subjects. The first hypothesis, therefore, which stated that the

higher the anxiety level reported by an individual the more television

viewing the individual will engage in, was not supported.

TABLE 5

PARTIAL CORRELATION: TV PROGRAMS WITH ANXIETY LEVELS

54

Anxieties

Self-esteem Anxiety


Economic Anxiety

Political Anxiety


Combined Anxiety

Game Shows

-.2915^

-.2173^

.1682^

.1275^

-.1790^

n.s.

Variety Shows

-.2006^

n.s.

n.s.

-.1939^

-.1893^

-.2298^

Sports Programs

n.s.

n.s.

-.1384*^

n.s.

n.s.

.2265^

n.s.—no significance

p<.05

^Controlling for subjects' age, income and education

Controlling for subjects' income

^Controlling for subjects' age

Controlling for subjects' education

Only game shows, soap opera programs, variety shows and sports

programs had any significance with the various types of anxiety levels.

Self-esteem anxiety has a negative significant relationship with the

viewing of game shows (r= -.2915; p<.05) when controlling for the sub

ject's age, income and education level and the viewing of variety

shows (r= -.2006; p<,05) when controlling for the subject's age, income

and education level (Table 5). This supports the escape theory of

television viewing with the reduction of anxiety being a result of this

/ '

55

type of viewing. This is evidenced in that the higher a subject's

reported television viewing of these two types of programs, the lower

the subject's self-esteem anxiety. Interpersonal anxiety, also, shows

a similar relationship with game shows as a negative relationship is

found between the amount of time spent viewing game shows and the level

of interpersonal anxiety reported by the subjects (r= -.2173; p<.05)

when controlling for the subjects' age, income and education levels

(Table 5).

Economic anxiety, however, showed a positive relationship with

the viewing of game shows with the highest significance level being

found when controlling for the subjects' income level (r= .1682;

p= .021) (Table 5). There was, also, a significant relationship when

controlling for age (r= .1286; p= .016) and the marital status of the

subject (r= .1231; p= .049).

Game shows, also, showed a positive relationship with political

anxiety when controlling for age (r= .1275; p= .016) (Table 5). A

negative relationship, however, was found between game show viewing

and the world affairs anxiety level of the subjects when controlling

for income (r= -.1790; p= .009) (Table 5).

These correlations denote that game shows may heighten the

viewer's economic anxiety and may reduce self-esteem and interpersonal

anxiety while the viewer's political anxiety isn't affected and world

affairs anxiety is seen at its normal level, also. This type of

interpretation would be based on the theory that the viewers of game

shows aren't very concerned at all about world affairs. This premise

is supported by results that show that the subjects' world affairs

TABLE 6

PARTIAL CORRELATION: ANXIETY LEVELS WITH AGE, INCOME AND EDUCATION LEVELS

56

Anxieties

Self-esteem Anxiety


Economic Anxiety

Political Anxiety


Age

.2531

-.2549'

2653'

-.2220'

n.s.

Income

-.2252

-.2198'

n.s.

n.s.

n.s.

Education

-.2074'

n.s.

-.2325'

n.s.

.2223-

Combined Anxiety -.2754' n.s. n.s.


p<.05


Controlli

'Controlli

Controlli

'Controlli

Controlli

ng for subjects' income

ng for subjects' education

ng for subjects' age and income

ng for subjects' income and education

ng for subjects' age and education

^Controlling for the number of years in the present home

57

anxiety has a negative relationship with other television programs

(Table 5), too.

Sports program viewing had a negative relationship with the

viewers' economic anxiety when controlling for the viewers' income

(r= -.1384; p= .021) (Table 5). This indicates that sports programs

work much like other TV programs in reducing anxiety through the

ability of the viewer to escape via television. There was a positive

relationship, however, between sports program viewing and the subjects'

combined anxiety levels when controlling for the viewers' education

level (r= .2265; p= .045) (Table 5). This contradicting relationship

would denote the woman sports viewer as receiving no effect in her

anxiety levels from watching sports programs.

The relationship between variety program viewing and anxiety

levels revealed that there was a negative relationship when controlling

for the viewers' marital status (r= -.1819; p= .005), the number of

years in the present home (r= -.1807; p= .006), the viewers' occupation

(r= -.1759; p= .007), the viewers' religious preference (r= -.1712;

p= .008), the viewers' income level (r= -.1661; p= .016) and the

viewers' age (r= -.1544; p= .016). These relationships offer more

support for the theory that escape viewing may result in a reduction

of the viewers' anxiety levels.

Anxiety Levels and Soap Opera ViewingT

Results show that soap opera viewing has a negative relation

ship with all of the anxiety levels (Table 7). These results would

indicate no support for the second hypothesis which states that the

58

TABLE 7

PARTIAL CORRELATION: SOAP OPERA VIEWING WITH ANXIETY LEVELS

Anxieties Coefficients

Self-esteem Anxiety -.1736^

Interpersonal Anxiety -.3039^

Economic . Anxiety -.3159"^

Political . Anxiety -.2331°

World Affairs . Anxiety -.2083°

Combined Anxiety -.3003^

p<.05

^Controlling for the subjects' age, income and education

Controlling for the subjects' education

Controlling for the subjects' number of children c

higher a woman's anxiety level, the greater the number of hours she

will report watching soap opera programs. This negative relationship

may show, however, that a positive relationship does indeed exist when

interpreting the results as an indication that television, and in this

case soap opera programs, reduce the anxiety level of its viewers. If

the women that view a lot of soap operas show a lower anxiety level it

may be that these heavy soap opera viewers do have higher anxiety levels

than they report, but the viewing of soap opera programs has tempo

rarily helped reduce their anxiousness over the problems in their lives.

59

This would tend to support the idea that the involvement of the viewer

with outside activities inhibits the reduction of anxieties from the

viewing of television programs. The type of program may, also, affect

the probability or ability of a program to help the viewer escape or

reduce his anxieties even temporarily.

The viewers may, also, relieve some of their anxieties by being

able to play out some of their frustrations and daydreams through the

viewing of soap opera programs.

The results noted in the previous paragraphs offer no support,

however, for the third hypothesis which states that since soap opera

programs deal mainly with the self-esteem of the characters and the

interpersonal relationships of the characters, heavy viewers of soap

opera programs will report a higher level of anxiety in these two areas

This lack of support could, also, be interpreted, however, as showing

that the lowest negative relationship, which was found with the viewers

self-esteem anxiety when controlling for the subjects' number of

children (r= -.1736; p= .05), indicates that it is reduced less than

the other anxiety levels (Table 7). This may come from the viewers'

involvement with the program and its characters and a sense of failure

when comparing themselves with the characters they identify with the

most. So, their self-esteem anxiety is not reduced as greatly as the

other anxiety levels by their involvement with soap opera programs and

their characters.

Interpersonal anxiety, also, had a less significant relation

ship when controlling for the viewers' age, income and education level

60

(r= -.3039; p= .010) (Table 7) than the other anxieties investigated.

This may denote a similar indication as cited with respect to the

viewers' self-esteem anxiety levels. Since soap opera programs don't

deal with politics and world affairs very much at all, if indeed any,

the anxiety level of the viewer after viewing soap operas would be

affected by both the extent of their involvement with such matters as

politics and world affairs and their involvement with soap opera

programs. Since the viewer's interpersonal relationships are not really

dealt with there may be less of an effect upon their interpersonal

anxiety than on other anxiety levels they have. The viewing of soap

opera programs cannot improve or reduce the feedback they receive from

others, so, this part of their interpersonal relationships cannot be

changed or affected unless the viewer replaces real people in their

relationships with characters in the programs they watch.

Media Use and Anxiety Levels

Results show no significant relationships existing between the

amount of television viewed and the anxiety levels of the subjects of

this study (Table 11). Thus, the fourth hypothesis which states that

due to television's lower demand upon the viewer it will show a higher

degree of relationship to anxiety than the use of other media, was not

supported.

Magazine use showed the highest significant relationship when

controlling for the viewer's education level (r= -.4101; p= .000)

(Table 9). This would seem to indicate that women who read magazines

have a lower anxiety level than those who read few, if any magazines.

61

TABLE 8

PARTIAL CORRELATION: ANXIETY LEVELS WITH THE EXTENT OF READING NEWSPAPERS

Coefficients Anxieties (Significance)

Self-esteem .2304^ Anxiety (.034)

Interpersonal -.1555 Anxiety (.010)

Economic Anxiety n.s.

Political -.1242^ Anxiety (.031)

World Affairs .1165 Anxiety (-046)

Combined r'^^^f Anxiety (-0^8)


^Controlling for subjects' age, income and education ^Controlling for subjects' marital status ^Controlling for subjects' number of children ^Controlling for the number of years in the present home

TABLE 9

PARTIAL CORRELATION: ANXIETY LEVELS WITH THE EXTENT OF READING MAGAZINES

62

Anxieties

Self-esteem Anxiety


Economic Anxiety

Political Anxiety


Combined Anxiety

^Controlling for

-.2032^ (.002)

-.1725^ (.006)

-.2370^ (.038)

-.2444^ (.000)

-.2254^ (.015)

-.3209^ (.005)

subjects' age.

Coefficient (Significance)

-.1986^ (.002)

-.1456^ (.017)

-.2639^ (.000)

-.1866^ (.003)

-.2888^ (.000)

-.2084^ (.003)

-.1452^ (.028)

-.1895^ (.015)

income and education

-.3527® (.001)

-.2438® (.010)

-.4101® (.000)

Controlling for subjects' age


^Controlling for subjects' income

^Controlling for subjects' education

63

TABLE 10

PARTIAL CORRELATION: ANXIETY LEVELS WITH THE EXTENT OF LISTENING TO THE RADIO

Anxieties Coefficient (Significance)

Self-esteem Anxiety


Economic Anxiety

Political Anxiety


n.s.

n.s.

.1376' (.036)

-.2438' (.031)

.2693' (.016)

Combined Anxiety n.s

n.s.--no significance

^Controlling for the subjects' age

^Controlling for the subjects' income

^Controlling for the subjects' age, income and education

64

TABLE 11

PARTIAL CORRELATION: ANXIETY LEVELS WITH THE USE OF THE MEDIA

Anxieties Newspapers Magazines Radio

(Coefficient) (Significance)

Television

Self-esteem Anxiety


Economic Anxiety

Political Anxiety


Combined Anxiety

.2304"' (.044)

-.1555^ (.010)

-.0803^ (.145)

-.1242^ (.031)

.1165^ (.046)

-.16119 (.022)

-.2228^ (.001)

-.1863® (.003)

-.2370"' (.038)

-.2708® (.000)

-.2254^ (.015)

-.4101*^ (.000)

-.0597^ (.219)

-.0260^ (.355)

-.2438^ (.031)

.1376^ (.036)

.2693"' (.016)

.1866 ^ (.088)

-.0939^ (.114)

-.1253^ (.127)

.0454® (.277)

.0885*^ (.105)

-.1212^ (.058)

.1165'^ (.077)

Control

"^Control

^Control

Control

®Control

Control

^Control

^Control 1 Control

ing for subjects' marital status

ing for subjects' age

ing for subjects' occupation

ing for number of years in the present home

ing for subjects' religious preference

ing for subjects' income

ing for the occupation of the subjects' mate

ing for subjects' education

ing for subjects' age, income and education

65

This might, also, denote, however, that magazines are used by the

reader, or affects the reader, much like television, by allowing the

person reading the magazine to escape from their anxieties and as such

their anxieties tend to show a reduced level. This is supported further

in Table 9 in which all relationships between magazine use and the

viewers' anxieties are all negative relationships.

Newspaper use was the second highest significant relationship

found with the viewers' anxiety levels (Table 12) and was a negative

relationship with the subjects' combined anxiety level when controlling

for the occupation of their mate (r= -.1611; p= .022). There was, also,

a negative relationship between newspaper use and the readers' inter

personal anxiety level when controlling for the subjects' marital

status (r= -.1555; p= .010), as well as, the readers' political anxiety

when controlling for the subjects' marital status (r= -.1242; p= .031)

(Table 12). Interpretation-of these results is difficult since the

types of articles the subjects read most often were not reported. It

may be that since older women tend to read newspapers more than younger

women (Table 15) and since older women show a negative relationship

with interpersonal, political and combined anxieties (Table 13) and a

positive relationship with self-esteem anxiety, the results between

age and the women's anxiety levels may be reflected in the newspaper

use and anxiety level correlations (Table 8) since older women report

reading newspapers more than younger women.

The positive relationship between the subjects' political

anxiety and their extent of use of radio programs (r= .1376; p= .036)

(Table 10 and Table 11) might tend to indicate that radio listeners

TABLE 12

PARTIAL CORRELATION: ANXIETY LEVELS WITH SUBJECTS' AGE

66

Anxieties Coefficients

Self-esteem Anxiety


Economic Anxiety

Political Anxiety


.2531

-.2549'

.2653'

-.2220'

n.s.

.2769'

-.1429'

.1684'

-.1779' -.1451

Combined Anxiety -.2754' -.1772'


p<.05

^Controlling for the subjects' income and education

ing for the subjects' education

ing for the subjects' number of children

ng for the number of years in the present home

Controlli

'Controlli

Control li

Controlling for the subjects' income

67

TABLE 13

PARTIAL CORRELATION: ANXIETY LEVELS WITH THE SUBJECTS' INCOME LEVEL

Anxieties

Self-esteem Anxiety


Economic Anxiety

Pol i t ica l Anxiety


Combined Anxiety


a/s__4. "114- .^ X:^^ r..,WAr^rs

-.2252^ (.036)

-.2554^ (.029)

n.s.

n.s.

n.s.

-.2704^ (.001)

t-r- ' a n ^ i an/- l ciAx


-.2563^ (.023)

-.2613^ (.000)

-.2703^ (.001)

i/»a + Tnn

-.2263^ (.040)

-.2835^ (.010)

-.2529^ (.040)


'Controlling for the number of years in the present home

^Controlling for subjects' education

68

receive little if any effect from listening to radio programs. This

may be due to the way in which they listen, that is, they may not

consciously pay attention to what is being broadcast. The type of

programs they listen to, also, may reflect the effects they receive

from listening to the radio. It may denote that they may pay more

attention to the news stories they hear than the entertainment

offered by the radio programs. Again, however, any interpretation of

the results in this study regarding the effect of radio listening is

restricted in that no information as to the type of radio programs the

subjects listened to most often was acquired.

There was no significant relationships found to exist between

the subjects' anxiety levels and their overall television viewing

habits (Table 11). The results which do show a relationship with

specific types of television programs, however, do support the theory

that a specific section of the population will have a significant

relationship with specific programs and not necessarily with all of the

television programs offered.

Demographic Traits and Anxiety Levels

The age of the subject had a negative relationship with the

subject's interpersonal, political and combined anxiety levels while a

positive relationship was found between the subject's age and their

self-esteem and economic anxiety levels (Table 12). No significant

relationship was found between the subject's age and her world affairs

anxiety. This means that the older women are more concerned with their

own self-esteem and the economy while they are less concerned about

69

their relationships with others and politics. Older women may be

more reflective about their achievements during their life and may

be seen as less sure of themselves in our rapidly changing world

since they were socialized according to much different values than

they see expressed by the media and people today. Since older women

may not be working anymore or since they are getting much closer to

retirement they may find themselves to be more anxious and bothered

about their future especially in economic terms. These older women

are getting closer to the time when they will no longer have an income

from a job and so, they are more concerned about what and how they will

get by when their income is reduced due to retirement.

Their interpersonal anxiety may show a negative relationship

since these older women are less concerned about their relationships

with others since they probably have friends whom they have known for

many years and they do not worry about their friends displacing them

and their ability to trust others since they do have established inter

personal relationships which have lasted for many years.

The subject's income level showed a negative relationship

with self-esteem, interpersonal and combined anxiety (Table 13), This

may be interpreted as denoting that those people who make more money-

wise feel more secure about themselves and their relationships with

others since they have proven their worthfuUness via their success

income-wise. This means that those women with higher income levels

have lower anxiety levels possibly due to the feeling of security

they receive from a better standard of living.

70

The subjects' education level showed a negative relationship

with their self-esteem and economic anxiety levels, but a positive

relationship with their world affairs anxiety level (Table 14). This

means that the higher a woman's education level the less concerned she

is about herself and the economy. This could possibly be interpreted

as meaning that she understands herself better and is more confident

due to her higher education level. Along with a higher education

comes the ability to obtain a better paying job and so, her economic

anxiety may be reduced, also. With a better education, however,

comes the ability to understand the world situation and the problems

in the world a little better and with this increased understanding may

come an increased world affairs anxiety level.

TABLE 14

PARTIAL CORRELATION: ANXIETY LEVELS WITH THE SUBJECTS' EDUCATION LEVEL

71

Anxieties

Self-esteem Anxiety


Economic Anxiety

Political Anxiety


-.2752^ (.006)

n.s.

-.2325^ (.025)

n.s.

.2223^ (.043)


-.2640^ -.2487^ (.006) (.009)

-.2327^ (.025)

Combined Anxiety n.s.



Controlling for subjects' number of children


d. Controlling for subjects' income

TABLE 15

PARTIAL CORRELATION: SUBJECTS' AGE, INCOME AND EDUCATION LEVEL WITH MEDIA USE

72

Media Age Income

(Coefficient) (Significance)

Education

Newspapers

Magazines

Radio

Television

.3534" (.000)

.2483^ (.009)

-.2802^ (.004)

.4140 (,000)

n.s.

n.s.

n.s. n.s.


^Controlling for the subjects' education level

n.s.

n.s.

n.s.

-.2596' (.007)

'control l ing for the subjects' age

CHAPTER V

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

Summary

This study was designed to test:

1. Significant correlational relationships between women's

anxiety levels and their use of the various types of media in order to

determine whether a pattern of mass media use is predictive of their

anxiety levels;

2. Whether a woman*s extent of viewing soap opera programs has

a significant correlational relationship with her anxiety level;

3. Whether a woman's anxiety level reflects her preference for

certain types of television programs; and

4. Whether television viewing has a higher degree of relation

ship with women's anxiety levels than the use of other media.

A questionnaire was developed which measured media usage and

anxiety levels. Media usage was measured by the number of hours spent

each week reading newspapers and magazines, listening to the radio and

watching television and specific types of television programs, a higher

score being indicative of a higher level of use of that medium or tele

vision program.

Anxiety levels were measured on a five-point Likert scale

determined by the respondents' degree of agreement or disagreement with

73

74

statements pertaining to the subjects' self-esteem, interpersonal

relationships, the economy, politics and world affairs, a higher score

indicating a higher anxiety level. Combined anxiety was determined

by adding all the anxiety levels of a subject together.

The questionnaire was distributed to 417 women living in apart

ments and homes located in residential blocks randomly selected from

the 1970 Census of the city of Lubbock, Texas. A final sample of 250

questionnaires was obtained of which only 245 were usable.

Though only 245 usable questionnaires were returned a 95%

confidence level was achieved. Pretesting indicated that a 95%

confidence level could be reached due to the homogeneity of the sample

population on the variables being measured.

Only one of the four hypotheses presented in this study was

supported by the results obtained from the respondents. The first

hypothesis which stated that the higher the anxiety level reported by

an individual the more television viewing the individual will engage

in, was not supported as no significant relationships were found to

exist between the two variables.

The second hypothesis which stated that the higher a woman's

anxiety level the greater number of hours she will report spent watching

soap opera programs, was supported when interpreting the results in

terms of anxiety reducing, escape viewing. That is, the greater amount

of time spent by a woman viewing soap opera programs, the lower the

anxiety levels she will report due to the ability of soap opera programs

to allow the viewer to vicariously live out their fantasies and, also,

displace their anxiousness by temporarily forgetting their problems.

75

Results showed that those women reporting a low anxiety level reported

a higher amount of time spent viewing soap opera programs. The extent

of soap opera viewing by the respondents had a negative, significant

relationship with their self-esteem anxiety when controlling for the

subjects' number of children (r= -.1736), their interpersonal anxiety

when controlling for the subjects' age, income and education (r= -.3039),

their economic anxiety when controlling for the subjects' education

(r= -.3159), their political anxiety when controlling for the subjects'

education (r= -.2331), their world affairs anxiety when controlling for

the subjects' education (r= -.2083) and their combined anxiety when

controlling for the subjects' age, income and education (r= -.3003).

Soap operas may, also, help its viewers reduce their anxieties

by reinforcing the positive aspects of our society. Dr. John Lion,

a psychiatrist at the University of Maryland, notes that his patients

are helped by watching soap operas and observing how the characters cope

with life, make decisions and suffer from their misdoings.

The third hypothesis which stated that since soap opera

programs deal mainly with the self-esteem of the characters and the

interpersonal relationships of its characters, heavy viewers of soap

opera programs will report a higher level of anxiety in these two areas,

was not supported. Results obtained in the study did not show-any

significant relationships which supported this hypothesis.

The fourth hypothesis which stated that due to television's

lower demand on the viewer it will show a higher degree of relationship

to anxiety than the use of the other media, also, was not supported by

information gained by this study.

76

These results show that this study was a valuable instrument

in helping to determine how the relationship between a woman's

anxiety level and her extent of involvement with the media and tele

vision programs is indicated. A positive significant relationship was

found to be unnecessary in determining whether a positive relationship

exists between a woman's anxiety level and her extent of viewing soap

operas or her involvement with other media or other television programs.

It was found that a negative significant relationship may indicate a

positive relationship between program viewing habits of v omen and their

anxiety levels when considering how the program may affect the viewer's

anxiety level, as well as, how the viewer mc y be influenced by television

programs.

The questionnaire used in this study proved to be a capable

tool for measuring the media use and anxiety levels of women. It would

be a confident instrument, therefore, to use in studying different and

larger populations in an effort to determine the relationships that

exist between specific television programs and media and the character

istics of the viewers' and users' world such as anxiety and other

psychological traits.

Recommendations

The questionnaire used in this study could be improved in

several ways. More statements could be used to help determine more

precisely the various degrees of anxiety levels. Questions concerning

the type of magazine and newspaper articles read by the subjects could

be added to help determine more precisely the type of articles

preferred by the respondents. Additional questions could be added to

77

ascertain the type of radio programs preferred by the respondents,

also.

The aforementioned are recommendations for further research

on the problem for which this study was designed and which deems fur-

thur attention and research.

Practical Applications

Information gained from this study lends itself to a greater

insight into the type of viewing habits women have. This information

would offer the program producers, the networks and the television

stations more data on which to base their decisions on what type of

programs to schedule and produce in order to obtain larger audiences.

An indication as to the use of television programs by women may, also,

be offered by the data obtained in this study which could aid in

programming decisions, too.

Advertisers may find information in this study helpful in

directing their advertising campaigns, as well as, the message of their

commercials. Basically, this study reinforces the present advertising

thrusts for daytime television programs in which the housewife is the

major target of commercials.

Results from this study, also, give media programming persons

support for the idea of developing serial-type programs for their

audiences especially with the success of programs like "Soap," "Roots"

and "Rich Man, Poor Man." It may indicate that media audiences like

to be lead on to some extent or that modern man has the great desire to

see how a program ends. This study certainly reinforces the soap opera

78

format and its success and may point toward this type of format as

perhaps the most productive in terms of ratings.

LIST OF REFERENCES

Anderson, James A, and Meyer, Timothy P. "Functional ism and the Mass Media." Journal of Broadcasting 19, (1), Winter, 1975, pp. 11-22.

Bandura, Albert. Social Learning Theory. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1977.

Baran, Stanley J. and Meyer, Timothy P. "Imitation and Identification: Two Compatible Approaches to Social Learning from the Electronic Media." Audio-Visual Communications Review 22, (2), 1974, pp. 167-179: ~"

Barbie, Ana. "Participation or Escape?" Journal of Communication 26, (2), 197 , pp. 36-42.

Barton, Richard L. "Soap Operas Provide Meaningful Communication for the Elderly." Feedback 19 (3),'November 1977, pp. 5-8.

\^ Bauer, Raymond A. and Bauer, Alice. "America, 'Mass Society' and Mass Media." In Charles S. Steinberg (ed,). Mass Media and Communication. New York: Hastings House, 1966, pp. 429-446.

DeFleur, Melvin. "Occupational Roles as Portrayed on Television." Public Opinion Quarterly 28, (1), 1964, pp. 57-74.

Dembo, R. "Lifestyle and Media Use Among English Working-class Youths." Gazette 18, 1972.

Downing, Mildred. "Heroine of the Daytime Serial." Journal of Communication 24, (2), 1974, pp. 130-137,

Edmonson, Madeline and Rounds, David. The Soaps: Daytime Serials of Radio and TV. New York: Stein and Day, 1973.

Fass, Paula S. "Television as Cultural Document: Promises and Problems." In Richard Adler and Douglass Cater (eds.). Television as a Cultural Force. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1976, pp. 37-57,

Feshbach, Seymour. "The Role of Fantasy in the Response to Television." Journal of Social Issues 32, (4), 1976, pp. 71-85.

Friedman, Eliot. In Elihu Katz and David Foulkes, "On the Use of the Mass Media as 'Escape': Clarification of a Concept." Public Opinion Quarterly 26, (3), 1962, pp. 377-388,

79

80

Gerbner, George and Gross, Larry, "Living with Television: The Violence Profile." Journal of Communication 26, (2), 1976, pp. 173-199.

"The Scary World of TV's Heavy Viewer." Psychology Today 9, (4), April, 1976, pp. 41-45 and 89.

Glynn, Eugene David. "Television and the American Character—A Psychiatrist Looks at Television." In William Y. Elliott (ed.). Television's Impact on American Culture, East Lansing, Michiganl Michigan State University Press, 1956.

Goldsen, Rose K. The Show and Tell Machine. New York: Dial Press, 1975.

, "Assembly-Line Violence—Pictube Guns," The Cornell Journal of Social Relations 11, (1), 1976, pp. 39-45.

Gutman, Jonathan. "Self-Concepts and Television Viewing Among Women." Public Opinion Quarterly 37, (3), 1973, pp. 388-397,

Hanratty, Margaret A.; O'Neal, Edgar; and Sulzer, Jefferson L, "Effect of Frustration Upon Imitation of Aggression," Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 21, (1), 1972, pp, 30-34.

Herzog, Herta. "What Do We Really Know About Daytime Serial Listeners?' In Bernard Berlson and Morris Janowitz, A Reader In Public Opinion and Communcation. New York: Free Press, 1953, pp. 352-365.

Horton, Donald and Wohl, R. Richard. "Mass Communication and Para-Social Interaction: Observations on Intimacy at a Distance." Psychiatry 19, (3), August, 1956, pp, 215-229,

Hyman, Herbert H. "Mass Communications and Socialization," Public Opinion Quarterly 37, (4), 1973-74, pp, 524-538,

Johnstone, John W. C, "Social Structure and Patterns of Mass Media Consumption." Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation. University of Chicago, 1961.

Kaplan, Frederick I. "Intimacy and Conformity in American Soap Opera." Journal of Popular Culture 9,(3), Winter, 1975, pp. 622-625.

Kaplan, Robert M. and Singer, Robert D. "Television Violence and Viewer Aggression: A Reexamination of the Evidence." Journal of Social Issues 32, (4), Fall, 1976, pp. 35-70,

Katz, Elihu; Blumler, Jay G.; and Gurevitch, Michael, "Uses and Gratifications Research." Public Opinion Quarterly 37, (4), 1973-74, pp. 509-521.

81

Katz, Elihu and Foulkes, David. "On the Use of the Mass Media as 'Escape': Clarification of a Concept." Public Opinion Quarterly 26, (3), 1962, pp. 377-388.

Katz, Elihu; Gurevitch, Michael; and Haas, Hadassha. "On the Use of the Mass Media for Important Things." American Sociological Review 38, (2), April, 1976, pp. 164-18T:

Katzman, Natan. "Television Soap Operas: What's Been Going On Anyway?" Public Opinion Quarterly 36, (2), Summer, 1972, pp. 200-2111

Kilguss, Anne F. "Using Soap Operas as a Therapeutic Tool." Social Casework 55,(9), November, 1974, pp, 525-530.

Kinzer, Nora Scott. "Soapy Sin in the Afternoon." Psychology Today August, 1973, pp. 78-81.

Klapper, Joseph T. The Effects of Mass Communication, Glencoe, Illinois: Free Press, 1961.

Lazarsfeld, Paul F. and Kendall, Patricia L. The People Look at Radio-Again. New York: Prentice-Hall, 1948.

Lazarsfeld, Paul F. and Merton, Robert K. "Mass Communication, Popular Taste and Organized Social Action.'" In Lyman Bryson (ed.). The Communication of Ideas. New York: The Institute of Religion and Social Studies, 1948, pp. 95-118.

Leckenby, John D. and Surlin, Stuart H. "Incidental Social Learning and Viewer Race." Journal of Broadcasting 20, (4), Fall, 1976, pp. 481-494.

Levine, Grace Ferrari. "Learned Helplessness and the Evening News." Journal of Communication 27, (4), 1977, pp. 100-105.

Lichty, Lawrence W. "'The Real McCoys' and Its [sic] Audience: A Functional Analysis." Journal of Broadcasting 9, Spring, 1965, pp. 157-166.

Lion, John R. "Always the Violence." Baltimore Sun, February 18, 1973. In Horace Newcomb, TV: The Most Popular Art. Garden City, New York: Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1974, pp. 180-181,

LoSciuto, Leonard A. "A National Inventory of Television Viewing Behavior." TV and Social Behavior 4, 1972, pp, 33-86.

Maccoby, Eleanor E. "Why Do Children Watch Television?" Public Opinion Quarterly 18, (3), 1954, pp. 239-244.

82

McQuail, Denis; Blumler, Jay G.; and Brown, J. R. "The Television Audience: A Revised Perspective," In D, McQuail (ed.), Sociology of Mass Communications, London: Penguin Books, 1972, pp. 135-165.

Mankiewicz, Frank and Swerdlow, Joel. Remote Control-Television and the Manipulation of American Life, New York: Times Books, 1978.

Menaker, Dan. "Art and Artiface in Network News." Harper's. October, 1972, pp. 40-47.

Newcomb, Horace. TV: The Most Popular Art. New York: Anchor Press/ Doubleday, 1974.

Nielsen Reports. "TV Viewing is Still on the Increase." Advertising Age. May 24, 1971, p. 14.

Nixon, Agnes Eckhardt. "In Daytime TV the Golden Age is Now." Television Quarterly. Winter, 1972, pp. 51-52. In Horace Newcomb, TV: The Most Popular Art. Garden City, New York: Anchor Press/ Doubleday, 1974, pp. 179-182.

Novic, Kenneth and Landman, Peter M. "How the Use of the Mass Media Affects Views on Solutions to Environmental Problems." Journalism Quarterly 51, (3), 1971, pp. 448-452.

Pearl in, Leonard. "Stress and Escape Television Viewing." Public Opinion Quarterly 23, (2), 1959, pp. 255-259.

Perrow, Maxwell Vermilyea. "A Description of Similarity of Personality Between Selected Groups of Television Viewers and Certain Television Roles Regularly Viewed by Them." Audio-Visual Communication Review 19, (1), 1971, pp. 125-126.

Piepe, Anthony; Emerson, Miles; and Lannon, Judy. Television and the Working Class. Lexington, Mass.: Saxon House/Lexington Books, 1975.

Ramsdell, M. D. "The Trauma of TV's Troubled Soap Families." lhe_ Family Coordinator 22, (3), 1973, pp. 299-304.

Rosenblatt, Paul C. and Cunningham, Michael R. "Television Watching and Family Tensions." Journal of Marriage and the Family 38, (1), 1976, pp. 105-111.

Ryan, Kevin. "Television as a Moral Educator." In Richard Adler and Douglass Cater (eds.). Television as a Cultural Force. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1976, pp. 111-127.

Seligman, Martin E, P. Helplessness. San Francisco: W, H, Freeman and Company, 1975.

83

Silvey, Robert. "Reflections on the Impact of Broadcasting." In Jeremy Tunstall (ed.). Media Sociology. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1970, pp. 305-314.

Steinberg, Charles S. (ed.). Mass Medium and Communication. New York: Hastings House, 1966.

Stephenson, William. The Play Theory of Mass Communications. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1967.

Tan, Alexis S. "Why TV Is Missed: A Functional Analysis." Journal of Broadcasting 21, (3), 1977, pp. 371-380,

Thomas, Margaret Hanratty and Drabman, Ronald S. "Toleration of Real Life Aggression as a Function of Exposure to Televised Violence and Age of Subject." Merrill-Palmer Quarterly 21, (3), 1975, pp. 227-232.

Thorburn, David. "Television Melodrama." In Richard Adler and Douglass Cater (eds.). Television as a Cultural Force. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1976, pp. 77-94.

Tuchman, Gaye. "Mass Media Values." Society 14, (1), 1976, pp. 51-54.

U.S. Bureau of the Census. 1970 Census of Population--General Population Characteristics (Texas). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, October, 1971.

. Statistical Abstract of the United States. 98th Annual Edition. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, September, 1977.

Wenner, Lawrence. "Functional Analysis of TV Viewing for Older Adults." Journal of Broadcasting 1, Winter, 1976, pp. 77-88.

Wiebe, Gerhardt D. "Two Psychological Factors in Media Audience Behavior." Public Opinion Quarterly 33, 1969, pp. 523-536.

Wood, Peter. "Television as Dream." In Richard Adler and Douglass Cater (eds.). Television as a Cultural Force. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1976, pp. 17-35.

Zillman, Dolf; Johnson, Rolland C ; and Hanrahan, John. "Pacifying Effect of Happy Ending of Communications Involving Aggression." Psychological Reports 32, 1973, pp. 967-970.

APPENDIX

QUESTIONNAIRE

85

ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS. ESTIMATES OF TIME SHOULD BE TO THE NEAREST HALF-HOUR.

married age

single divorced

number of children (your)occupation

remarried

ages of children

number of years in present religion occupation of mate

home

yearly income (combined)

number of number of number of number of number of number of number number number of number of number number number of number of number of

of of

of of

stening to radio ewing television ewing nighttime television_ ewing daytime television '_ ewing TV news

hours weekly reading newspapers hours weekly reading magazines " hours weekly li hours weekly vi hours weekly vi hours weekly vi hours weekly vi hours weekly vi hours weekly vi hours weekly vi hours weekly vi hours weekly vi hours weekly vi hours weekly viewing newspapers read each

ewing game shows ewing comedy shows_ ewing drama showsJ ewing soap operas_ ewing ewing

variety shows sports programs musical programs week (1 paper read each day counts as 1)

number of magazines read each week number of game shows watched each week (each time watched counts as 1)

number of soap operas watched each week (each time watched counts as 1)

number of soap operas watched regularly (program watched three or more times per week)

the highest level of education obtained by you

CIRCLE STATEMENT AS TO WHETHER YOU - strongly agree with the statement, agree with the statement, are not sure, disagree with the statement or strongly disagree with the statement.

EXAMPLE: The sky is blue. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

*If you strongly agree that the sky is blue you would circle strongly agree. **Be sure when changing an answer, if necessary, to note what your final response is.

86

VI- Variety shows are the best entertainment on TV today. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

111- Nice guys finish last. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

E5- The standard of living in the United States is declining. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

SOS- I watch soap operas solely for entertainment. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

11- Basically people are good and kind. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

PA2- For the most part the government serves the interest of a few organized groups, such as business or labor. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

Dl- A person can learn a lot from drama programs on TV. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

WA2- The threat of nuclear war is decreasing, strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

E5- The possibility of my children bettering themselves is greater than that of myself and my mate. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

501- A person can learn a lot from soap operas. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

12- Most of the people who get ahead in the world are dishonest and use others to get ahead. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

D8- Drama programs are more true to life than any other type of program on TV. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

15- Most people are more concerned about themselves than others. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

PA7- Our voting system allows for the little man to be heard. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

502- The situations portrayed by soap operas are realistic. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

WA4- The ability of the United States to protect its citizens is decreasing. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

87

SEl- I often wish I were someone else. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

PAl- I believe public officials don't care much what people like me think. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

WA6- The United States holds the key to world peace. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

WA3- The threat of nuclear war is very real. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

E8- The economic situation in the United States is improving. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

SOS- I watch soap operas to forget about my problems, at least for a short while. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

S07- Soap operas are very believable. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

WA7- The ability of the United States to influence world affairs is decreasing. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

SE5- I can not be depended upon. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

N3- News presentations in our country are sometimes restricted by government pressure. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

110- Faith in others is essential for survival these days. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

19- You've probably got to hurt somebody if you are going to make something of yourself today. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

WAl- The United States' position in the world is declining, strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

PA5- People like me don't have any say about what the government does. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

N2- News programs often exaggerate stories they present. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

D5- Drama shows are the most entertaining programs on TV today. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

88

SI- Sports programs are becoming too numerous. strongly aqree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

S04- Soap operas offer solutions to problems most people face. strongly aqree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

14- It is hard to get ahead without using other people. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

PA4- Sometimes politics and government seem so complicated that I can t really understand what is going on. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

PA6- Though the government seems impotent it does get things done better than any other system of government could, strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

N6- News programs fight for the rights of the little man in our country. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

N5- News programs always give a correct report on what happened. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

El- My husband has gotten as far as he can possibly go in his profession (job). strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

SE6- I often get discouraged at what I am doing. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

D7- Drama shows offer no solutions to the problems they create or show. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

N4- News programs often create stories themselves. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

N7- Newsmen are more crooked than the government. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

Tl- Many people are addicted to television. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

D2- Drama shows are realistic. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

SE3- I'm a lot of fun to be with. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

S08- The number of extra-marital affairs depicted in soap operas are very close to the actual number that occur in real life, strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

89

D3- Drama shows are too violent in nature. strongly aqree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

WA5- The United States remains the most powerful nation in the world, strongly aqree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

SE7- There are a lot of things about myself I would change if I could, strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

E4- The progress of my mate toward success has been disappointing, strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

PAS- As the government is now organized and operated, I think it is hopelessly incapable of dealing with all of the crucial problems facing our country today. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

17- Basically other people don't care what happens to you. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

16- If you don't look out for yourself, others will take advantage of you. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

Nl- I only believe % of the information I get from news programs 75 to 100% 50 to 75% 50% 25 to 50% less than 25%

D6- Drama shows often create impossible situations. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

S06- Soap operas exaggerate real life situations most of the time, strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

18- If you start doing favors for people, they will just walk all over you. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

SE2- I can make up my mind without too much trouble. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

E3- The chance of advancement for my family is very limited. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

E7- The economic situation in the United States is getting worse. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

D4- Drama shows contain too much sex today. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

13- Anyone who completely trusts others is asking for trouble. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

90

S09- % of all women in the United States watch at least one soap opera regularly. 75 to 100% 50 to 75% 50% 25 to 50% less than 25%

E2- The chance of advancement for my husband is very limited. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

T4- My children watch whatever they want. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

112- One of the best ways to judge a man is by his success in his job or career. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

SE4- Most people are better liked than I am. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

T3- I am very careful about what my children see on TV. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

WA8- The United States is still the most influential nation in the world. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

T2- I could stop watching TV for a week without any effect upon my personality or interactions with other people. strongly agree agree not sure disagree strongly disagree

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR TIME. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ASK THE PERSON WHO GAVE YOU THIS QUESTIONNAIRE OR WRITE B. R, COOK IN CARE OF THE MASS COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT, TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY, LUBBOCK, TEXAS, 79409.

-Have a very nice day and thank you again-

Date post:	21-Apr-2023
Category:	Documents
Upload:	khangminh22
View:	0 times
Download:	0 times

soap opera viewing and anxiety levels of women

Documents