Television shows may promote racial discrimination

Washington, Feb 21 : Viewers can be influenced by exposure to racial bias in the media, even without realizing it, says a new study.

The study, led by Dana Mastro of the University of Arizona, exposed participants to television clips where Latinos were portrayed in both flattering and unflattering ways.

In the study, first by using a simulated television script, Latinos were presented in a variety of roles which differed in terms of the degree of intelligence and educational attainment associated with the main character.

Next, additional participants were exposed to actual television programming, providing a more valid television viewing experience.

Although the simulated scripts offered greater control, viewing actual programming more closely reproduced an authentic television encounter.

Exposure to stereotypes produced unfavorable effects on the viewers. When the target character was white, no association was made between racial identification and evaluations of the character.

However, with relative consistency, when the target character was Latino, as viewer racial identification increased, perceptions of the character's education and qualifications decreased.

The finding indicates that stereotype-based processing may occur based on media exposure, even when at a conscious level people try to dismiss what they are seeing as harmless. Indeed, TV images not only affected what the viewers thought about minorities, but also led to an us-versus-them mentality.

"Just as people can develop their views about others through dialogue and interaction with others in society, the same types of outcomes can emerge based simply on watching television," Mastro said.

"The quality of the images presented on television carries a consequence. Ultimately, even fictional TV content can perpetuate stereotypes which may promote real-world discrimination," Mastro added.

The study is published in the journal Human Communication Research.

ANI