Routledge Media Effects and Society (Routledge Communication Series)

Grounded in theoretical principle, Media Effects and Society help students make the connection between mass media and the impact it has on society as a whole. The text also explores how the relationship individuals have with media is created, therefore helping them alleviate its harmful effects and enhance the positive ones. The range of media effects addressed herein includes news diffusion, learning from the mass media, socialization of children and adolescents, influences on public opinion and voting, and violent and sexually explicit media content. The text examines relevant research done in these areas and discusses it in a thorough and accessible manner. It also presents a variety of theoretical approaches to understanding media effects, including psychological and content-based theories. In addition, it demonstrates how theories can guide future research into the effects of newer mass communication technologies. The second edition includes a new chapter on effects of entertainment, as well as text boxes with examples for each chapter, discussion of new technology effects integrated throughout the chapters, expanded pedagogy, and updates to the theory and research in the text. These features enhance the already in-depth analysis Media Effects and Society provides. Review Praise for the First Edition: "A comprehensive, integrated overview of nearly all aspects of empirical research on mass media influence, with good explanations of concepts and theories. Probably still the best such volume available." -- Denis McQuail in McQuail's Mass Communication Theory (6th edition, 2010) "The book is primarily intended for undergraduate and graduate students who take media effects courses. As such, it is a very friendly textbook and reveals the experience of its author in her years of teaching such courses. But the book is also an excellent starting text for researchers, especially from other fields, interested in the impact of the media on their audiences. The integration of theory and research in the main domains of media effects can provide those who study or conduct research in any area of media impact with an excellent review of concepts, theories, models,research tools, and findings...Perse, after successfully introducing to us the packed alcoves of the media effects 'store,' opens the last door, the one to the future 'products' of media effects, and leaves us there, equipped with theoretical tools to set out on the way."– Contemporary Psychology "...it is an attractive and very worthwhile book..."– Political Communication About the Author Elizabeth M. Perse (Ph.D., Kent State University, 1987) is Professor and Chair of the Department of Communication at the University of Delaware, Newark. She is currently researching and teaching mass communication theory and the uses of newer communication technologies. She has been identified as a prolific researcher in Communication, having published one scholarly book, two textbooks, and more than 50 journal articles and book chapters. Her research has been published in such journals as Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, Communication Research, Journal of Communication, Human Communication Research, Communication Quarterly, Communication Research Reports, Journalism Quarterly, and Health Communication. She serves on several editorial boards and is a past Chair of the Mass Communication Division of NCA. Jennifer L. Lambe (Ph.D., University of Minnesota, 2000) is an associate professor in the Communication Department, and a senior fellow of the Center for Political Communication at the University of Delaware. Her research focuses on media policy, freedom of expression, audience attitudes about censorship and the role of audience perceptions of media effects in shaping those attitudes. She has published more than 20 journal articles and book chapters, as well as a number of encyclopedia entries and book reviews. Her work on censorship attitude measure