How Men In The Media Influence Attitudes Towards Gender Roles Essay Example

the effects of advertising could be a valuable starting point for addressing this gap.

Currently, there are few studies available on gender role stereotypes in advertising. However, a longitudinal content analysis conducted in 1959, 1969, and 1979 on nine magazines revealed that advertisements featuring men are slowly moving towards decreased gender role stereotypes. Despite this, traditionally male magazines like Esquire and Field & Stream did not show as much progress in reducing the proportion of advertisements depicting men engaged in "manly" activities compared to traditionally female and general interest magazines (Skelly & Luridstrom, 1981; England & Gardner, 1983). Jacobson and Mazur (1995) further argue that present-day advertising promotes a "masculine ideal" which encourages men to exude physical strength, power, dominance, and detachment while suppressing and despising their "feminine" traits such as vulnerability and compassion. Thus, although there might be some improvements in portraying masculinity in advertising within certain print genres, the traditional image of the strong and assertive man remains widely represented. In relation to complex attitudinal topics such as gender role attitudes, individuals usually possess a mixture of knowledge and beliefs that may not always align with one another (Wilson & Hodges, 1992; Smith, 1992). The attitude one holds at a particular moment will depend partly on which subset of information is most prominent.

Although attitudes may not always undergo significant changes, contextual factors are found to have an impact on them, suggesting that attitudes are not static but rather dynamic. Instead of being fixed in one form in memory, attitudes seem to be constructed in the moment, partly influenced by current considerations. Attitudinal shifts are likely to be more noticeable when issues are characterized by

ambiguity or ambivalence. In today's society, messages regarding acceptable male behavior are mixed. Certain social influences highlight the importance of traditionally masculine and assertive traits, while others prioritize the development of the communal aspect of male psychology. Consequently, it is highly plausible that many men hold attitudes about appropriate male conduct based on somewhat conflicting ideas and guidelines.

These attitudes can be influenced by different factors, leading to the adoption of more traditional or less traditional views of masculinity. Schwarz and Bless (1992) propose an "inclusion/exclusion model" to study how attitudes are influenced by the context. In the current context, this model suggests that when viewers see media images of men, their judgments about the male role may align with that particular media image if they incorporate it into their existing understanding of masculinity. However, if viewers exclude a certain male media image from their gender-role representations, either their judgments will not be affected by the image or they will use it as a comparison against which other relevant information will be assessed. For instance, a male exemplar who is perceived as too feminine may be excluded from a viewer's mental representation of the male role.

Furthermore, if individuals use an unusual example as a standard for comparison, their judgments of appropriate behavior for certain roles may actually become more traditionally masculine. The inclusion or exclusion of this specific example in individuals' perceptions of gender roles will depend on various factors, such as the extent of their perceptions. As individuals' perceptions of the male role expand, they are more likely to incorporate male media figures into their understanding of what it means to be male. It is

worth noting that media portrayals will only affect viewers' subsequent judgments if these depictions significantly deviate from their preexisting perceptions. If the media representations align closely with viewers' existing understanding of gender roles, then these images will not prompt any desire to alter their perceptions or judgments based on them.

Despite the indication that media images can influence viewers' attitudes (e.g., Gels, Brown, Jennings (Walstedt), ; Porter, 1984), it is evident that not all viewers are equally affected. In a comprehensive review of television and gender-role acquisition, Durkin (1985) criticizes previous research for neglecting to consider the degree of variability in how viewers respond to messages or images in mass media. According to Durkin, most studies on the impact of gender roles solely examine the overall effect of the medium without exploring individual difference variables that might moderate this impact. Supporting Durkin's viewpoint is a study on racial attitudes which reveals that viewers' preexisting attitudes influence their reactions to a television program.

In a study examining the reactions to Archie Bunker in the TV show "All in the Family," researchers discovered that white viewers with high levels of prejudice identified more with Archie Bunker and saw him as a winner rather than someone being mocked. These viewers also saw no issue with his use of racial and ethnic slurs (Vidmar; Rokeach, 1974). We hypothesize that the influence of male media figures will be affected by the gender role attitudes of the viewers. For instance, research has shown that boys and girls who express more feminine preferences tend to relate more to male characters who defy stereotypes compared to children who have more masculine preferences (Eisenstock, 1984). While

men with less traditional attitudes hold more progressive views, they are still part of a society that responds positively to men who display traditional masculine behaviors and negatively to those who exhibit feminine gender roles.

According to Kanner (1990, May 21), men are reluctant to give up their traditionally masculine style and become "domesticated wimps" (p. 20). To support this argument, Barbara Durham, associate director of consumer resources for a large advertising firm, stated that while roles are changing, it is important not to take away men's masculinity. This situation implies that less traditional men, in comparison to men who uphold traditional attitudes towards the male gender role, may have a broader view of what it means to be male, encompassing both traditional and nontraditional aspects. Consequently, less traditional men's attitudes towards gender roles may be less stable and more susceptible to momentary influences, such as those present in advertising, due to the greater complexity and range of their attitudes.

In contrast, traditional men may have a narrower and more defined view of the male role. Consequently, they are likely to exclude exemplars who do not fit this narrow conception from their mental representations. It follows that the attitudes of more traditional men are less influenced by momentary factors, as they only incorporate exemplars who align with their narrow worldview. Additionally, studies suggest that conservative thought is linked to authoritarian personality characteristics (Dillehay, 1978; Duncan, Peterson, ; Winter, 1997). Authoritarian individuals respond defensively to counter-attitudinal information. Ego defensiveness, according to research by D. Katz (1960), is a significant barrier to attitude change. Furthermore, Wagman (1955) found that authoritarian individuals become even more prejudiced when exposed to

counter-attitudinal information.

Moreover, individuals who strongly adhere to gender stereotypes may react negatively when confronted with deviations from societal norms (Ruble and Stangor, 1986). In a study by Signorella and Liben (1984), it was observed that children with strong gender stereotypes tend to recall traditional images more frequently than nontraditional ones and are more likely to interpret nontraditional images as traditional. This implies that those who closely follow traditional gender roles have narrower and less complex attitudes towards male gender roles, making them less susceptible to conflicting portrayals of males in media. Conversely, men who hold less traditional views may have developed stronger resistance against external influences on their gender-related attitudes. Their adoption of nontraditional views suggests they have built defenses against the prevalent but restrictive ideals of male behavior. Consequently, this study aims to investigate whether the level of traditionalism in viewers' pre-exposure attitudes is linked to the likelihood that their reported attitudes will be influenced by exposure to an advertising image.

According to Bandura's (1986) cognitive social learning theory, the influence of a media model may be influenced by whether the exemplar captures the viewer's attention. Bandura refers to this as the "sway of attention" (p. 54), suggesting that observers are more likely to imitate models who are interesting and rewarding, while disregarding or rejecting models who are unappealing. Based on social learning theory, if individuals who exhibit both masculine and feminine behaviors (androgynous individuals) are seen as more attractive compared to those who fit into only one category, it can be expected that viewers will be most inclined to emulate these media models.

However, according to Schwarz and Bless (1992), assimilation depends on an exemplar

being categorized based on a relevant dimension for the judgment. Therefore, it is possible that men include the models in their mental representations of the male gender role regardless of their liking for them. The current research aims to examine whether liking for a media model is a factor in assimilating that model into one's representations. Additionally, it is expected that similarities between the viewers and the media models will further enhance the influence of media images.

The literature on attitude change and attraction suggests that observers are often attracted to models who are similar to themselves. This similarity is believed to increase persuasion by affecting both the credibility and attractiveness of the source. Hass's (1981) review of persuasive messages indicates that when the speaker is similar to the audience, it leads to greater persuasion because it enhances the attractiveness of the message source. Similarly, Tan (1985) suggests that when there are many shared characteristics, receivers perceive the source as being "one of us" or "our kind of people", leading them to believe that they have common needs and goals with the message source. McGuire (1985) also proposes that people assume sources who differ demographically also differ ideologically. Therefore, models who are demographically similar to university students (e.g., in their early twenties rather than their late sixties) are expected to be perceived as more similar and attractive, thus increasing acceptance of the modeled behavior.

According to the inclusion/exclusion model, viewers may not include dissimilar examples in their mental representation of the male gender role. Research suggests that different types of men shown in advertisements (highly androgynous, mildly androgynous, or traditionally masculine) can impact the gender role attitudes

expressed by men soon after seeing these images. However, this influence can be influenced by the participants' own gender role attitudes (more or less traditional) and the demographic similarity between the models in the media and the viewers (college age or retirement age).