Dependency Theory
media depends on the social context
(or: Media System Dependency Theory)
History and Orientation
Dependency theory was originally proposed by Sandra Ball-Rokeach and Melvin DeFleur (1976).
This theory merged out of the communication discipline.
Dependency theory integrates several perspectives: first, it combines perspectives from psychology with ingredients from social categories theory. Second, it integrates systems perspectives with elements from more causal approaches. Third, it combines elements of uses and gratifications research with those of media effects traditions, although its primary focus is less on effects per se than on rationales for why media effects typically are limited. Finally, a contextualist philosophy is incorporated into the theory, which also features traditional concerns with the content of media messages and their effects on audiences. Research generated by this model had tends to be more descriptive than explanatory or predictive.
Core Assumptions and Statements
Dependency theory proposes an integral relationship among audiences, media and the larger social system. This theory predicts that you depend on media information to meet certain needs and achieve certain goals, like uses-and-gratifications theory. But you do not depend on all media equally. Two factors influence the degree of media dependence. First, you will become more dependent on media that meet a number of your needs than on media that provide just a few. The second source of dependency is social stability. When social change and conflict are high, established institutions, beliefs, and practices are challenged, forcing you to reevaluate and make new choices. At such times your reliance on the media for information will increase. At other, more stable times your dependency on media may go way down.
The Essay on Karl Marx-theory Of Social Change
Theory of social change Marx’s focus on the process of social change is so central to this thinking that it informs all his writings. The motor force of history for Marx is not to be found in any extra-human agency, be it “providence” or the “objective spirit.” Marx insisted that men make their own history. Human history is the process through which men change ...
One’s needs are not always strictly personal but may be shaped by the culture or by various social conditions. In other words, individuals’ needs, motives, and uses of media are contingent on outside factors that may not be in the individuals’ control. These outside factors act as constraints on what and how media can be used and on the availability of other non-media alternatives. Furthermore, the more alternatives and individual had for gratifying needs, the less dependent he or she will become on any single medium. The number of functional alternatives, however, is not just a matter of individual choice or even of psychological traits but is limited also by factors such as availability of certain media.
Conceptual Model
This model is the general idea of the dependency theory.
Source: Ball-Rokeach & DeFleur (1976)
This model is more elaborated and shows more specific effects of the dependency theory.
Source: DeFleur & Ball Rokeach (1989)
Favorite Methods
To be added.
Scope and Application
Mass media (at micro, meso, macro level: individuals, interpersonal networks, organizations, social systems and societies).
Media Dependency Theory
Explanation of Theory:
This theory states that the more dependent an individual is on the media for having his or her needs fulfilled, the more important the media will be to that person.
Theorist: Sandra Ball-Rokeach and Melvin DeFleur
Date: 1976
Primary Article:
Ball-Rokeach, S. J., & DeFleur, M.L. (1976).
A dependency model of mass media effects. Communication Research, 3, 3-21.
The Essay on Individual Person
1.1 Person – centred is about providing care and support that is centred or focused on the individual and their needs. We are all individual and just because two people might have the same medical condition, for eg.Dementia, it does not mean that they require the same care and support. As a care worker I need to understand what the values are. There are eight person centred values: ...
Individual Interpretation:
This theory is based on the Uses and Gratifications Theory and ties into the Agenda Setting Theory. Uses and Grats identifies how people use and become dependent upon the media. People use the media for many reasons. Information, entertainment, and parasocial relationships are just a few of them. The Dependency Theory says the more a person becomes dependent on the media to fulfill these needs, the media will become more important to that individual. The media will also have much more influence and power over that individual. If someone is so dependent on the media for information, and the media is that person’s only source for information, then it is easy to set the agenda. The individual falls victim to Agenda Setting. As you can see, these three theories intertwine quite a bit.
Critique:
Media Dependency Theory is Relatively Scientific in nature. It predicts a correlation between media dependence and importance and influence of the media, but each person uses the media in different ways. Also, the media affects each person in different ways. According to Chaffee & Berger ‘s 1997 criteria for scientific theories, this theory is a pretty good one.
* It has explanatory power, but more of predictive power because it predicts how dependency on the media correlates with importance of the media to a certain person.
* It is relatively simple to understand, so it is parsimonious.
* It can be proven false. If a person is not dependent on the media, media will not be of great importance to that individual.
* It is internally consistent, with meta-theoretical assumptions on the same side of the continuum.
* It is a springboard to further research, especially so, since it came from other theories.
* It helps to organize and relate other media effect theories.
Example:
Let me introduce you to Sunny, a friend of mine from Los Angeles who now resides in Lexington, KY. When Sunny lived in L.A., he would ask his mother what the weather was going to be for the day. It was usually sunny. Now that he lives in Lexington, where the weather is sporadic, Sunny uses the media for information about the weather. Every morning, he gets up and turns on the weather channel on the television, reads the paper, and checks the internet, all for the local forecast for the day. He has become very dependent on the media. One month, Sunny forgot to pay the electric bill, and his service was disconnected. He didn’t know what to do. He had no idea what to put on for the day, because he relied so heavily upon the media for information. Sunny could have easily looked outside or called a friend, but he was depending on the media to provide him with the information he needed.
The Term Paper on Media Theories
Sociological theories: The sociological approach to communication theory is based on the assumption that there exists a definite relationship between mass communication and social change. 1. CULTIVATION THEORY History Cultivation theory was an approach propounded by Professor George Gerbner, dean of the Annenberg School of Communications at the University of Pennsylvania. He began the &# ...
