A Social Identidy Model of Media Usage and Effects

Abstract. We propose a social identity model of media usage and effects. This model explains how the media might cultivate power arrangements (i.e., promote social stasis) on the one hand, and contribute to social change on the other. We argue that current media theories are ill-equipped to meet both of these explanatory challenges. The model integrates (1) social identity processes with (2) Herman and Chomsky’s (1988) propaganda model, and (3) Abrams, Eveland, and Giles’s (2003) work on media images and group vitality. Social stasis is produced when the social environment is stable, and when people with status quo-consistent beliefs (i.e., social mobility and social creativity) engage with the media to confirm their beliefs. Social change occurs when people with socially competitive beliefs engage in actions (e.g., riots, peace marches) that re-inform others as to the instability and illegitimacy (among other things) of the current status and power relations in the world. If these actions are sufficientl...

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