Television & Its Cultivation Effects on Iranians’ Cultural Identity

Abstract

This paper explains the effects of TV on culture by an emphasis on ethnical and national identities. The provided results which have been obtained from a part of a scientific research in IRIB research center show that on one hand, messages on some issues have been repeatedly broadcasted from IRI TV in three sections namely satiric programs, news and serials and watchers have been exposed to these messages, and on the other hand, watching TV has no influence on ethnical identity of the individuals. For national identity, the results of multivariable regression proves that level of watching TV has been entered into the equation and has been known as the third influential element after variables including communication network domain and level of individuals’ self confidence. On the whole, despite the fact that IRI TV produces and broadcasts messages regarding any of the identity issues under investigation, yet such messages are beside other influential elements and TV has been an effective element on the view of addressees regarding identity after social system variables. Moreover, the investigation showed that despite Gerbner’s Cultivation theory, TV in Iran has no Cultivation influence on the minds of addressees and people are more under the influence of other social system variables.

Keywords

• Communication
• Content analysis
• Cultivation
• Culture
• Identity
• Influence Measurement
• Iran
• Television