Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Dutch

The way in which blacks are depicted in The Cosby Show deviates from stereotype expectations and the programme was very popular in the USA and South Africa. In this study the realism with which South African white and black children perceived The Cosby Show was compared with the perceived realism of American children according to a study by Brown, Austin and Roberts. In both studies socio-economic status or income and ethnic group membership had a significant bearing on perceived realism. A factor analysis of the South African data identified eight factors: role identification, peer group identification, family communication, preference for The Cosby Show, solving family problems, stereotyping, family interaction and perceived realism. A multiple linear regression analysis with role identification as dependent variable indicated that ethnic group membership and age were significant predictors. A path analysis revealed that family interaction, family communication and peer group identification were significant predictors of role identification. Peer group identification, role identification and family communication were significant predictors of preference for The Cosby Show. The conclusion is drawn that identification could play an important role in the popularity of The Cosby Show among South African children, and particularly among black children.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Banks

C.A.

(1975). A content analysis of the treatment of black Americans on television (ERIC Document 115 576). Washington: U.S. Department of Health, Education & Welfare.

Brown

B.M.

Austin

E.W.

Roberts

D.F.

(1987). ‘Real families’ versus ‘television families’: children's perceptions of realism in The Cosby Show. Unpublished paper presented to the Mass Communication Division at the Annual Conference of the International Communication Association, New Orleans, Louisiana.

Brown

(1976). Children and television. London: Collier-Macmillan.

Browne

M.W.

Cudeck

(1989). Single sample cross-validation indices for covariance structures. Manuscript submitted for publication.

Cristenson

P.G.

Roberts

D.F.

(1983). The role of television in the formation of children's social attitudes. In Howe

M.J.A.

(Ed.), Learning from television: Psychological and educational research (pp. 79–99). London: Academic Press.

De Beer

J.J.

(1988). Van klein kind tot skoolkind (From small child to schoolchild). Unpublished paper presented at a symposium of the Department of Empirical Education at the University of South Africa in collaboration with the Transvaal Afrikaans Parents' Association, University of South Africa, Pretoria.

Department of Broadcasting Research (1987). Relative popularity of television programmes. Johannesburg: SABC.

Frane

Jennrich

R.I.

Sampson

P.F.

(1979). BMDP4M. In Dixon

W.J.

Brown

M.B.

(Eds), BMDP statistical software (pp. 656–684). Berkeley: University of California Press.

Graves

S.B.

(1982). The impact of television on the cognitive and affective development of minority children. In Berry

G.L.

Mitchell-Kernan

(Eds), Television and the socialization of the minority child (pp. 37–67). New York: Academic Press.

10.

Greenberg

B.S.

(1972). Children's reactions to TV blacks. Journalism Quarterly, 49, 5–14.

11.

Greenberg

B.S.

Neuendorf

K.M.

(1980). Black family interactions on television. In Greenberg

B.S.

(Ed.), Life on television: Content analyses of U.S. TV drama (pp. 173–181). Norwood, N.J.: Ablex.

12.

Greenberg

B.S.

Reeves

(1976). Children and the perceived reality of television. Journal of Social Issues, 32(4), 86–97.

13.

Leifer

A.D.

Roberts

D.F.

(1972). Children's responses to television violence. In Murray

J.P.

Rubinstein

E.A.

Comstock

G.A.

(Eds), Television and social behavior: Reports and papers, Volume II (pp. 43–129). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

14.

Mels

(1988). A general system for path analysis with latent variables. Unpublished dissertation for a Masters degree of Science, University of South Africa, Pretoria.

15.

Noble

(1975). Children in front of the small screen. London: Constable.

16.

Pikunas

Albrecht

E.J.

(1969). Human development. New York: McGraw-Hill.

17.

Pitout

(1985a). Televisiekykpatrone van die skoolgaande jeug: Sekonděreskoolleerlinge (Television viewing patterns of the school-going youth: Secondary school students). Pretoria: HSRC.

18.

Pitout

(1985b). Televisiekykpatrone van standerd 3- tot 5- leerlinge (Television viewing patterns of Standard 3 to 5 pupils). Pretoria: HSRC.

19.

Reeves

Garramone

(1982). Children's person perception: The generalization from television people to real people. Human Communication Research, 8(4), 317–326.

20.

Reeves

Miller

M.M.

(1978). A multidimensional measure of children's identification with television characters. Journal of Broadcasting 22(1), 71–86.

21.

Reich

Adcock

(1976). Values, attitudes and behaviour change. London: Methuen.

22.

South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) (1987). Annual Report 1987. Johannesburg: SABC.

23.

Steiger

J.H.

Lind

J.C.

(1980). Statistically based test for the number of common factors. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Psychometric Society, Iowa City, IA.

24.

Van Vuuren

D.P.

(1979). Die invloed van televisie op enkele persoonlikheidstrukture van 'n groep Afrikaanssprekende standerd agt-leerlinge (The impact of television on some personality structures of a group of Afrikaans-speaking Standard 8 students). Pretoria: Human Sciences Research Council.

25.

Vorster

A.M.E.

(1988). 'n Ondersoek na die persepsie van The Cosby Show onder standerd agt-leerlinge in Bloemfontein (An investigation into the perception of The Cosby Show of a group of Standard 8 students in Bloemfontein). Unpublished research project, University of the Orange Free State, Bloemfontein.

Children's Perceptions of and Identification with the Social Reality of The Cosby Show : A Comparison between the USA and South Africa

Abstract

Get full access to this article

References