This study examined the interplay between social identity and media dependency in the prediction of safe sex attitudes in the gay community. A sample of 76 gay men completed a survey measuring (a) frequency of gay media use and media dependency, (b) identification with the gay community and perceptions of community norms, and (c) personal attitudes toward safe sex. Consistent with media system dependency theory, safe sex attitudes were a function of media dependency moderated by the frequency of media use. Somewhat consistent with social identity theory, attitudes were also predicted by group norms. More important, results indicated an across-domain interaction in which the association between media dependency and safe sex attitudes was more pronounced for men who identified strongly with the gay community; an effect that was partially mediated through norms. These results emphasize the social psychological basis of media influence in the context of community-based HIV prevention campaigns.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Aiken, L.
, & West, S. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
2.
Ajzen, I.
, & Fishbein, M. (1980). Understanding attitudes and predicting social behavior. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
3.
Ball-Rokeach, S.
(1985). The origins of individual media-system dependency: A sociological framework. Communication Research, 12, 485-510.
4.
Ball-Rokeach, S.
, & DeFleur, M. (1976). A dependency model of mass media effects. Communication Research, 3, 3-21.
5.
Ball-Rokeach, S.
, Hale, M., Schaffer, A., Porras, L., Harris, P., & Drayton, M. (1999). Changing the media production process: From aggressive to injury-sensitive traffic crash stories. In D. Demers & K. Viswanath (Eds.), Mass media, social control and social change: A macrosocial perspective (pp. 229-262). Ames: Iowa State University Press.
6.
Ball-Rokeach, S.
, Rokeach, M., & Grube, J. (1984). The great American values test: Influencing behavior and belief through television. New York: Free Press.
7.
Baron, R.
, & Kenny, D. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173-1182.
8.
Brosius, H.
, & Kepplinger, H. (1990). The agenda-setting function of television news. Communication Research, 17, 183-211.
9.
Brown, R.
, Condor, S., Mathews, A., Wade, G., & Williams, J. (1986). Explaining intergroup differentiation in an industrial organization. Journal of Occupational Psychology, 59, 273-286.
10.
DeFleur, M.
, & Ball-Rokeach, S. (1989). Theories of mass communication (5th ed.). New York: Longman.
11.
Dowsett, G.
(1994). Sexual contexts and homosexually active men in Australia. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service.
12.
Dowsett, G.
(1995). Sexual contexts, HIV prevention and gay men. Venereology, 8(4), 243-250.
13.
Elliot, W.
, & Rosenberg, W. (1987). Media exposure and beliefs about science and technology. Communication Research, 14(2), 164-188.
14.
Fishbein, M.
, & Ajzen, I. (1975). Belief, attitude, intention and behavior: An introduction to theory and research. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
15.
Fisher, J.
, & Misovich, S. (1990). Social influences and AIDS-preventive behavior. In J. Edwards, R. Tindale, L. Heath, & E. Posavac (Eds.), Social influence processes and prevention (pp. 39-70). New York: Plenum.
16.
Grant, A.
, Guthrie, K., & Ball-Rokeach, S. (1991). Television shopping: A media system dependency perspective. Communication Research, 18, 773-798.
17.
Halpern, P.
(1994). Media dependency and political perceptions in an authoritarian political system. Journal of Communication, 44(4), 39-52.
18.
Hirschburg, P.
, Dillman, D., & Ball-Rokeach, S. (1986). Media system dependency theory: Responses to the eruption of Mt. St. Helens. In S. Ball-Rokeach & M. Cantor (Eds.), Media, audience and social structure (pp. 117-126). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
19.
Kippax, S.
, Connell, R., Dowsett, G., & Crawford, J. (1993). Sustaining safe sex: Gay communities respond to AIDS. London: Falmer.
20.
Liska, A.
(1984). A critical examination of the causal structure of the Fishbein/Ajzen attitude-behavior model. Social Psychology Quarterly, 47, 61-74.
21.
Loges, W.
(1994). Canaries in the coal mine: Perceptions of threat and media system dependency relations. Communication Research, 21, 5-23.
22.
Loges, W.
, & Ball-Rokeach, S. (1993). Dependency relations and newspaper readership. Journalism Quarterly, 70(3), 602-614.
23.
Merskin, D.
(1999). Media dependency theory: Origins and directions. In D. Demers & K. Viswanath (Eds.), Mass media, social control and social change: A macrosocial perspective (pp. 77-98). Ames: Iowa State University Press.
24.
Owen, N.
, & Mylvaganam, A. (1991). AIDS prevention: Epidemiologic and behavioral perspectives. Australian Psychologist, 26(1), 11-17.
25.
Pallotta-Chiarolli, M.
(1998). Cultural diversity and men who have sex with men. New South Wales, Australia: National Centre in HIV Social Research.
26.
Price, V.
(1989). Social identification and public opinion: Effects of communicating group conflict. Public Opinion Quarterly, 53, 197-224.
27.
Tajfel, H.
(Ed.). (1978). Differentiation between social groups: Studies in the social psychology of intergroup relations. London: Academic Press.
28.
Tajfel, H.
, & Turner, J. (1979). An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. In W. Austen & S. Worchel (Eds.), The social psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 33-47). Monterey, CA: Brooks-Cole.
29.
Terry, D.
, & Hogg, M. (1996). Group norms and the attitude-behavior relationship: A role for group identification. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 22(8), 776-793.
30.
Tulloch, J.
(1992). Using TV in HIV/AIDS education: Production and audience cultures. Media Information Australia, 65, 10-27.
31.
Turner, J.
(1985). Social categorization and the self-concept: A social cognitive theory of group behavior. In E. Lawler (Ed.), Advances in group processes (Vol. 2, pp. 77-122). Greenwich, CT: JAI.
32.
Vallerand, R.
, Deshaies, P., Cuerrier, J., Pelletier, L., & Mongeau, C. (1992). Ajzen and Fishbein's theory of reasoned action as applied to moral behavior: A confirmatory analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 62(1), 98-109.
33.
Waring, H. (1996). Media system dependency and identity: The development of America's gay and lesbian alternative media and the transformation of homosexuality. Unpublished manuscript, University of Southern California at Los Angeles.
34.
White, K.
, Terry, D., & Hogg, M. (1994). Safer sex behavior: The role of attitudes, norms, and control factors. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 24(24), 2164-2192.
