Cultivation in the newer media environment

The cultivation perspective holds that heavy exposure to television's consistent messages leads viewers to be more fearful and mistrustful of others. The widespread adoption and use of new television technologies, however, may alter how television viewing cultivates social reality beliefs by allowing for greater programming diversity and greater viewer control. Two random-digit- dialed telephone surveys of adults in two U.S. cities were conducted to test the impact of cable, VCRs, and remote control devices on fear of crime and interpersonal mistrust. It was found that whereas interpersonal mistrust was linked to greater exposure to cable's broadcast-type channels, both fear of crime and mistrust were negatively related to increased exposure to more specialized and diverse cable channels. Fear of crime was also linked negatively to VCR ownership. The discussion suggests that mass communication researchers continue to explore the impact of new television technologies on traditional media effects.