Muted group theory is a theory created by Cherish Kramarae stating that women are a muted group in society, and that men created and control the societal language. Sexual harassment is very common in the muted group theory as the power levels between men and women and different. This power level creates an imbalance with men trying to impose their power on women in the form of sexual expression. Typically people higher up in the workforce (usually men) harass lower level workers (usually women). There are very few cases of women sexually harassing men for this reason.

This theory suggest the way people communicate and speak to one another is determined by a majority of social guidelines. Social class, race, gender and age all play a large part in this theory. This theory claims that wherever a distinct culture is found, a distinct speech code can be found. Many cultures have various speech codes in their society providing boundaries for speech depending on the social hierarchy. The six rules for this theory are as follows:

– Wherever there is a distinctive culture, there is to be found a distinctive speech code
– In any given speech community, multiple speech codes are deployed
– A speech code involves a culturally distinctive psychology, sociology, and rhetoric
– The significance of speaking, depends on the speech codes used by speakers and listeners to create and interpret their communication
– The terms, rules, and premises of a speech code are inextricably woven into speaking itself
– The artful use of a shared speech code is a sufficient condition for predicting, explaining, and controlling the form of discourse about the intelligibility, prudence, and morality of communication conduct

This theory (although technically it is not a theory), suggests that men and women grow up, adapt and live in different world simultaneously. The perspectives, communication styles and actions from both male and females can be completely different. Men on one side tend to have more report speech (trying to establish dominance and higher status then others) whereas women tend to have more rapport speech (trying to establish a relationship and connect with others). This difference can be seen from studies down on young men and women from the age of 5-15. Women also tend to apologize, and listen more then men do, making them more passive. Women also are far less likely to be involved in fights because of this discrepancy.

This theory is defined as “a place from which to critically view the world around us”. Though our experiences we have different opinions and views on the world. Our standpoint can be determined by our gender, class, social status, race, etc. These different perspectives are core points for us on how we view the world. This theory suggests that these standpoints place a large role in on how our perspectives change and adapt socially, and to the world around us. Depending on ones situation, an individuals perspective can change drastically from one to the other.

An example of this could be found in the TV Series Breaking Bad, where Walter White, a school teacher must change and adapt to the underground drug world. He has different perspectives and interactions with people that are involved, until he himself must join them. He changes the way he talks, acts and carries himself once he discovers he is going to be a part of this new world.

The cultivation theory, developed by George Grubner, is a social theory that basically states the more a person watches or “lives” in a television world, the more they are to believe the social reality depicted by television. Usually, the reality depicted is a harsh, negative message; thus, the idea behind the ‘Mean World Syndrome’.

Here is an example from a survey taken in New Jersey:

In a survey of about 450 New Jersey schoolchildren, 73 percent of heavy viewers compared to 62 percent of light viewers gave the TV answer to a question asking them to estimate the number of people involved in violence in a typical week. The same survey showed that children who were heavy viewers were more fearful about walking alone in a city at night. They also overestimated the number of people who commit serious crimes. This effect is called ‘mean world syndrome’. One controlled experiment addressed the issue of cause and effect, manipulating the viewing of American college students to create heavy- and light-viewing groups. After 6 weeks of controlled viewing, heavy viewers of action-adventure programs were indeed found to be more fearful of life in the everyday world than were light viewers.

http://www.utwente.nl/cw/theorieenoverzicht/Theory%20Clusters/Media,%20Culture%20and%20Society/Cultivation_Theory-1/

Signs and symbols, either obvious or subliminal, control our emotions and thoughts through the media today. Daily, we see and interpret different signs that rouse different emotions and connections in our mind. These signs, though our culture, have been assigned to different feelings that are passed to us through constant exposure. In other words, these signs are automatically assigned a meaning in our heads through our culture and media. Every sign or symbols portrays a specific meaning in our lives. Indexical signs have a direct relation with what they portray, symbolic signs have little or no relation to what they portray, and iconic signs share a resemblance to what they represent.

Rhetoric is the art of persuasive public speaking or writing. It was founded in ancient Roman and Greek history and has remained prevalent throughout time. In its time of creation, the use of public speech was the single most popular version of media and influence. Using the 3 forms of persuasion (Logos, Ethos, Pathos), and art of speech was formed. Logical proof is logos, emotional persuasion is ethos and pathos covers the physiological persuasion. This art form is used today in Presidential Speeches (ie Reagans speech on the challenger explosion), and other public speeches.

Hirowaka and Gouran are the two major individuals regarding the FPGM theorem. They state that in order for a group to arrive at successful solutions they must follow the 4 steps to making group decisions. First, they must analyze the problem- discussing the cause and state of the problem can lead to easy solution. Next they must set goals in the group to help solve and determine solutions for the problem. The third step is identifying alternatives- an important step to finding different solutions to one problem. Lastly, the most important step; weighing the positives and negatives of the alternatives to see which outcome fits best. In order to arrive at the best outcome all steps must be completed within the group.

Cognitive Dissonance theory is a ‘distressing mental state that people feel when they find themselves doing things that don’t fit into their moral or opinions’. The tension of dissonance motivates the person to act against their beliefs or opinions in an effort to avoid a feeling of distress.

An example of this in media would be 50 cent in the movie Get Rich or Die Trying. From an early age he knows that drugs are harmful and can ruin life’s, however when he is caught between a life of near poverty and gang violence he decides to sell cocaine and other drugs to make ends meet. Although he never indulges into doing the drugs, the idea of selling them goes against his morals and beliefs.

This theory is based around the idea that people interacting create their own reality and construct, shaping their environment through conversation. This theory has a practical application.

An example of this would be Shutter Island, where a schizophrenic murderer (Leonardo DiCaprio) lives in, and believes a reality that is not true. His understanding of the world is falsified because he shapes it in his mind. When Leonardo meets his psychiatrist, his words begin to bring him back to reality and he realizes his construct has been fake.