Television, Continuity, and Change: A Meta-Analysis of Five Decades of Cultivation Research
Hermann, Morgan and Shanahan meta-analyse cultivation research from the nineteen seventies to the present, using three-level analyses of thousands of effect sizes from hundreds of independent samples. The overall effect is small and varies only within a narrow range across many moderators. Cultivation effects remain stable over the decades, which implies an enduring relationship between television's message system and viewers' conceptions of social reality despite large changes in the institutions and technology of television. Overall viewing has a stronger effect than genre viewing.
Hermann, Morgan and Shanahan meta-analyse cultivation research from the nineteen seventies to the present, using three-level analyses of thousands of effect sizes from hundreds of independent samples. The overall effect is small and varies only within a narrow range across many moderators. Cultivation effects remain stable over the decades, which implies an enduring relationship between television's message system and viewers' conceptions of social reality despite large changes in the institutions and technology of television. Overall viewing has a stronger effect than genre viewing.
Written from the abstract as shown on the OpenAlex record, read 2026-11-04.
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Hermann, E., Morgan, M., & Shanahan, J. (2021). Television, Continuity, and Change: A Meta-Analysis of Five Decades of Cultivation Research. Journal of Communication, 71(4), 515-544. doi:10.1093/joc/jqab014.