13

The Influence of Media Exposure on the Formation, Activation, and Application of Racial/Ethnic Stereotypes

Dana Mastro and Riva Tukachinsky

Media and Stereotypes

Exposure to mass media has long been identified as a factor contributing to the construction of social reality, including stereotypic views about the qualities seen as characteristic of different racial/ethnic groups (Gerbner, Gross, Morgan, Signorielli, & Shanahan, 2002; Mackie, Hamilton, Susskind, & Rosselli, 1996; Mastro, 2009a; Shrum, 2004). Of course, mass media represent only one of a number of determinants of stereotypes; nonetheless the role of the media in stereotype-based processes should not be trivialized. Based on the empirical research in this domain, it is clear that stereotypic notions arise from and are maintained by audience members' interactions with both the persistent themes in mass media content as well as the more unique and/or uncommon messages stemming from idiosyncratic usage patterns (see Mastro, 2009a, for review). As such, any examination of the media's role in issues pertaining to media and stereotyping must consider: (a) the manner in which racial/ethnic groups are depicted in the media, (b) how exposure to these portrayals contributes to the formation, activation, and application of racial/ethnic cognitions, and (c) the characteristics of consumers and media messages that moderate stereotype-related outcomes. To this end, the present chapter highlights the work in each of these areas.

Portrayals of Race/Ethnicity in the Media

The effects of media use on stereotyping reflect, in part, the race-related features of media content itself. Accordingly, any discussion concerning the influence of media exposure on stereotypes and stereotyping would be remiss without taking into account the nature of racial/ethnic characterizations in the media. Given that the content analytic work in this area has been comprehensively reviewed elsewhere (see Mastro, 2009b, for review), only a brief overview of racial/ethnic portrayals in US mass media will be offered here.

When it comes to sheer numeric representation on prime time television, in film, in magazines, and in commercial advertising, Whites and African Americans are depicted at rates that meet or exceed their proportion of the US population (Children Now, 2004; Covert & Dixon, 2008; Eschholz, Bufkin, & Long, 2002). The same cannot be said for Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and those of Middle Eastern and Asian Indian descent – all of whom are only infrequently seen in these traditional media venues, if at all. The rate at which different groups are depicted in the media is intrinsically meaningful as such visibility subtly communicates messages to consumers about the strength and status of different groups in society; reinforcing intergroup behaviors that privilege certain groups over others (Harwood & Roy, 2005). However, the specific features attributed to different racial/ethnic groups in mass media offerings are of even greater import, as these messages contribute to viewers' cognitions about different groups (which may ultimately govern subsequent race-related responses).

In terms of the types of roles and representations associated with different groups, distinct pictures emerge based on the race/ethnicity of the character (Mastro, 2009b). Although it has taken over 50 years, African Americans on TV, in the movies, and in advertising enjoy a diversity of parts, representing a wide-range of backgrounds, experiences, and opportunities. They are commonly featured as primary characters in fictional, entertainment content, holding high-status and respected positions (although this is less the case in film than it is in television). News coverage of African Americans, however, provides an altogether different (and more unflattering) picture (Entman, 2006; Chapter 12). When depicted in news photographs, African Americans are seen most frequently in sports stories (Rodgers & Thorson, 2000). When coverage turns to politics, African Americans often fare poorly; with African American politicians presented as more demanding than their peers and characterized as striving to promote racial issues at the expense of public interest (Entman, 2006). The message is more egregious when it comes to coverage of crime in local news. Although the share of African American law-defenders (e.g., police officers) is consistent with their prevalence in society, they are over represented as lawbreakers compared with both depictions of Whites as well as with real-world arrest reports (Dixon & Linz, 2000a). Further, this discrepancy increases when the victim in the crime story is White (Romer, Jamieson, & DeCoteau, 1998). In these news stories, African Americans are commonly portrayed in a threatening and disheveled manner; appearing nameless and restrained (Entman, 1992, 1994, 2006). These notions are mirrored in the picture presented by videogames, wherein African American characters are seen displaying physical and verbal aggression at higher rates than other racial/ethnic figures (Glaubke, Miller, Parker, & Espejo, 2001).

Looking at representations of Latinos reveals that in nearly all forms of media content, this group is depicted in a largely unfavorable manner. When seen on TV, in film, and in advertising, Latinos are typically found in minor roles or group settings. Compared to their counterparts in the media, Latinos are portrayed as less authoritative, lazier, less articulate, less intelligent, more sexualized, and more likely to be in a service position (Children Now, 2004; Mastro, 2009b). The images offered in the news are equally unflattering. Here, Latinos are depicted as criminals more frequently than Whites (Dixon & Linz, 2000a). Further, when it comes to representations as victims, Latinos are seen at a level below both their White, on-air counterparts in the news, and below real-world crime reports (Dixon & Linz, 2000b).

When Asian Americans are seen in entertainment programming and advertising, they are most commonly found in minor and non-recurring parts (Children Now, 2004, Mastro, 2009b). However, in these roles Asian Americans are often portrayed in high-status and professional positions such as physicians, journalists, and elected officials (Children Now, 2004). Still, their presence is commonly marked by their passive nature. The exception is in videogames where they appear at a level above their proportion of the US population; typically as fighting characters who are often antagonists (Glaubke, Miller, Parker, & Espejo, 2001). In terms of visual depictions/photographs of Asian Americans in print media, they are most likely to be seen in stereotypical context such as in coverage of scientific and medical issues (Rodgers & Thorson, 2000).

Native Americans, Middle Easterners, and Asian Indians suffer an even more severe form of neglect from the media. Although several content analyses of television, film, and advertising report finding no Native Americans, when they have appeared they are characterized as spiritual, as warriors, as having social problems (e.g., alcoholism), or in historical contexts (Children Now, 2004; Fryberg, 2003; Merskin, 1998). Interviews with workers in news organizations echo the findings from content analyses of entertainment media. Journalists acknowledge that they are most likely to address Native Americans in news stories that revolve around crime or ethnic festivals (Heider, 2000). Turning to characters from the Middle East reveals that representations linked with criminality make up the lion's share of roles for this group (Children Now, 2004). For Asian Indians, depictions are tied to stereotypical notions about traditional ceremonial practices, occupations, and gender roles (Ramasubramanian, 2005). As a result of their scarcity in the media, little more is known about the manner in which these racial/ethnic groups are portrayed.

Although this summary highlights contemporary images of race/ethnicity in US media, it is important to note that many of the most unfavorable representations, produced in previous decades, remain a part of the media landscape through cable channels which focus on “classics” and Internet sites which offer streaming video of past and present television programming. Altogether, the significance of these images cannot be overstated as (alongside audience characteristics) they define the stereotypes that are formed and the effects that are produced based on exposure.

Stereotype Construction

Despite the fact that theories in the domain of media effects, social psychology, and cognitive psychology all implicate media messages in the construction of stereotypes (Hilton & von Hippel, 1996, Mackie et al., 1996; Mastro, 2009a), only a few empirical studies have addressed the media's role in such processes (and even these only do so tangentially). As such, the specific mechanisms underlying media-based processes of stereotype formation remain inadequately defined. Nonetheless, the insights offered by these theoretical frameworks suggest that media messages are likely to account for a meaningful part of individuals' perceptions about racial/ethnic groups.

Absent preexisting differences between groups, media messages can contribute to stereotype formation by directing attention to features of certain groups and not others (whether or not legitimate) that encourage category-based distinctions. In so doing, the explicit and implicit messages conveyed by the mass media supply audience members with sets of attributes to be associated with different groups (e.g., qualities, value systems, attitudes, behaviors, status, etc.). In other words, exposure to messages about race/ethnicity in the media's texts and images promotes the development of media-formulated conceptualizations of racial/ethnic groups and race-related judgments. As such, media can be seen to provide the cognitive foundations for stereotype formation.

One of the most straightforward routes to stereotype formation based on media exposure stems from humans' natural, unconscious ability to detect covariation. As Hilton and von Hippel (1996, p. 245) explain,

Simply put, linking certain sets of qualities with particular groups (and not others) can quickly lead to abstracting this relationship so that it exists outside the context of the exposure. Accordingly, once the association has been made, it can become self-perpetuating, even gaining in strength absent any supporting evidence. Thus, the development of stereotypic notions about racial/ethnic groups is effortlessly facilitated by repeated exposure to the media construction.

This assertion is likely to resonate with scholars of cultivation theory who have long asserted that consistent exposure to the repetitive system of messages presented in the mass media (regardless of the veracity of the content) shifts viewers' social perceptions toward the media version of reality, particularly when these messages do not compete with consumers' real-world experiences (Gerbner, Gross, Morgan, Signorielli, & Shanahan, 2002; Hawkins & Pingree, 1990; Chapters 2, 11, this volume). Given this, lower levels of real-world interracial contact would likely enhance the media's impact on stereotype formation. On the other hand, contact with minority group members who exhibit traits consistent with the stereotypes presented in the media also would yield especially pronounced effects (Shrum & Bischak, 2001). Put differently, the more the content of mass media overlaps with viewers' everyday lives the less likely these messages are to trigger scrutiny; thereby enhancing their influence on stereotype formation (Mastro, Behm-Morawitz, & Ortiz, 2007; Roskos-Ewoldsen, Davies, & Roskos-Ewoldsen, 2004).

Although not intended to address the cognitive underpinnings of stereotype creation, empirical evidence for these assertions can be (cautiously) gleaned from research examining cultivation effects based on exposure to particular genres/outlets of mass media. This work reveals that consumers' perceptions of different groups, indeed, come to mirror the media messages to which they are exposed. For example, audience members who are heavier consumers of television sitcoms (where African Americans enjoy roles as high status, successful professionals), hold more favorable beliefs about African Americans' real-world level of education and socioeconomic status (Armstrong, Neuendorf, & Brentar, 1992; Busselle & Crandall, 2002). On the other hand, those who are heavy viewers of dramatic programs (where African Americans are more likely to be depicted in low-status positions) possess more unfavorable views regarding the educational achievement of African Americans (Busselle & Crandall, 2002). Individuals who consume elevated levels of news, both on television (Armstrong et al., 1992; Dixon, 2007) and in print (Vergeer, Lubbers, & Scheepers, 2000), report stereotypic views about African Americans' (and other racial/ethnic minority groups') unlawful and menacing nature. Additionally, research reveals that as the amount of exposure to Latinos in the media increases (moderated by contact and existing racial attitudes), so too do perceptions that Latinos are criminal, unintelligent, and lazy – reflective of the overarching characterizations of this group across media offerings (Mastro et al., 2007).

Research framed in the tradition of social cognitive theory (Bandura, 2002) additionally demonstrates the influence of media exposure on the acquisition of stereotypes about race/ethnicity. Rather than emphasizing repeated exposure to a consistent set of stereotypic messages (à la cultivation theory), social cognitive theory stresses the role of reinforcement in the process of learning from the media. For instance, television viewers can improve their attitudes towards out-group members by observing an in-group television character modeling positive and rewarding relationships with out-group characters (Ortiz & Harwood, 2007). Consistent with the research on cultivation theory, however, studies applying social cognitive theory focus more on stereotyping as an outcome than on how these mental constructs are formed. Nonetheless, results from this work provide further evidence in support of the assertion that exposure to media's messages about race/ethnicity contributes to the construction of stereotypes. Specifically this research finds that consuming negative characterizations of African Americans in the media leads to more unfavorable beliefs regarding African Americans' intelligence, work ethic, and socioeconomic status (Fujioka, 1999; Tan, Fujioka, & Tan, 2000). Similarly, exposure to unflattering portrayals of Native Americans produces more negative views of Native Americans, particularly in terms of socioeconomic status (Tan, Fujioka, & Lucht, 1997). Alternatively, exposure to positive messages about race/ethnicity in the media yields more favorable stereotypes about both African Americans (Fujioka, 1999) and Native Americans (Tan et al., 1997). The presumption here is that consumers evaluate the rewards associated with racial/ethnic characterizations (e.g., personal gain, enjoyment, social status) and if they are sufficiently confident in their ability to reproduce the modeled behavior (e.g., discriminating on the basis of race, or acting in an egalitarian fashion), then learning (and subsequent initiation) will be facilitated.

Taken together this body of research suggests that exposure to media messages provides the cognitive foundation for stereotype formation by offering the features that come to define different races/ethnicities. However, these stereotypic notions are additionally meaningful as they provide insights into the types of outcomes that can be expected as a result of exposure including straightforward stereotyping and discrimination as well as intergroup comparisons which ultimately serve group identity needs. Accordingly, the next question becomes, how does the activation of these constructs impact on subsequent effects?

Stereotype Activation and Application

Stereotypes can be defined as cognitive schemas organizing information about social groups. Regardless of their personal endorsement of the stereotype, all members of a given culture may still possess knowledge about the stereotype. Consequently, media exposure can make these cognitive structures more available (i.e., stereotype activation). Absent controlled inhibition processes, these media-activated stereotypes are likely to be applied; potentially provoking prejudicial responses (Devine, 2001). Priming research on stereotype activation and application addresses this relationship by tapping into a broad range of issues and outcomes.

In the current context priming refers to the process through which information about racial/ethnic groups that has been recently activated by exposure to the media, influences subsequent judgments regarding target minority groups (see Chapter 3 for priming in the context of political communication). Generally speaking, results from these investigations demonstrate that even a single exposure to racial/ethnic stereotypes in the media can influence: (a) majority group members' real-world racial/ethnic evaluations, (b) intergroup behaviors such as group enhancement, (c) political decision making, (d) minority group members' evaluations of self, and even (e) prosocial outcomes.

It is important to recognize that while the bulk of this research is focused on the harmful consequences associated with stereotypes, these constructs are not inherently negative. Instead, they can serve several important psychological functions such as facilitating the organized and efficient processing of information. Further they can aid in the enhancement of one's positive self-image. However, when they are utilized to support group-based distinctions which privilege certain groups at the expense of others, they become problematic. Not surprisingly, then, the majority of research has been devoted to the media's role in generating such antisocial outcomes.

Priming Real-World Racial/Ethnic Evaluations

Findings from such investigations indicate that even a single exposure to racial/ethnic stereotypes in the media can affect evaluations of minorities in the real world. For example, in their study assessing the effects of exposure to news depictions of race and crime on beliefs about African Americans, Johnson, Adams, Hall, and Ashburn (1997) found that alongside prompting stereotype-consistent responses, priming such depictions also provoked differential attributions for the behavior. Specifically, dispositional explanations (i.e., personality-based) were provided for African American perpetrators (particularly those implicated in violent crimes) whereas situational explanations were offered for White defendants. Consistent findings were yielded by Peffley, Shields, and Williams (1996) in their examination of the influence of race primes in crime news coverage on subsequent racial/ethnic judgments. Their data revealed a significant association between the race of the depicted suspect and stereotypic evaluations. Similarly, results from Abraham and Oppiah's (2006) research on the influence of implicit racial cues in news stories on consumers' stereotype-based evaluations suggest that exposure to even subtle depictions of race/ethnicity (i.e., referencing topics stereotypically associated with specific social groups without explicitly mentioning race), can generate stereotypic responses in White consumers. The authors contend that this result illustrates a tendency for more pronounced priming effects to emerge when the depicted trait is stereotypically associated with the target.

Notably, priming effects can occur in individuals who do not endorse the stereotype themselves. Merely being part of a culture where knowledge of such constructions is common can be sufficient to evoke the stereotypic response (Devine, 2001). However, to the extent that the association between the group and its stereotypical attributes is strong, priming will be greater. Here, again, media play a vital role by strengthening such associations. Studies have consistently demonstrated that racial priming effects are more pronounced among heavy media consumers than among light ones. For instance, Dixon and Maddox (2005) compared light and heavy media users' responses to a news story featuring a White or a Black crime perpetrator. They found that in comparison to light television news viewers, heavy news consumers were more likely to experience emotional discomfort when reading a story about a Black rather than a White perpetrator. Similarly, heavy news consumers, but not light news viewers, had more positive evaluations of the victim when the perpetrator was Black rather than White. Accordingly, these results demonstrate that repeated exposure can make stereotypes chronically accessible, and therefore more likely to be applied in the future. In other words, whereas recently primed constructs are more available for use in processing and interpreting information, long-term exposure strengthens the cognitive associations between the attribute and the target. So, when exposed to news portrayals of African Americans in the context of crime, the effect of priming should be stronger among those who are heavy news consumers.

Moreover, activation of a single construct can create a cascade of activated, semantically-related constructs that spread through the entire network of stored representations (spreading activation, Jo & Berkowitz, 1994). Accordingly, although a prime might relate to only one aspect of a stereotype, it can bias a broader array of social judgments. Put differently, priming a particular construct in memory not only affects judgments related to that particular trait, but also activates a wide range of schema for the target; influencing a variety of judgments beyond that which was primed (Ford, 1997). For example, listening to violent rap music by Black artists triggers other domains of African American stereotypes, affecting perceptions of Blacks' intelligence and work-ethic (Johnson, Trawalter, & Dovidio, 2000). Further, Valentino's (1999) research indicates that certain topics, such as crime and poverty, have become implicitly linked with race in US society and, as such, media coverage of these issues prompts stereotype-based responses regarding both the activated construct and semantically associated constructs.

In addition, because stereotypes can be used to enhance effective, but not necessarily accurate, information processing, priming these constructs can lead to distorted retention of media information. Several studies have shown that activating racial stereotypes encourages news consumers to complete the missing information in ways that make a coherent, but stereotype-consistent, story. For example, Dixon (2007) varied the race of a police officer and criminal depicted in a television news story such that they were White, Black, or their race was not identified. After watching the news program, participants were asked about the race of the perpetrator and the police officer. When the race of the perpetrator and/or the police officer was not mentioned in the news story, viewers tended to provide information that was consistent with their racial stereotypes. That is, participants assumed that the police officer was White and believed that the criminal was African American. Similarly, Oliver, Jackson, Moses, and Dangerfield (2004) examined the ability of individuals to recall the facial features of persons depicted in various news stories. They found that after reading a crime news story about a violent crime (but not after reading a non-crime story), participants tended to believe that the individual in the picture accompanying the story possessed more Afrocentric than Eurocentric facial features. Here again, media consumers constructed their memory in a manner consistent with their existing racial stereotypes. From a processing perspective, this tendency makes retrieval and organization of information easier and less laborious. In terms of stereotyping and discrimination, however, this process yields outcomes that are entirely undesirable.

Intergroup Behaviors

In addition to serving such cognitive functions, priming stereotypes can also assist individuals in maintaining their positive self-image. According to social identity theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1986), this outcome is driven by social comparison processes wherein individuals manage their identity needs by positively distinguishing their in-group from less favorable out-groups. To this end, mass media contexts are considered particularly efficacious in that they can be easily manipulated to manage identity demands via selective exposure and even selective interpretation of content (Harwood & Roy, 2005). Of course majority group members are advantaged by a broader array of media options which provide a basis for auspicious intergroup comparisons: However, with additional effort the same benefits can be attained by minority group audiences (Abrams, Eveland, & Giles, 2003; Abrams & Giles, 2007).

Experimental tests of these assumptions in the context of television use have met with somewhat consistent support in application to majority group audience members' exposure to stereotypical minority group portrayals. This research reveals that viewing unfavorable depictions of minorities in the media can provoke negative, stereotypical responses among White viewers (particularly highly race-identified Whites), which in turn, appear to augment self-concept by offering a social comparison that privileges their dominant group (Mastro, 2003). Further, when the content of the media offers protection from the threat of appearing racist (e.g., through ambiguous messages), in-group favoring behaviors seem to be enhanced (Mastro, Behm-Morawitz, & Kopacz, 2008). This is not to say that overtly prejudicial responses are unlikely to emerge based on media exposure (certainly the evidence reported here refutes that notion): However, the suggestion is that such outcomes may manifest even more so when media content offers protection from appearing racially biased.

Equally compelling evidence in support of the media's ability to subtly promote racial/ethnic antipathy can be found in Weisbuch, Pauker, and Ambady's (2009) examination of the influence of exposure to racially biased nonverbal facial expressions and body language in television programming on the implicit and explicit racial attitudes of viewers. Their results indicate that observing racial bias in nonverbal interracial interactions on television promotes pro-White attitudes, greater liking of White characters, and more prejudicial attitudes in general; despite the fact that these nonverbals go entirely unnoticed by the viewer.

Media use also has been linked to more nuanced intergroup responses involving differential usage of language. According to Semin and Fiedler (1988), speech parts vary in their level of abstractedness, with descriptive action verbs (e.g., “hit”) being the most concrete and adjectives (e.g., “aggressive”) the most abstract. This distinction is meaningful in that concrete language is seen to designate specific, possibly one-time acts (and thus, situational attributions), whereas abstract words suggest a more intrinsic and enduring characteristic of the perpetrator of the same behavior (and therefore, dispositional attributions). Notably, research assessing the influence of television exposure on such biases in language use (Gorham, 2006) demonstrates that consuming high quantities of television news (with its emphasis on African American criminality) predicts the use of abstract language (and dispositional evaluations) when describing out-group suspects (in this case, African Americans) and the use of concrete language (and situational evaluations) when characterizing in-group suspects (i.e., Whites). Gorham (2006) argues that these results are evidence of the fact that biased processing favoring one's in-group occurs without the conscious knowledge of the viewer.

Political Decision-Making

Assumptions based on media priming, alongside insights from theories of media socialization and policy reasoning, are all used to assess the influence of exposure to media depictions of race/ethnicity on political decision-making. Much of this research focuses on the impact of viewing depictions intersecting race and crime in the news on White audience members' voting decisions and judgments about policy issues (Mendelberg, 1997; Valentino, 1999). For example, in her experimental examination of the influence of exposure to news coverage of an incident in which a furloughed African American convict brutalized a White couple, Mendelberg (1997) found that, compared with those who were not exposed to the story, those who viewed the news story were more likely to be guided by their existing racial prejudice when making policy judgments. In particular, those who were shown the story reported greater resistance to government actions aimed at reducing racial discrimination in society.

Findings from Valentino's (1999) research examining the influence of exposure to crime-related television news on evaluations of presidential candidates yielded parallel results. His data indicate that support for Democratic candidates was particularly low on issues of crime and other race-coded topics (e.g., welfare) when audience members were exposed to minority perpetrators in the news stories (despite the fact that the content of the news stories was unrelated to the candidates). Under the same conditions, support for Republican candidates was especially high. Valentino (1999) argues that effects of this nature reflect the media's ability to activate existing perceptions of Democrats as weak on crime and sympathetic to minorities, resulting in negative evaluations. This assertion finds support in results obtained by Gilliam (1999) in his assessment of the influence of exposure to news stories featuring a “welfare queen” frame on consumers' views of African Americans. His findings indicate that exposure to such imagery increases negative evaluations of African Americans (as well as opposition to welfare spending) regardless of the welfare recipient's race.

Taking a different tack, both Tan, Fujioka, and Tan (2000) and Mastro and Kopacz (2006) looked at the influence of overall media exposure on attitudes about race/ethnicity and the implications of such perceptions on political decision-making. In each case, these researchers found that exposure to unfavorable characterizations of race/ethnicity in the media promoted more stereotypic evaluation of minorities in society (among White consumers) which, in turn, served to discourage support for race-related policies such as affirmative action.

Minority Group Members' Evaluations of Self

Of course majority group members are not the only audiences exposed to depictions of race/ethnicity in the media. Minority groups, too, are consumers of these messages. It is not surprising to note then, that minority audience members are critical of the unfavorable manner in which they are often featured in US media and see these portrayals as negative, inaccurate, and damaging to both their group identity and social status (Fujioka, 2005a, 2005b). Accordingly, for these groups, the selection of media requires more thoughtful and deliberate effort to protect self-concept (Harwood & Roy, 2005).

Yet, despite efforts to manage the potentially harmful effects of exposure to negative media images of one's group, research indicates that consuming these messages can nonetheless damage the self-concept and esteem of minority group audiences. To illustrate, Fryberg's (2003) research examining the influence of exposure to Native American mascots (e.g., Chief Wahoo) on Native American audience members demonstrates that viewing these images has a negative impact on media consumers' personal and collective esteem. For example, exposure was found to be negatively associated with beliefs in the positive qualities held by the community. Comparable results can be seen in research looking at the effects of exposure to mainstream US media on Latino audiences. In particular, these findings reveal consumption to have a detrimental impact on Latinos' self-esteem along a number of dimensions, particularly among consumers high in ethnic identification and actively engaged in the content (Rivadeneyra, Ward, & Gordon, 2007).

However, in much the same fashion that exposure to negative portrayals of one's group can compromise viewers' esteem, positive minority role models can serve as a source of inspiration and self-enhancement for members of minority groups (Fisherkeller, 1997). For example, viewing Oprah Winfrey has been found to increase African American high school students' confidence in having a bright future (Austin & Freeman, 1997).

Improving Attitudes Toward Minorities

Although little attention has been devoted to the potential for media to promote prosocial outcomes by improving White media consumers' views of ethnic minorities, research undeniably suggests that exposure to auspicious racial/ethnic messages positively influences consumers' race-based cognitions (Bodenhausen, Schwarz, Bless, & Wänke, 1995; Mastro & Tukachinsky 2011; Power, Murphy, & Coover, 1996). In the main, this work demonstrates that activating positive media exemplars (e.g., specific models such as Oprah Winfrey or Jimmy Smits) and/or prototypes (e.g., generalized representations such as strong family values) associated with racial/ethnic minorities generates more favorable attitudes towards these groups as a whole as well as more sympathetic response to discrimination as a social problem.

Factors that Moderate the Effect of the Media on Stereotyping

Finally, it is important to highlight the consumer- and message-based attributes known to influence the race-based outcomes of media exposure documented above. Research demonstrates that these factors impact both the effects associated with media consumption as well as the interpretations of the media messages themselves. In particular, real-world contact, mediated intergroup contact, viewers' own racial identification, viewers' preexisting racial attitudes, and the typicality of the media characterization each serve as moderators of race-based media effects.

Real-World Contact

Intergroup contact theory (cf., Pettigrew, 1998) holds that direct interaction between members of different groups can improve intergroup perceptions. However, the nature of the contact experience is critical. Empirical research has shown that the impact of intergroup contact does not lie in mere contact alone, but in the warm and friendly feelings that are produced by it. In other words, being exposed to an out-group member is not sufficient to reduce stereotypes. Rather, individuals have to develop a friendship for the desired effect to occur. This assertion is founded in several theoretical assumptions. First, it is argued that, at least to some extent, individuals maintain negative views of out-group members due to a lack of access to positive information about the group. If this is the case, stereotypes can be reduced through positive shared experiences between groups; which may also serve to reduce people's uncertainty about the out-group and even provide stereotype-disconfirming information. Further, through direct, positive contact with out-group members, individuals become exposed to the intragroup diversity inherent to the group. This contact experience undermines stereotyping as it encourages individuals to abandon tendencies to view the group as entirely homogeneous.

Accordingly, environments that promote mutual understanding, support, and cooperation should be more effective than competitive contexts in producing favorable intergroup contact (Pettigrew, 1998). Certainly, media contexts have the potential to provide individuals with such positive contact experiences. Indeed, when these positive media-based encounters are offered, exposure yields more favorable emotional responses to the out-group and more constructive perceptions of the out-group in general. To illustrate, research by Schiappa, Gregg, and Hewes (2005) has shown that emotional engagement with gay characters on television results in more favorable perceptions of gays in general. Importantly, this effect was not moderated by real-life contact with gays, suggesting that media-based contact with out-group members can be equally effective for all viewers, regardless of their everyday experiences with the out-group. Furthermore, unlike priming effects, which dissolve quickly after exposure, the outcome produced by viewers' attachment to out-group characters is relatively long-tasting. Unfortunately, to our knowledge, the effect of such parasocial relationships with racial/ethnic minority characters has not been directly examined. Nonetheless, these results clearly point to the media's ability to promote more promising interracial outcomes, given exposure to the appropriate media message.

Mediated Intergroup Contact

According to social cognitive theory, individuals can acquire new behaviors through observation of the consequences associated with others' actions (Bandura, 2002). In this type of vicarious learning, instead of receiving direct feedback, people emulate behaviors that they observe to be rewarded in others and avoid performing behaviors that they see are punished. Indeed, studies have shown that observational learning is prevalent regardless of the type of the model – an actual person, a media representation of a person, or even a cartoon character. However, one's relationship with the model plays a meaningful role in the process. Specifically, identification with a media model (e.g., feeling similar to him/her) enhances the learning effect.

Recently, research has begun to apply this line of thinking to issues pertaining to media and race. The assumption here is that if people more easily relate to characters they identify as similar to themselves (e.g., in-group members), then when those in-group characters engage in positive relationships with out-group members, viewers vicariously share the positive intergroup experience. From this perspective, stereotypes can be reduced by way of viewers' identification with the in-group (rather than the out-group) character. To examine this assertion, Ortiz and Harwood (2007) explored the effect of exposure to Will & Grace (a sitcom featuring a gay protagonist) on heterosexual viewers' perceptions of gays. Their results indicate that viewers' identification with a heterosexual character that engaged in a positive relationship with a gay protagonist predicted viewers' positive views of gays. In other words, mediated relationships with in-group characters who model positive intergroup interactions provide viewers with the vicarious intergroup contact needed to produce more favorable perceptions of the out-group in society. Once again, to our knowledge, no studies have looked specifically at modeling cross- racial/ethnic relationships; however there is a sound theoretical basis to assume that such an effect would hold for interracial perceptions as well.

Racial Identification

Social identity-based research suggests that as the importance of one's own racial-ethnic identification increases so too does the motivation to protect the status and interests of that group (Oakes, Haslam, & Turner 1994; Tajfel & Turner, 1986). Accordingly, for media consumers high in racial identification, exposure to stereotypes of out-group races/ethnicities promotes more unfavorable and stereotype-consistent judgments of those out-groups as well as more advantageous evaluations of in-group members; even boosting self-esteem under certain circumstances (Mastro, 2003; Mastro et al., 2008).

Prior Racial Attitudes

Despite what would seem to be an obvious link between consumers' existing racial attitudes and the influence of media exposure on racial/ethnic stereotypes, research in this domain has met with inconsistent results. In some cases, findings indicate that existing racial attitudes moderate the relationship between exposure to media stereotypes and subsequent stereotypical judgments (Dixon, 2006; Peffley, Shields, & Williams, 1996). Specifically, as racial antipathy increases, exposure to racial/ethnic stereotypes in the media generates more unfavorable race-based evaluations. In other studies, however, evaluative judgments were unaltered by consumers existing racial/attitudes (Oliver & Fonash, 2002; Oliver, Jackson, Moses, & Dangerfield, 2004). This may suggest that although media have a reinforcing effect by enhancing viewers' pre-existing beliefs, racial and ethnic media portrayals also have a main effect on stereotyping, regardless of media consumers' prior dispositions.

Typicality of Media Representations

Despite the potential for positive outcomes revealed by research addressing exposure to favorable representations of race/ethnicity in the media, it is possible that the prosocial effects of such media depictions may be limited to prototypical representations. Because counterstereotypical exemplars may be seen as unrepresentative of the group, positive evaluations of a constructive media model might not generalize to the group as a whole. In such cases, subtyping may occur; allowing the counterstereotypical representation to be dismissed as an exception to the rule and not as evidence of stereotype incorrectness (Kunda & Oleson, 1997). Extreme counterstereotypes may in fact enhance rather than weaken the stereotype they attempt to refute. Conversely, information about a seemingly typical group member is more likely to be incorporated in the overall evaluation of the group. In line with this hypothesis, Bodenhausen et al. (1995) demonstrated that favorable and salient counterstereotypical media exemplars (i.e., Oprah Winfrey and Michael Jordan) positively affected viewers' racial perceptions; however this effect disappeared when the models were processed as atypical of their group. Similarly, Mastro and Tukachinsky (2011) found that exposure to prototypical, positive media representations of Latinos (i.e., strong family values) but not exposure to positive, non-prototypical depictions was positively associated with Whites' favorable perceptions of Latinos in the United States.

Typicality of positive media models also constitutes a significant factor in promoting prosocial effects on minority media consumers. For example, Aronson, Jannone, McGlonean, and Johnson-Campbell (2009) hypothesized that exposure to declarations regarding the first African American nominee for US president would provide African American students with a buffer against stereotype threat. However, priming test takers with Barack Obama did not bridge the performance gap between White and African American test takers. The authors speculated that Obama was perceived to be atypical of African Americans as a group, diminishing the potential for his successes to generalize to their own.

Summary and Conclusions

As the evidence presented here clearly illustrates, the quality and quantity of media representations of race/ethnicity have significant social implications for both majority and minority group consumers. Along with the attributes of audience members, these media features create a shared version of what race/ethnicity represents in society; provoking a wide range of race-based outcomes related to both self and other. Of course, media are not solely responsible for the construction and application of stereotypes in society; however, it is difficult to deny that stereotypical media images of race/ethnicity play a meaningful role in shaping and maintaining the public's racial/ethnic cognitions.

Still, the outlook is not all bad – research shows that the media's impact is not limited to socially undesirable effects. Although stereotypes are difficult to change, exposure to favorable racial/ethnic media representations does have a positive impact, at least among certain media consumers. Thus, given the potential for media use to produce both positive and negative effects, the consequences of exposure and the mechanisms underlying such effects should remain on the agenda of contemporary media scholarship. To this end, a number of questions require more thorough attention.

First, further research is needed in exploring the role of media in the formation of stereotypes across the lifespan of the consumer. Perhaps because of pragmatic considerations, most of the research in this domain, both experimental and correlational, is limited to “one-shot” studies of adult audiences. Although these studies provide important insights into issues ranging from the activation and accessibility of stereotypes to the relationships between patterns of media use and existing attitudes, research is less informative when it comes to elucidating the specific mechanisms underlying initial stereotype formation. Accordingly, future studies should undertake the challenge of following media consumers over extended periods of time and exploring the long-term consequences of media exposure, beyond immediate priming effects.

Second, outside the lab setting people expose themselves to enormous amounts of media messages on a daily basis. Thus, the ecological validity of the research in this area would benefit from attempts to understand how exposure to a diversity of (possibly competing) messages impacts consumers. For example, what is the upshot of exposure to both positive and negative racial/ethnic media representations? Which messages win out and why? In addressing such questions, researchers could tap into notions rooted in the drench hypothesis (Greenberg, 1988); identifying specific media texts that, perhaps, have an impact above and beyond the effects of other media representations. In this way, it would be possible to investigate, for example, whether or not a parasocial relationship with a counterstereotypical African American protagonist on a single television show can override the negative effect of exposure to multiple representations of African Americans as criminals on local television news.

Last, because stereotypes are defined by both mediated and real-world experiences (Mackie et al., 1996), greater efforts aimed at disentangling the sources of these mental constructs may be of benefit in limiting their undesired effects. For example, it may be the case that stereotypes founded in media exposure have different consequences and routes to change than those derived from real-world exposure. If so, understanding the basis of these stereotypes and their subsequent influence on judgments is critical. Although this would certainly be a difficult task, such insights may open the door to altering and even eliminating the negative outcomes associated with stereotypes (e.g., prejudice) and augmenting the positive functions of these constructs (e.g., simplified information processing).

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