Dr. Mccreary et Sw. Sadava, Television viewing and self-perceived health, weight, and physical fitness: Evidence for the cultivation hypothesis, J APPL SO P, 29(11), 1999, pp. 2342-2361
Television (TV) often depicts a version of the world that differs from soci
al reality in several ways. The present study examined the relationship bet
ween the amount of TV people watch, how important TV is for their entertain
ment and information-gathering purposes, and their perceptions of their hea
lth, weight, and physical fitness. Regression analyses showed that, after c
ontrolling for their actual level of obesity, health perceptions were negat
ively related to both the amount of time spent watching TV and TV's perceiv
ed importance as an entertainment medium, but for women only. In addition,
those who watched a lot of TV tended to see themselves as more overweight t
han did those who watched less TV. The implications of these findings for t
he cultivation hypothesis. as well as issues of replication, were discussed
.