FAMILY VALUES

FAMILY VALUES

Family values is an often-heard phrase in social and political discourse, but it has different meanings to different people, because there are many value issues that relate to the family and the relationships among its members. For reviews of research on the effects of media on family values, see D.Brown and J.Bryant (1990), Gunter and Svennevig (1987), Pitta (1999), and especially the fine collection of papers in Bryant and Bryant (2001).

Family Composition

A content analysis of 630 U.S. network TV shows featuring families over 45 years from 1950 to 1995 showed that overall about 55% of the children were boys, and that families were almost exclusively white until the 1970s, with African Americans the only significant minority since then. The proportion of traditional nuclear families fell from 38% to 25% of the total families from the 1950s to 1960s but has remained constant since the 1960s. The number of extended family configurations has increased (18% to 26%), and the number of childless families has declined (24% to 12%). Single-father families have always outnumbered single-mother families on TV, but the reverse is true in real life (Robinson & Skill, 2001). Divorced major characters did not appear until the debut in 1975 of One Day at a Time, featuring a divorced mother and her two teenage daughters, although divorced adults have been fairly common on TV since that time.

How are families portrayed on television? Family-interaction patterns showed more harmonious conflict-resolution behaviors in traditional than in nontraditional families (Skill, Wallace, & Cassata, 1990). Working-class families are far rarer on TV than upper middle class families and they show more distressed and less happy relationships than the middle and upper classes do (Douglas, 2001). Sibling relationships are overall positive, though less deep and meaningful than in real life (Larson, 2001). The psychological health of TV families in the 1990s was rated quite high in the categories of cohesion, adaptation, and communication skills, suggesting some positive role modeling (Bryant, Aust, Bryant, & Venugopalan, 2001).

In recent decades, most often both parents in TV families have had careers outside of the home, or one parent brings his or her career into the home. However, a major departure from reality is the way that modern TV families appear to manage career and family demands so successfully and effortlessly that the difficulties inherent in managing two-career families are glossed over, if not totally ignored (Heintz-Knowles, 2001). There are few appearances of child care providers or day care; more often than not, one of the employed parents is completely available at home. The spheres of home and career on TV are presented as separate domains which seldom intersect

Teaching Values and Health 330

and as such is a “misrepresentation of the lives of most American adults, but it can send powerful message to viewers struggling with these collisions, and to their employers and colleagues” (Heintz-Knowles, 2001, p. 197).

These content analyses show that TV family portrayals present a very positive picture overall. Family members are most likely to be of traditional gender-role orientation, and children tend to be very precocious. Interactions among family members are most often cooperative and helpful. Where conflict exists, most often between siblings, it is generally handled positively and resolved by the end of the half-hour. The use of power in families is usually reasonable, with mutual concern and respect as predominant values. Family happiness is not related to financial status, with family unity being stronger for middle-class than for wealthy families (Comstock & Strzyzewski, 1990; M.S.Larson, 1989, 2001a; Robinson & Skill, 2001; Skill, 1994; Skill, Robinson, & Wallace, 1987; Skill & Wallace, 1990; Skill, Wallace, & Cassata, 1990).

Even in the context of traditional families, some of the patterns of interaction have greatly changed from the more authoritarian days of Father Knows Best and Leave It to Beaver. Parents and children are much more likely to talk out differences, often complete with yelling and immature behavior on both sides. See Box 11.2 for two examples from popular sitcom episodes illustrating just how much parent-child relationships have changed.

Family Solidarity

Perhaps the most pervasive of the family values on TV is family solidarity (loyalty, support, and love for one’s family). This is most clearly seen in the family sitcom. The basic message here, as true for The Simpsons and Everybody Loves Raymond in the early 21st century as it was for Leave It to Beaver or Father Knows Best 40 to 50 years earlier, is that one’s family is more important than money, power, greed, status, or career advancement. Even the most irreverent family shows teach a family cohesiveness that tends in the final analysis to strongly affirm traditional values; for example, when The Simpson’s dad Homer lost his job, the whole family pitched in to help save money.

One may ask if such family solidarity is a realistic reflection of our society. It clearly is for many families and just as clearly is not for many others, whose troubled family dynamics would more typically be characterized by vicious backstabbing, betrayal, and generally putting oneself above other family members. Still, even those families might agree that the sitcom characterization is a worthy ideal to hold up as a model, even if it is not totally realistic. Maybe this is a socially helpful model to portray and can help offer some useful new cognitive scripts to viewers in dysfunctional families.

331 A Cognitive Psychology of Mass Communication

BOX 11.2