Cultivating the Opinionated: The Need to Evaluate Moderates Crime Drama Cultivation

• In Event: Research Exploring Individual Differences

Abstract

The literature on cultivation processes assumes that second-order judgments (e.g. attitudes) are repeatedly updated during viewing (i.e. online) and can be reported when asked. In this article, we propose this reasoning only holds for people high in their Need to Evaluate (NTE). Low NTE individuals do not update their opinions online and have to construct their attitudes memory-based, limiting the likelihood of finding second-order relations. Indeed, results from a cross-sectional survey among 226 adolescents indicate that crime drama viewing and scary world beliefs are only correlated among high NTE individuals. The NTE does not moderate cultivation through non-fiction. The theoretical implications of memory-based attitudes for second-order cultivation are discussed, and suggestions are made for future research on attitudinal media effects.

Authors

• Lennert Coenen, U of Leuven - School for Mass Communication Research

• Jan Van den Bulck, U of Leuven School for Mass Communication Research