Counteracting for the Indirect Influence: The Responses of Chinese Single Women to Prejudicial Media Portrayals

• In Event: Women and Girls Respond to Media: Using and Interpreting Media Texts and Spaces

Abstract

While media stereotyping of females is no long new, there is very limited research on the portrayal of single women albeit the increasing proportion of marriageable females living as singles. The study explores single women’s responses to media stereotypes on their group, which tends to depict single women as deviants from the institution of marriage. Drawing on the third-person effect framework, the study examines how single women perceive prejudicial media message would influence themselves and two important stakeholders in marriage choice (parents and other single women) with a survey of single women in urban China. The results revealed significant third-person perceptions when judging the perceived influences of a prejudicial advertisement for matchmaking service. The behavioral component of third-person perceptions was not significant; however, the data are more aligned in the influence of presumed effect that single women counteract the presumed negative media effects on parents and peers.

Authors

• L.Crystal Jiang, City University of Hong Kong

• Wanqi Gong, City University of Hong Kong