Media Effects and Society

Elizabeth M. Perse (Ph.D., Kent State University, 1987) is Professor and Chair of the Department of Communication at the University of Delaware, Newark. She is currently researching and teaching mass communication theory and the uses of newer communication technologies. She has been identified as a prolific researcher in Communication, having published one scholarly book, two textbooks, and more than 50 journal articles and book chapters. Her research has been published in such journals as Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, Communication Research, Journal of Communication, Human Communication Research, Communication Quarterly, Communication Research Reports, Journalism Quarterly, and Health Communication. She serves on several editorial boards and is a past Chair of the Mass Communication Division of NCA. Jennifer L. Lambe (Ph.D., University of Minnesota, 2000) is an associate professor in the Communication Department, and a senior fellow of the Center for Political Communication at the University of Delaware. Her research focuses on media policy, freedom of expression, audience attitudes about censorship and the role of audience perceptions of media effects in shaping those attitudes. She has published more than 20 journal articles and book chapters, as well as a number of encyclopedia entries and book reviews. Her work on censorship attitude measurement has been recognized by both academics and practitioners, and reprinted in a communication measures sourcebook. Her research has been published in such journals as Journal of Communication, Communication Law & Policy, First Amendment Studies, Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, and Mass Communication & Society. Professor Lambe teaches courses on media law and ethics, media effects, children and media, and media theory.

Praise for the First Edition:"A comprehensive, integrated overview of nearly all aspects of empirical research on mass media influence, with good explanations of concepts and theories. Probably still the best such volume available." -- Denis McQuail in McQuail's Mass Communication Theory (6th edition, 2010)"The book is primarily intended for undergraduate and graduate students who take media effects courses. As such, it is a very friendly textbook and reveals the experience of its author in her years of teaching such courses. But the book is also an excellent starting text for researchers, especially from other fields, interested in the impact of the media on their audiences. The integration of theory and research in the main domains of media effects can provide those who study or conduct research in any area of media impact with an excellent review of concepts, theories, models,research tools, and findings...Perse, after successfully introducing to us the packed alcoves of the media effects 'store,' opens the last door, the one to the future 'products' of media effects, and leaves us there, equipped with theoretical tools to set out on the way."– Contemporary Psychology"...it is an attractive and very worthwhile book..."– Political Communication

• Introduction: Does Media Have Effects? Models of Media Effects Media Effects and Crisis Shaping Public Opinion Learning From the Media Socialization Effects Effects of Violent Media Content Effects of Sexually Explicit Media Content Afterword: Social Impacts of New Mass Media Technology