Media Representations of Race and Ethnicity

Dana Mastro (Ph.D., Michigan State University), is a Professor of Communication at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her research documents depictions of Latinos in English and Spanish-language media and assesses the extent to which exposure to this content influences racial/ethnic cognitions as well as a variety of intergroup and identity-based outcomes. Riva Tukachinsky (Ph.D., University of Arizona), is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Studies and M.S. Program in Health and Strategic Communication at Chapman University. Her research investigates the psychological mechanisms underlying media effects in the context of social stereotypes, health and psychological well-being.

• INTRODUCTIONWhy the Media’s Role in Issues of Race and Ethnicity Should be in the SpotlightDana Mastro  1SECTION I: MEDIA PORTRAYALS OF RACE & ETHNICITYDocumenting Portrayals of Race/Ethnicity on Primetime Television over a 20-Year Span and Their Association with National-Level Racial/Ethnic AttitudesRiva Tukachinsky, Dana Mastro, and Moran Yarchi  17SECTION II: SELF AND IDENTITY“Frozen in Time”: The Impact of Native American Media Representations on Identity and Self-Understanding Peter A. Leavitt, Rebecca Covarrubias, Yvonne A. Perez, and Stephanie A. Fryberg  39Social Identity Threat in Response to Stereotypic Film Portrayals: Effects on Self-Conscious Emotion and ImplicitIngroup AttitudesToni Schmader, Katharina Block, and Brian Lickel  54Ethnolinguistic Identification, Vitality, and Gratifications for Television Use in a Bilingual Media Environment Jake Harwood and Laszlo Vincze  73SECTION III: INTERGROUP RELATIONSLatinos’ Perceptions of Intergroup Relations in the United States: The Cultivation of Group-Based Attitudes andBeliefs from English- and Spanish-Language Television Michelle Ortiz and Elizabeth Behm-Morawitz  90Media-Induced Elevation as a Means of Enhancing Feelings of Intergroup ConnectednessMary Beth Oliver, Keunyeong Kim, Jennifer Hoewe, Mun-Young Chung, Erin Ash, Julia K. Woolley, and Drew D. Shade  106Using Celebrity News Stories to Effectively Reduce Racial/Ethnic PrejudiceSrividya Ramasubramanian  123SECTION IV: PUBLIC POLICYRacial and Ethnic Inclusion in the Digital Era: Shifting Discourses in Communications Public PolicyMari Castaneda, Martha Fuentes-Bautista, and Felicitas Baruch  138Viewer Ethnicity Matters: Black Crime in TV News and Its Impact on Decisions Regarding Public PolicyRyan J. Hurley, Jakob (Jake) Jensen, Andrew Weaver, and Travis Dixon  154Intervening in the Media’s Influence on Stereotypes of Race and Ethnicity: The Role of Media Literacy EducationErica Scharrer and Srividya Ramasubramanian  170SECTION V: CONCLUSIONWhere We Have Been and Where We Can Go From Here: Looking to the Future in Research on Media, Race, and EthnicitRiva Txukachinsky  185SECTION VI: 2012 SPSSI PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESSIntroduction to Maureen O’Connor’s SPSSI Presidential AddressJames S. Jackson  199Embodied Social Justice: Warm Tea, Flexed Muscles, and Enacting SPSSI’s Mission 2012 SPSSI Presidential AddressMaureen O’Connor  202