Personality Psychology- an Integrative Essay Essay Example

Personality Psychology- an Integrative Essay Paper Traditionally personality has been framed largely into multiple grand theories: psychoanalysis (Freud, Jung), humanistic theories (Rogers, Maslow), social-learning theories (Bandura, Mischel), cognitive-phenomenological theories (Kelly, Laing), trait theories (Eysenck, Cattell, the Big Five), narrative (McAdams, Bruner) and so on. However Personality psychology is yet to articulate clearly a comprehensive framework for understanding the whole person. This essay will attempt to provide a summary of McAdams integrative approach to personality with three different levels: dispositional traits, characteristic adaptations and narrative. McAdams proposed that evolution provides the general design for psychological individuality against which the socially consequential variations in human lives can be conceived. Human beings have evolved to take note of those variations that are most important for group life, summarized at the broadest level in terms of individual differences in dispositional traits. By sketching out the universe of broad trait dispositions that people in many different cultures use to refer to the most general variations in psychological individuality, the Big Five offers a comprehensive system for organizing basic personality tendencies. Whereas traits provide a dispositional sketch or signature, characteristic adaptations spell out many of the details of psychological individuality as contextualized in time, situations, and social roles. Goals, strivings, coping strategies, values, beliefs, and other motivational, developmental, and social– cognitive versions of characteristic adaptations are activated in response to and ultimately shaped by everyday social demands. Adler, Erikson, Rogers, Maslow, Kelly, Bandura—none of these personality theorists showed more than passing interest in dispositional traits. Instead, they emphasized motivation and the dynamics of behavior, social learning and cognitive schemata, strategies and coping mechanisms, developmental challenges and stages, and the ever-changing details of individual adaptation to the social world. We will write a custom essay sample on Personality Psychology- an Integrative Essay specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Personality Psychology- an Integrative Essay specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Personality Psychology- an Integrative Essay specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer What do people want? What do they value? How do people seek out what they want and avoid what they fear? In particular the humanist perspective, influenced greatly by the work of prominent humanists such as Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow, emphasizes the role of motivation on thought and behaviour. Concepts such as self-actualization are an essential part of this perspective, conceptualised by a hierarchy of needs each level both independent and interdependent of the next. If traits sketch an outline of human individuality, characteristic adaptations fill in some of the details. McAdams final level is that of integrative life narratives. Narrative approaches to personality suggest that human beings construe their own lives as ongoing stories and that these life stories help to shape behavior, establish identity, and integrate individuals into modern social life Narrative identity is indeed that story the person tries to â€Å"keep going†Ã¢â‚¬â€an internalized and evolving narrative of the self that incorporates the reconstructed past and the imagined future into a more or less coherent whole in order to provide the person’s life with some degree of unity, purpose, and meaning. The psychosocial construction of narrative identity moves personality from broad trends (dispositional traits) and the specific responses to daily life demands (characteristic adaptations) to the challenge of making meaning out of one’s life in a complex world. Dispositional traits play the fundamental role of sketching the outline while characteristic adaptations fill the details of human individuality, then narrative identities give individual their unique and culturally anchored meanings. While McAdams describes personality in terms of these three levels: dispositional trait, characteristic adaptations and narrative; there is an underlying notion that influences them all, culture.. At the level of dispositional traits, culture provides display rules and demand characteristics for behavioural expression, but culture has little impact on the magnitude or strength of traits. At the level of characteristic adaptations, culture sets agendas for the timing and content of goals, strivings, relational patterns, and the like. Culture has its strongest impact at the level of life narrative, providing a menu or anthology of arrative forms from which individuals draw in making meaning out of their lives. In conclusion, Personality is an individual’s unique variation on the general evolutionary design for human nature, expressed as a developing pattern of dispositional traits, characteristic adaptations (notions from humanistic, psychodynamic, social-cognitive approaches), and integrative life stories complexly and differentially situated in culture. The principles articulated in this essay mark a newfound effort to assume a central and integrative position within the discipline of personality psychology. Personality Psychology- an Integrative Essay Essay Example Personality Psychology- an Integrative Essay Paper Traditionally personality has been framed largely into multiple grand theories: psychoanalysis (Freud, Jung), humanistic theories (Rogers, Maslow), social-learning theories (Bandura, Mischel), cognitive-phenomenological theories (Kelly, Laing), trait theories (Eysenck, Cattell, the Big Five), narrative (McAdams, Bruner) and so on. However Personality psychology is yet to articulate clearly a comprehensive framework for understanding the whole person. This essay will attempt to provide a summary of McAdams integrative approach to personality with three different levels: dispositional traits, characteristic adaptations and narrative. McAdams proposed that evolution provides the general design for psychological individuality against which the socially consequential variations in human lives can be conceived. Human beings have evolved to take note of those variations that are most important for group life, summarized at the broadest level in terms of individual differences in dispositional traits. By sketching out the universe of broad trait dispositions that people in many different cultures use to refer to the most general variations in psychological individuality, the Big Five offers a comprehensive system for organizing basic personality tendencies. Whereas traits provide a dispositional sketch or signature, characteristic adaptations spell out many of the details of psychological individuality as contextualized in time, situations, and social roles. Goals, strivings, coping strategies, values, beliefs, and other motivational, developmental, and social– cognitive versions of characteristic adaptations are activated in response to and ultimately shaped by everyday social demands. Adler, Erikson, Rogers, Maslow, Kelly, Bandura—none of these personality theorists showed more than passing interest in dispositional traits. Instead, they emphasized motivation and the dynamics of behavior, social learning and cognitive schemata, strategies and coping mechanisms, developmental challenges and stages, and the ever-changing details of individual adaptation to the social world. We will write a custom essay sample on Personality Psychology- an Integrative Essay specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Personality Psychology- an Integrative Essay specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Personality Psychology- an Integrative Essay specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer What do people want? What do they value? How do people seek out what they want and avoid what they fear? In particular the humanist perspective, influenced greatly by the work of prominent humanists such as Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow, emphasizes the role of motivation on thought and behaviour. Concepts such as self-actualization are an essential part of this perspective, conceptualised by a hierarchy of needs each level both independent and interdependent of the next. If traits sketch an outline of human individuality, characteristic adaptations fill in some of the details. McAdams final level is that of integrative life narratives. Narrative approaches to personality suggest that human beings construe their own lives as ongoing stories and that these life stories help to shape behavior, establish identity, and integrate individuals into modern social life Narrative identity is indeed that story the person tries to â€Å"keep going†Ã¢â‚¬â€an internalized and evolving narrative of the self that incorporates the reconstructed past and the imagined future into a more or less coherent whole in order to provide the person’s life with some degree of unity, purpose, and meaning. The psychosocial construction of narrative identity moves personality from broad trends (dispositional traits) and the specific responses to daily life demands (characteristic adaptations) to the challenge of making meaning out of one’s life in a complex world. Dispositional traits play the fundamental role of sketching the outline while characteristic adaptations fill the details of human individuality, then narrative identities give individual their unique and culturally anchored meanings. While McAdams describes personality in terms of these three levels: dispositional trait, characteristic adaptations and narrative; there is an underlying notion that influences them all, culture.. At the level of dispositional traits, culture provides display rules and demand characteristics for behavioural expression, but culture has little impact on the magnitude or strength of traits. At the level of characteristic adaptations, culture sets agendas for the timing and content of goals, strivings, relational patterns, and the like. Culture has its strongest impact at the level of life narrative, providing a menu or anthology of arrative forms from which individuals draw in making meaning out of their lives. In conclusion, Personality is an individual’s unique variation on the general evolutionary design for human nature, expressed as a developing pattern of dispositional traits, characteristic adaptations (notions from humanistic, psychodynamic, social-cognitive approaches), and integrative life stories complexly and differentially situated in culture. The principles articulated in this essay mark a newfound effort to assume a central and integrative position within the discipline of personality psychology.

President Trumans decision about dropping the bombs on Japan Essay Example

President Trumans decision about dropping the bombs on Japan Essay Example President Trumans decision about dropping the bombs on Japan Paper President Trumans decision about dropping the bombs on Japan Paper President Trumans decision to drop the bombs on Japan was justified As the twentieth century slowly dawned upon the world, there were many predicaments that lay ahead of the people of the United States; one of which was the Second World War. With the rise of communism and fascism, dictators like Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and Joseph Stalin gained power and threatened the well being of the people by ruling with an iron fist. Although not considered a dictator, Hideki Tojo of Japan also participated in such cruelties by attacking nations without properly declaring war. These leaders and autocratic rules killed thousands and millions of innocent people and embarked on a campaign to rule the entire world. Luckily for the Americans, these totalitarian leaders ruled in the nations of Europe and Asia, not directly affecting the United States. However, on December 7, 1941, as President Roosevelt put it, a date which will live in infamy, Japan’s greed in conquering the world got out of control and affected America. Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, killing thousands of people and injuring many more. Although President Roosevelt had knowledge of what will happen if America were to enter the war, he had no choice but to enter the war on behalf of the Allies to avenge the deaths of thousands of Americans. The European campaign for the allies were very largely successful and the only thing left for the Allies to deal with was the Pacific Campaign into Japan. Unfortunately, in the midst of this chaos, President Roosevelt passed away and President Harry Truman was inaugurated into office. During this time, the American government researched and quickly harnessed the world’s most powerful weapon, the Atomic Bomb. Truman knew the consequences of dropping the bombs on Japan and thoroughly examined the positives and negatives of the bomb. In consideration of all this, the positives outweighed the negatives and the bombs were finally dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, two cities in Japan. President Truman had every right to drop the bombs on Japan in order to save lives and better America’s future as a world power. The bombs were dropped with a desire to save lives, nothing more and nothing less. The costs would have been innumerable and would have been crippling to the Americans if President Truman didn’t make the decision in dropping the bombs. One of the many costs that the Americans would have to pay would be the significant number of casualties that would have occurred if Americans were to have entered Japan and fight a war face to face. Some may consider the United States to be nothing more than coward for doing this, but it is far better than losing thousands of lives in war. The Japanese began to draft its entire population, including children and women. If the Americans were to have come face to face in combat with these soldiers, America would have suffered great losses; losses that would be impossible to fully recover from. Furthermore, sending troops into Japan and dropping a bomb on Japan is essentially almost the same concept; both are to decimate Japan into rubbles in order for the nation to surrender. So, why not choose the option of dropping bombs in Japan when it is much safer and more efficient than sending troops into Japan? With the attack of Pearl Harbor, Japan and the United States were officially in a state of war between each other. In a state of war, the main focus is to decimate the enemy by any means possible. This meaning, deploying troops into enemy territories creating blockades, and even dropping bombs on the enemy is perfectly legal. President Truman was entirely justified in deciding to drop the Atomic Bombs on Japan. In any war, opposing nations killed enemy troops, decimated enemy cities into rubbles, and dropped bombs. Droppings bombs and deploying troops to kill enemy troops are one and the same; both result in the death of many. In any war, the point of war is to win. When it comes to war, the moral thoughts that govern society are not the same morals that govern the military. When in a state of war, the goal is to defeat your enemy, and keep your own men alive, so during the war, the lives of American soldiers were far more important to America than the lives of the Japanese; that was America’s goal- to take Japanese lives. Considering all this, why is it in then in this case that it is so controversial to take the lives of the Japanese population? Japan violated American territories, killed Americans, and caused a number of other problems for the United States; America suffered losses and to prevent further loss, President Truman had every right to make a decision in dropping the bombs over Japan. Considering the consequences of American entry in to the war, the United States closely scrutinized the results of war. President Roosevelt and Truman carefully examined the positives and negatives. In the case of Japan, President Truman believed dropping the bombs on Japan was a definite positive for America. Dropping the bombs on Japan helped better the future of America by preventing a large number of casualties in battles. The only initiative in dropping the bomb is to help quicken the ending of the war and save lives, not to cause pain and agony; thus, making Truman’s decision in dropping the bomb justified. Truman was also justified according to legal international laws. America and Japan were in a state of war and in a state of war, there is only one victor. The point of war is to win and the only way to do so is to decimate the opposing side by any means possible. Deploying troops, creating blockades, and dropping bombs are all one and the same; they all result in death. The reason in deploying troops is to kill enemy troops. The reason in creating a blockade is to block shipment into enemy nations; thus, causing a dearth in goods and food, causing starvation and eventual death. The reason in dropping bombs is to decimate cities into rubbles and demonstrate power. Thus, if all these result in death, why is it so controversial for President Truman to make a decision in bombing Japan? A bomb is a bomb; whether it is an A, B, or C bomb, they are all one and the same. Bombs were made to decimate cities and kill people. In war, saving lives and winning are the top priorities in war. President Truman decided to bomb Japan in order to save lives and to win the war; thus, President Truman was totally justified in making the decision in dropping the bombs.

Example of a Permutation Test

Example of a Permutation Test One question that it is always important to ask in statistics is, â€Å"Is the observed result due to chance alone, or is it statistically significant?† One class of hypothesis tests, called permutation tests, allow us to test this question. The overview and steps of such a test are: We split our subjects into a control and an experimental group.  The null hypothesis is that there is no difference between these two groups.Apply a treatment to the experimental group.Measure the response to the treatmentConsider every possible configuration of the experimental group and the observed response.Calculate a p-value based upon our observed response relative to all of the potential experimental groups. This is an outline of a permutation.  To flesh of this outline, we will spend time looking at a worked out example of such a permutation test in great detail. Example Suppose we are studying mice.  In particular, we are interested in how quickly the mice finish a maze that they have never encountered before.  We wish to provide evidence in favor of an experimental treatment.  The goal is to demonstrate that mice in the treatment group will solve the maze more quickly than untreated mice.   We begin with our subjects: six mice.  For convenience, the mice will be referred to by the letters A, B, C, D, E, F. Three of these mice are to be randomly selected for the experimental treatment, and the other three are put into a control group in which the subjects receive a placebo. We will next randomly choose the order in which the mice are selected to run the maze. The time spent finishing the maze for all of the mice will be noted, and a mean of each group will be computed. Suppose that our random selection has mice A, C, and E in the experimental group, with the other mice in the placebo control group. After the treatment has been implemented, we randomly choose the order for the mice to run through the maze.   The run times for each of the mice are: Mouse A runs the race in 10 secondsMouse B runs the race in 12 secondsMouse C runs the race in 9 secondsMouse D runs the race in 11 secondsMouse E runs the race in 11 secondsMouse F runs the race in 13 seconds. The average time to complete the maze for the mice in the experimental group is 10 seconds. The average time to complete the maze for those in the control group is 12 seconds. We could ask a couple of questions. Is the treatment really the reason for the faster average time? Or were we just lucky in our selection of control and experimental group?  The treatment may have had no effect and we randomly chose the slower mice to receive the placebo and faster mice to receive the treatment.  A permutation test will help to answer these questions. Hypotheses The hypotheses for our permutation test are: The null hypothesis is the statement of no effect.  For this specific test, we have H0: There is no difference between treatment groups.  The mean time to run the maze for all mice with no treatment is the same as the mean time for all mice with the treatment.The alternative hypothesis is what we are trying to establish evidence in favor of. In this case, we would have Ha: The mean time for all mice with the treatment will be faster than the mean time for all mice without the treatment. Permutations There are six mice, and there are three places in the experimental group. This means that the number of possible experimental groups are given by the number of combinations C(6,3) 6!/(3!3!) 20. The remaining individuals would be part of the control group. So there are 20 different ways to randomly choose individuals into our two groups. The assignment of A, C, and E to the experimental group was done randomly.  Since there are 20 such configurations, the specific one with A, C, and E in the experimental group has a probability of 1/20 5% of occurring. We need to determine all 20 configurations of the experimental group of the individuals in our study. Experimental group: A B C and Control group: D E FExperimental group: A B D and Control group: C E FExperimental group: A B E and Control group: C D FExperimental group: A B F and Control group: C D EExperimental group: A C D and Control group: B E FExperimental group: A C E and Control group: B D FExperimental group: A C F and Control group: B D EExperimental group: A D E and Control group: B C FExperimental group: A D F and Control group: B C EExperimental group: A E F and Control group: B C DExperimental group: B C D and Control group: A E FExperimental group: B C E and Control group: A D FExperimental group: B C F and Control group: A D EExperimental group: B D E and Control group: A C FExperimental group: B D F and Control group: A C EExperimental group: B E F and Control group: A C DExperimental group: C D E and Control group: A B FExperimental group: C D F and Control group: A B EExperimental group: C E F and Control group: A B DExperimental group: D E F and Control group: A B C We then look at each configuration of experimental and control groups. We calculate the mean for each of the 20 permutations in the listing above.  For example, for the first, A, B and C have times of 10, 12 and 9, respectively.  The mean of these three numbers is 10.3333.  Also in this first permutation, D, E and F have times of 11, 11 and 13, respectively.  This has an average of 11.6666. After calculating the mean of each group, we calculate the difference between these means. Each of the following corresponds to the difference between the experimental and control groups that were listed above. Placebo - Treatment   1.333333333 secondsPlacebo - Treatment   0 secondsPlacebo - Treatment   0 secondsPlacebo - Treatment -1.333333333 secondsPlacebo - Treatment 2 secondsPlacebo - Treatment 2 secondsPlacebo - Treatment 0.666666667 secondsPlacebo - Treatment 0.666666667 secondsPlacebo - Treatment -0.666666667 secondsPlacebo - Treatment -0.666666667 secondsPlacebo - Treatment 0.666666667 secondsPlacebo - Treatment   0.666666667 secondsPlacebo - Treatment -0.666666667 secondsPlacebo - Treatment -0.666666667 secondsPlacebo - Treatment -2 secondsPlacebo - Treatment -2 secondsPlacebo - Treatment 1.333333333 secondsPlacebo - Treatment 0 secondsPlacebo - Treatment 0 secondsPlacebo - Treatment -1.333333333 seconds P-Value Now we rank the differences between the means from each group that we noted above. We also tabulate the percentage of our 20 different configurations that are represented by each difference in means. For example, four of the 20 had no difference between the means of the control and treatment groups. This accounts for 20% of the 20 configurations noted above. -2 for 10%-1.33 for 10 %-0.667 for 20%0 for 20 %0.667 for 20%1.33 for 10%2 for 10%. Here we compare this listing to our observed result. Our random selection of mice for the treatment and control groups resulted in an average difference of 2 seconds. We also see that this difference corresponds to 10% of all possible samples.  The result is that for this study we have a p-value of 10%.

Creating Anglo-America 1660-1750 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 194

Creating Anglo-America 1660-1750 - Essay Example His strong belief in one God that is universal drove him to argue that God dwelled in all people and, therefore, no people (including those with authority/government) had the right whatsoever to force people into a particular form of worship. Penn was also a strong believer in the equality of all people regardless of their race, gender, sex, color or sex. This in turn made him advocate for equality by arguing that â€Å"liberty is a universal entitlement† that was conflicting the pre-existing belief that liberty was a right to be entitled only to certain individuals. To put this in a practical manner, Penn found it necessary to buy Indian land and offered it to the Indian refugees who had been driven out of the other colonies. In his attempt to come up with a government that put into consideration the rights of all, Penn came up with a frame of government in 1982. In his charter Penn aimed at offering â€Å"Christian liberty† to all who affirmed a strong belief in God and expected them not to promote the liberty in promoting sexually immoral things. In this period, the government was responsible for regulating the people`s moral public behavior and some particular people such as the Jews were not allowed to be holding an office of any religious institution. The Quakers strict code of personal morality drove Penn into believing that by giving people religious freedom immorality would reduce as people would lead a life that corresponded to God`s expectations. This charter, however, didn`t prove sufficient to guide the growing population of Pennsylvania and was therefore replaced with a charter of liberties whose political system lasted up to the period of American Revolution.   

How a Country Benefits From International Trade Essay

How a Country Benefits From International Trade - Essay Example International trade, otherwise known as free trade removes the barriers that limit the country’s surplus. This has a great benefit on both the producers and the consumers. It has been seen to be the catalyst of the growth of many economies. Formulated by David, Ricardo, the law of comparative advantage was a pivotal development of the theory of absolute advantage previously developed by Adam Smith. As opposed to the theory of the absolute advantage, Ricardo believes that comparative advantage is enough to make trade possible and desirable. Today international trade is done without much hindrance. There is the removal of tariffs and import quota which we identify as protectionism. The removal of tariffs and quota can practically increase the consumer surplus as they allow domestic consumers to enjoy foreign products at lower costs. The reduction in the producer surplus brought by the entrance of foreign producers through importation can be outweighed by the gains of the domestic consumers, thus increasing the total surplus. Aside from the enjoying lower prices, consumers also benefits from the variety of products available to them through trade. Importation also provides greater choices for the consumers. Some of the practical benefits from international trade are the following: â€Å"enhances the domestic competitiveness, takes advantage of international trade technology , increase sales and profits, extend sales potential of the existing products, maintain cost competitiveness in your domestic market, enhance potenti al for expansion of your business, gains a global market share, reduce dependence on existing markets and stabilize seasonal market fluctuations†

Evolutionary Attitudes :: essays research papers

In To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee describes a time when discrimination was extremely common. In the fictional society of Maycomb County, we can see the primitive forms of discrimination emerge through definition of social classes due to wealth, background and association, as well as the predominant theme of racism towards African Americans. Although in present day Victoria, the subjects of discrimination encountered are different, society’s attitude and response to these flaws are much the same. In Victoria, the homeless problem as well as youth stereotypes present huge venues for discrimination within society. In addition to this, Aboriginals and oriental demographics are segregated by society due to colour and culture. Although civilized society has evolved between Maycomb and Victoria, presenting both communities with different challenges, it has not broken free of the engrained discriminatory behaviour within each of its foundations.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The discrimination faced by families such as the Cunningham’s, in To Kill A Mockingbird, was based upon society’s emphasis upon social class. As with the Cunningham’s, many families were hit very hard by the depression, and thus were not as wealthy as many other families in the community. Therefore, families such as these were offered little respect by other member’s of the Maycomb community based on their wealth or associations. Maycomb’s high society looked upon some of its neighbours as below themselves. Maycomb sees these people as a burden. According to inherent honoured codes within society, the importance and meaning of such fine breeding has been ignored, making these people less than those who come from â€Å"fine† families . In cases such as the Cunningham’s , members of the community who do not fall within the parameters of a â€Å"fine† family are objectified. An example of this can be seen when W alter Cunningham, a schoolmate of Scout’s, is invited over for dinner. â€Å" ‘He ain’t company Cal, he’s just a Cunningham-’ ‘Hush your mouth! Don‘t matter who they are, anybody sets foot in this house’s yo’ company, and don’t you let me catch remarkin’ on their ways like you was so high and mighty! Yo’ folks might be better’n the Cunningham’s but it don’t count for nothing’ the way you’re disgracing’ ’em†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (p. 24) As Calpurnia points out to Scout that the Cunningham’s, despite society’s belittlement of such families, it does not give anyone the right to act superior. Although families such as these are not restricted from interaction from society, they are nonetheless victims of society’s prejudices.

Audiences and Spectatorship

Are audiences' vulnerable pawns ensnared under the manipulative and calculating control of the media or, do audiences' actively engage in the media by constructing their own interpretations and meanings of the world? This is an extremely controversial issue that is extensively debated all around the world. Some view audiences as being easily influenced masses of people who can be persuaded to purchase products and conform to societies ideals or even follow corrupt leaders through advertising. There have also been fears that the media may alter the way people behave for example, being more violent and aggressive. On the other side of the coin, there are theorists who believe that the media has a great deal less influence over audiences then is hypothesized. This is the central argument that this essay will be debating, to conclude whether audiences are passive individuals who are targeted victims of the media, or whether they are active and are thus not fictitious cohorts who believe everything they are told or watch in the media. To avoid misrepresentation the definition and differentiation of audiences is crucial. An Audience is†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ dictionary definition. There are two types of audiences that are marketed in the media-mass and niche. The mass audience includes people of different social cultures, different degrees of class and wealth and people with varying grades of education. The mass is composed of individuals who are oblivious to each other and who, in an ocean of people, don't individually stand out. Due to this oblivion, members of the mass audience rarely interact and this lack of interaction means little exchange of experiences. A niche is that part of the audience, being relatively small in size, that marketers produce and can thus be easily targeted, producing only a small but secure profit. Audiences are not blank sheets of paper on which media messages can be written; members of an audience will have prior attitudes and beliefs which will determine how effective media messages are. † (Abercrombie, 1996:140) Mass media assumes that its audiences are credulous, susceptible and incompetent. This is however challenged by the idea of an ‘active audience' in which individuals are not mere sheep that follow the flock but individuals who possess agency over their lives and the messages they receive. As Philip Hanes (2000) states, meanings are encoded by the producer into the media text and the audiences decodes the meaning from the text. â€Å"†¦ this intended message is not simply dumped into the minds of passive audiences†¦ â€Å"(Croteau and Hoynes, 2000:263), the producer inscribes a specific meaning in the text that he/she hopes to be decoded, but encodes it by the conventions of the particular medium so as to hide the texts own ideological construction. This concealed message is then decoded by the audience according to external influences such as class, ethnicity, gender, age etc. Thus a text could mean completely different things to different audiences meaning that no text has only one meaning and is thus polysemic. ‘Reception Analysis' suggests the audience themselves help to create the meaning of the text by individually decoding the intended message in different ways according to the mood one may be in or as a result of ones own beliefs and morals. So we can conclude that audiences create their own meanings from the text and are thus not mere passive adherents. However, Its is also shown that media texts contain an excess of meanings within them and thus, â€Å"media contains the raw materials for multiple interpretations; the texts are structured in ways that facilitate peoples reading against the grain†¦ the most successful texts will have components that appeal to different audiences† (Croteau and Hoynes, 2000:266-267) As with all debates it is imperative to discuss and analyze certain theories pertaining to that debate. Firstly, it is important to note that the media only has a limited influence and effect on audiences. As Klapper(1960) demonstrates, â€Å"persuasive mass communication is in general more likely to reinforce the existing opinions of its audience than it is to change its opinion. † The idea of ‘Selectivity† deals with the idea of the resistant audience-it is up to the audience to resist the manipulative powers of the media and be not only cognizant of its manipulative capacity but bend these manipulations in favour of themselves. The Gratifications theory is in support of the premise that audiences are active. This theory testifies that we do not engage in media texts as â€Å"some kind of mindless entertainment. â€Å"(Baker) but make choices over what we consume and thus presume to get something out of it, some form of satisfaction. The types of gratification that we incur comprise of: satisfying our curiosity regarding the world-information; finding ones personal identity by looking to others i. e. celebrities for assistance and corroboration; to find out more about others circumstances and for social interaction(Media allows for communication amongst friends. ); and lastly for pure entertainment. Agenda setting' deals with the notion that although there is an abundance of media messages being thrown at the audience, the audience intercepts this bombardment with their prior beliefs and attitudes. Thus media effects are limited because the audience practices a degree of autonomy. The Marketplace Model positions the audience in the rank of the consumer. This model states that audiences are not inert victims of the media but enthusiastically elect to choose commodities that satisfy their desires and preferences. This model suggests that audiences are realistic and clued-up and know exactly what it is they want. Their preferences allow them to pick and choose the viewing they wish to indulge in and if â€Å"the audience demands diverse content, then the marketplace will provide it. â€Å"(Webster and Phalen, 1994:29) This model insinuates that in view of the fact that audiences actively engage in their choice of viewing they, to a certain degree, have power over the media. One must, however, not be too hasty in succumbing to the notion of the active audience because there is a proliferation of theories regarding audiences as being passive entities. The debate concerning audiences being passive victims of the media and media being capable of radically effecting people's behavior and beliefs, dates far back into history. An extremely appropriate illustration of this is when Hitler and Stalin attempted to use the media as propaganda by persuading the mass audiences to follow their policies and beliefs. Thus we can see how what an extremely precarious weapon media can be in the wrong hands, capable even of convincing millions to follow iniquitous beliefs. We see this persuasion still today in elections which is the same sort of propaganda. The Effects model of media audiences assumes that being exposed to adverse content can result in harm, that the audience is equally harmed by the media withholding high-quality content and the fact that although beneficial content is made accessible, it is being underused by the audience. â€Å"The Commodity Model is less wedded to any notion of audiences as individual decision makers and is more a reflection of the fact that, under advertiser support, they are a common coin of exchange. (Webster, 1994:30) Audiences are thus seen as commodities; the media will construct a text, in such a way that it will produce an audience. An example of this is the show Friends and how it is theorized that this show is actually a method of selling beauty products. Friends features stunning people, in amusing situations who are all blissful. Thus young audiences wanting to follow the latest trends of the main characters and experience their happiness would buy the beauty products sponsoring the show. In the argument pro passivity, â€Å"The Frankfurt School, who were concerned about the possible effects of mass media†¦ considered society to be composed of isolated individuals who were susceptible to media messages. â€Å"(Hanes, 2000) Thus the theory of the Hypodermic Syringe was proposed. This theory states that the media takes on the life of a syringe by injecting principles, and beliefs into the audience, who as passive mass viewers have no option but to be influenced and accept or imitate these messages. An example of this is if you see a woman sweeping the floor, being a woman you would go and do the same or being a man, you would expect the woman to go and sweep the floor. † Certain films such as the Exorcist were banned for this very reason; it was felt that it might encourage people to imitate the acts of violence in the film, in other words, if you watch something violent you will accordingly perform a violent act yourself. Yet another theory supporting the passivity debate is the Cultivation theory. This theory surmises that although an individual media text might not impact or affect an individual, years and years of being exposed to violence may consequently make you less sensitive and responsive to violence. If an audience, for instance, is constantly exposed to domestic violence, it may not bother them too much because they have been desensitized and domestic violence may have become just another societal norm which is exceptionally problematic. Yet another theory hypothesizes that we are likely to communicate our media encounters with others, and if we value their judgment, the likelihood is that we will be influenced by it and thus come to a deduction concerning our experience established on the foundation of the ‘opinion leaders'. These theories give us a great deal of insight into the reality of the audience as a passive victim. It is imperative that mention is given of how violence in the media can influence audiences as this is an integral part favouring the audience as victims' debate. It seems evident that by observing violent or aggressive acts on television and film, audiences are learn behaviors which are appropriate, in other words, which behaviors will be punished and which are rewarded. Audiences imitate those behaviors which are positively rewarded. For instance, if the protagonist is in a fight scene with the ‘enemy,' although the enemy may get punished by being defeated by the protagonist and thus the protagonist be rewarded for defeating evil, the protagonist himself was still involved in the violence and aggression. What is problematic is the fact that the protagonist is seen as the hero and is in turn imitated by audiences as it is seen as a good thing. So we can assume that violence in television and film is encoded and continuous viewing of this violence can help to maintain aggressive thoughts and violent ideas. It is also evident how the media may allow for the release of tension and desires through identification with fictional characters. Violent acts in the media may also erode inbuilt inhibitions against acting violently. Through the attraction of television and films, audiences acquire an imprecise comprehension of society, realism and moral values. Although the many theories surrounding the debate of whether audiences are passive or active are extremely influential, they have also been criticized. Firstly, the Gratifications theory can be criticized as it disregards the actuality that we do not always have absolute selection as to what we receive from the media. We typically have to choose the media that we consume from what is available. This emasculates the Gratification theory since we may not all have the equal prospects to utilize and benefit from the media merchandise we want. The Hypodermic Model can also be criticized on account of it being too simplistic and disregarding audiences' individuality. There is a definite association between the mass media and social change but many of the consequences attributed to the mass media can also be attributed to many other influences within society, thus the extensive debate. In weighing up the evidence of whether mass media is influential or not, it is clearly identifiable that the media does play a major role in the construction of representations in society. Therefore we see how the media is used as a powerful instrument in influencing audiences into certain modes and beliefs within society. So we can deduce from the arguments presented in this essay that while audiences are passive victims of an all-encompassing world of messages, they too are active in that they can rebel against the medias domination by ardently participating in it or by resisting it.