Document Type

Presentation

Publication Date

8-1989

Publisher

Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication

Source Publication

Annual Meeting of the Association For Education in Journalism and Mass Communication

Abstract

A study of "causal" communication, the communication of attribution-related information, investigated the relationship of exposure to mass media (especially film) depictions of Vietnam veterans to perceived causes for the problems facing a number of Vietnam veterans. The study further extends attribution theory to social interaction and communication contexts. A sample survey of 355 adults (age 18 and over) in the Milwaukee metropolitan area was conducted by telephone in April 1988. A content analysis found some mass media and interpersonal communication relationships with internal and external attributions for Vietnam veterans’ problems. Attributions for the cause of a problem do seem related to preferred solutions. It appears that interpersonal communication could be affecting attributions. Mass communication may also be affecting attributional schemata under certain circumstances. Results indicated the impact of experience on media relationships with attributions was more complex than anticipated. There may still be enough uncertainty about how to deal with the memory of the Vietnam war, and with its veterans, that even the more experienced might still be seeking attributions.

Comments

"Causal" Communication: Media Portrayals and Public Attributions for Vietnam Veterans' Problems (1989). Publisher link. A paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, August 1989. ©1989 The Author. Used with permission.

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