Document Type

Presentation

Publication Date

1989

Publisher

International Communication Association

Source Publication

39th Annual Meeting of the International Communication Association

Abstract

A sample survey of 542 high school students examined the relationship of sex, social status, and identification with television characters to the desired occupations of these adolescents. The study was conducted in the context of an increase in the proportion of female television characters being depicted in non-traditional occupational roles for women. Findings indicate that sex and social status interact to affect occupational desires, such that higher status females desire occupations that are more traditionally male than do their lower status female counterparts. Identification with male and female characters in domestic and occupational roles still follows traditional lines overall, and adolescents are more likely to identify with characters if they perceive the shows to be more realistic. Depictions of non-traditional female characters may be affecting the occupational desires of some lower status female adolescents who identify with television characters in occupational roles . This finding supports a model that proposes that television portrayal of occupations will be more effective among those who have the least personal experience with these occupations.

Comments

Author version. "Sex and Social Status: Television Use and Occupational Desires among Adolescents." A paper presented at the 39th Annual ICA Conference, San Francisco CA, May 25-29, 1989. Publisher link. ©1989 The Author. Used with permission.

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