Abstract

Examining the determinants of cultivation theory in today's society on the political attitudes of viewers is the foremost consideration of this research. Scholarly journals' investigations indicate that political talk shows have the influence to cultivate political knowledge among the viewers. This article studied consumption patterns and the psychological effects of political talk shows on males and females. It investigated how the political discourse of media cultivates political behaviour. For the purpose of the investigation, a survey method technique was employed to take the responses from 200 respondents, 100 from each segment males and females. Results revealed consumption patterns of political talk shows that cultivate negative psychological effects on viewers.

Key Words

Cultivation Theory, Political Talk Shows, Psychological Effects

Introduction

Media is considered a fundamental component in order to originate, strengthen and maintain the accountability and sustainability of governmental forces (Yaser, et al, 2011). Media acknowledges as a fourth pillar of the estate in current democratic societies. It serves the public and safeguards their rights.  In the present era, the role of media is pivotal to disseminate political activities, problems and developments. The politicians and media both influence each other, somehow. Media with special reference to television has become an important societal phenomenon in Pakistan (Zubari, 1992).  In Pakistan, televised political current affairs programs have become a fraction of this society and a reflective, parallel mirror of the social order (Timberg, 2002, p. 192).     

Most people accept the notion that media has influential power but the degree of that impact on recipients ever varies. Meanwhile, the idea of effect studies has been a great debate among communication scholars. Media effects indicate multiple dimensions at the micro (on individuals) and macro level (as a whole on society) through news and entertainment mass media, inclusive of newspapers, television, film, books, radio, magazines, websites, video games and music. A variety of researchers from the field of Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, Political science, Education and other fields have studied media effects.   




Media affects Paradigm 

 Fiske & Taylor, 1991; Cohen, 1963; Lipmann, 1922; Entman, 1993; Gerbner, Gross, Signorielli & Morgan, 1980; Bryant & Thompson, 2002; Bandura, Ross & Ross, 1963; Gerbner, Gross, Jackson-Beeck, Jeffries-Fox, & Signorielli, 1978; Wikinson & Fletcher, 1995. All these researchers by and large view the world in the light of priming, agenda setting, framing, cultivation, mainstreaming, disinhibitory effect and mean world syndrome to analyze the media effects on consumers' behaviour.   

As far as this research article is concerned it is based on the media effects paradigm. George Gerbner and Larry Gross (1976) developed the cultivation theory of mass communication to measure the effects of television on its consumers. The higher consumption pattern of television viewers leads towards the conception of mean world syndrome. It refers, that television has the power to shape the perception of social reality in the minds of its frequent consumers (Dominick, 2005, p. 471).   Although, the environment of media is changing very rapidly still cultivation researchers contest the significance of television as the medium to affect the consumers' perception of social reality (Reizer & Hestsroni, 2014). On the other hand, there are some other appropriate approaches to the media effects paradigm, social action theory by (Anderson & Meyer, 1988, p. 48) exhibits that, the audience constructs the meaning of the message mediated by the media according to their interpretation. The agenda-setting of McCombs and Shaw, and the media dependency of Rokeach and DeFluer, all are reflexive to the media effects paradigm.   

Even though, some scholars are in search to explore the cultivation effects of different media outlets other than television on recipients' behaviour (Beullens, Roe, & Van den Bulck, 2011).  Moreover, Shrum (2002) also proposed a heuristic processing model under the investigation of cognitive process accentuating the cultivation effects. Escalating results predict that exposure to media content enhances the receptiveness of correlated images in the memory. With due concern to all these researches concerned the cultivation effect theory has indicated that the role of media is important to affect and shape the perception of consumers about the real world. 

So, the consumption of television content whether it's the faction of news or entertainment programs contributes a lot to developing the audience's conception of their political system (Carlson, 1993).  




Television and talk shows in Pakistan

On the national level, television is considered the dominant medium of communication. It is significant as its 1st official transmission telecast commenced from Lahore on 26 November 1964 under (Pakistan corporation limited PTV). The first coloured transmission got on the air in 1976 in Pakistan. The first private channel named NTM (network television marketing) commenced in the early 90s.  In the era of (2000), the former president of Pakistan Gen. Pervaiz Musharaf deregulated the electronic media of Pakistan. According to the media logic review report (2015) for now, approximately 100 channels are being broadcasted the transmission. The history of talk shows is as long as it presents the first and unique format of programming. Early shows had great concern for politics and government during the time of 1960s. Those were celebrity-oriented shows. Furthermore, game programs broadcasted on Television during the daytime were replaced by talk shows (Madni, Shahzad & Abdullah, 2011). 




Categorical Division of Talk Shows 

Talk shows are divided on the basis of their content categories explored by (Madni, Shahzad & Abdullah, 2011). The below-mentioned topics are usually discussed in political talk shows. So their nature is political as well as social in order to form public opinion.




Role of Media in the Construction of Public Belief

Undoubtedly, the role of media is inevitable in the

domain of public belief and attitude construction with the interrelation to social change. This change appears both on governmental levels, with concern to change in policy action and also at the individual level, in terms of behavioural change in the audience (Happer & Philo, 2013). It is also an argument, that public debate is influenced by ideological battles with special concern for dominant strong groups of society. 

So, we can relate the public debate with media discourse on political talk shows and the influence of dominant strong groups of society which could be media conglomerates and political parties. They ever stand in a state of contradictions with their variety of ideological battles. 




Psychological Effects of Political Talk Shows 

Classical researchers had clearly marked out the distinction between the psychological effects of tradition and the sphere of media and cultural studies. Its orientation is sociological in nature whereas psychological effects are purely pledged with behaviourism. While "complexity of the reception process then creates the possibility of variations in attitudinal and behavioural changes".   

Potentially positive and negative effects of media have been recognized and categorised under three categories (Buckingham, 2007).   

? Behavioural 

? Attitudinal

? Emotional




Objectives of the Study

This study has been designed to investigate the psychological effects of political talk shows on the youth of Pakistan. With due concern, the researcher has some core objectives to dig out the phenomena:  

? To examine the viewing frequency of political talk shows among youth.

? To investigate the consumption hours of political talk shows among male and female viewers. 

? To enquire youth's perception of Pakistan's political talk shows broadcasted on Television. 

? To determine the comparative opinion of male and female viewers about political talk shows.  

? To explore the approach of youth towards the future of Pakistan.

? To observe the consumption pattern of political talk shows among male and female viewers and its psychological impact on them. 




The Rationale of the Study 

The argument has been developed on the basis of keen observation and consumption towards media content with reference to political talk shows. The bombardment of news channels in Pakistan causes to bring a variety of political talk shows in order to initiate discussions with concern for Pakistan's political system. Usually, all the participants are representatives of political parties of Pakistan in the panel discussion of political talk shows who devastated the ethical boundaries and portray themselves in an aggressive manner. The culture of scandal, blame games, and abusive and ill-mannered ways of communication among the participants of political talk shows may cause audience distrust, restlessness, negativity and some other psychological problems. The open violation of ethical considerations during the conduction of political public debate on media outlets led towards a new debate. Either such kind of political talk shows may cause to proliferate the public discourse on wrong track. Undoubtedly, political talk shows are involved in displaying political information to the citizens about the current scenarios and keeping them aware and updated. Instead of all the validated areas of concern, researchers are keenly interested to investigate the effects of political talk shows. These political talk shows may cause to broadcast frustration and dissatisfaction rather than a forum to explore potential alternatives. So, the psychological impact of this political communication on the behaviour of youth is an area for investigation.   

Literature Review

Most studies of media effects focused on the causal relationship between exposure to media content and its impact on viewers. Although the primary focal point of this review is to highlight the studies that measure the influence of media content on the audience (Carlson, 1993; Gerbner, 1998; Craig et al., 2003; Abida, 2012; Kristen and Kinnally, 2012; Lai, Chung and Po, 2014; H. Y. Lau, 2015). Here, the concerned literature is divided into three sections, cultivation effects of television, content-specific effects and more importantly psychological effects of the political discourse of media on the audience. 




Cultivation Effects of Television

 Cultivation theory has been developed in the past few decades and over the years it is being examined the relevance of the cultivation effects of television. H. Y. Lau (2015) indicates the strong relationship between television viewing and change in the concepts of consumers about social realities. Under the quantitative analysis of 258 students through the survey method, the phenomenon was analyzed that TV is the sole determinant to bring change in the concepts of social realities.  This ascribes, that prolonged usage of TV leads towards the alteration in the conception of social realities of viewers.    

On the other hand, the growing body of cultivation theory explained the short and long-term consumption patterns of the audience. Therefore, media violence verified as a reason for to increase in aggression and violence among children, adolescents, and young adults. Through longitudinal and survey methods of investigation, results revealed that the nature of televised effects of content on consumers is negative. Those aggressive behaviours have more likely physical and verbal harm potential but repeated exposure to the violent content of media desensitizes the pessimistic emotional response in the study (Craig et al., 2003). Furthermore, they investigated not only television but film, music and video games in the context of the violent stimulus of media content and the cause of aggression in users. That's proven the consistent responses.  

Whereas, (Lai, Chung, & Po, 2014) challenge the previous two pieces of research and examine that only the use of media is not inclusive to explicate the effects of cultivation.  Program type and individual differences on the basis of age, gender and race also influence perceptions of the audience. Apart from the traditional consumption pattern of consumers (Lai, et al., 2014) explain the correlation of cultivation analysis with new technology. Most often, cultivation analysis is associated with traditional media like Television. To discover this new aspect, 18 articles were reviewed and deduced the result that the rise of online technology in terms of the internet in today's society appears also to exert influences on the consumers' perception of the real world.  

Kristen & Kinnally (2012) also observed that woman's exposure to thin models in media cause dissatisfaction among them. In contrast, the degree of these effects is limited due to social and environmental influences on the female. So, self-esteem and peer group attitudes were observed to be powerful indicators in a 15-minute online survey of undergraduate students. While this analysis has a correlation between media and both internalization of the thin model and body discontent. That's why the importance of media content could not have vanished but these environmental factors reinforce the impact of media on the behaviour of media users. 




Content-Specific Effects of Television

Above mentioned researches shed light on the overall effects of television. Furthermore, cultivation analysis with the perspective of cultural indicators that highlight the program-specific effects of TV defined by (Anwar. M., & Jan. M, 2010; Hariton. A, 2011; Madni, Shahzad, & Abdullah, 2011; Mahsud, Ishtiaq, Amin, & Khan, 2013; Naz, Nwaz, & Ali, 2014). 

Proximately, in the last decade, the phenomena of private channels in the society of Pakistan put on massive popularity among the masses. These channels are responsible to bring political awareness among diverse sections of society. Subtle, audio-video characteristics of TV took radical changes in several areas like, the socio-economic, political and specifically cultural transformation of Pakistani society. Around the clock different political issues have been discussed to formulate public opinion. Political and social development of the masses on the regional, national and international levels is their prime focus. Madni, Shahzad, & Abdullah (2011) empirically proved the fact that viewers' perceptions are highly affected by current affairs programs in a positive way and users are also satisfied with their preferred News channel and current affairs programs.   

Naz, Nwaz, & Ali, (2014) also says that the role of political talk shows in the development of raising political awareness among youth is unavoidable. This awareness leads them towards knowledge and understanding of politics. The political genre of talk shows is in high regard for the sample of 150 students who participated in the survey about the "role of talk shows in raising political awareness among youth". 

Some other perspectives however observed in the theoretical realm of agenda setting (McComb & Shaw, 1972) and social learning (Bandura, 1977) which are playing an imperative role in creating political socialization through the political communication of media. There is a link between the field of political communication and media in order to affect the voting turnout after exposure to election campaigns on media (Anwar. M, Jan. M, 2010).

The analytical study,  based on the "role of news

talk shows in creating political efficacy among youth" revealed the correlation between exposure to political talk shows to increase the political efficacy of media users. This efficacy is highly dependent on the level of political consciousness. Exposure to political talk shows enhances the element of socialization in those who watch it most (Ahmed. M, 2008).  

Previous studies have been done on the overall impact of television and more specifically concerned with the effects of political communication of broadcast media on its users. Meanwhile, the Australian Psychological Society (2013) reviewed multiple pieces of research to summarise a series of influences produced by the usage of media on the ground of some psychological theories.   




Psychological Effects of Media 

Over the years a bulk of psychological research on media preferred television as a medium for the investigation has been done. Recently there has been a concern area of exploration about the exposure to the internet and the effects of violent video games. Lists of psychological theories provide the framework to measure the influences of the internet and violent video games on users. These include Cultivation theory, Social learning theory and social-cognitive models. 

Models of persuasion, Impersonal impact hypothesis and third-person effect, The General learning model. The comprehensive findings explained by (APS, 2013) are, lingering exposure to media violence increases the risk of aggressiveness in behaviour in the long term. Similarly, advertising negatively affects the cognition and behaviour of children. It creates restlessness and purchases arousal in the behaviour of children. On the other point portrayal of crime has been exposed at an overestimated level which usually misrepresents the crime rate and frequency which negatively affect the behaviour and attitude of media users. 

A variety of research has looked at media violence on behaviour, heavy exposure to media changes the social reality of users, and the impact of political talk shows on different aspects like political efficacy, political socialization and much more. Merely no attention has been paid to "Psychological effects of political talk shows on youth".







Theoretical Framework 

Cultivation Theory of Mass Communication 

Fundamentally, this theory is the part of media effects paradigm. George Gerbner and his colleagues developed the theory at the Annenberg School of Communication. It is also considered to be the most extensive and long-running research on the effects of television. Gerbner associated the term "cultural arm" with television. That means the TV has got the status of a family member which tells us most of the stories most of the time. He categorized TV viewers into high and low-consumption categories. Heavy viewers who are exposed to more violence become convicted of mean world syndrome. Mean world syndrome depicts that the world is worse than its actual condition. Though, the overuse of television cause to create a fearful and homogenous populace (Severin, & Tankard, 1992, p. 249). 

Existing research "The psychological effects of political talk shows on youth" empirically grounded with the core idea of cultivation theory, television is responsible for shaping, or 'cultivating' viewers' conceptions of social reality. With due consideration of historic obstacles to literacy and mobility, television has become a crucial source of socialization and information for the heterogeneous population. Being the mass audience we have no access to direct information regarding politics and politicians. Definitely, most part of our information is directly or indirectly derived from television and we compel to rely on it. So, by and large, our thinking pattern regarding objects, individuals or institutions is highly based on the information sought from television. Though, the televised content cultivates a shared conception of reality with the diverse public. The core idea that provides the theoretical background to my study is that "heavy television viewers are getting a heightened sense of risk and insecurity from television". Might be television leads the heavy viewers to the "mean world syndrome" conception. According to Gerbner, this may be the primary and most widely shared effect of cultivation theory. 




Cultural Indicator Approach of Cultivation Theory

 The cultural indicator approach of cultivation analysis has been involving a three-dimensional research strategy (Gerbner, 1984).  

Figure 1



The first position in this strategy is called institutional process analysis. It designed and formulates the institutional policies and directs them towards the masses through its constructed media content which reflects its policies. While remaining two prongs are directly concerned with our present focus what we call message system and cultivation analysis (Gerbner, 1998). 

Gerbner and his colleagues developed an argument in the favor of this assumption that different genre of programs is consistent and supportive of specific kind of status quo. However, there have been a number of researches that explain the unique relationship between program type and perception of social reality. 

Carlson (1985) demonstrates that heavy viewers of crime shows have numerous perception and outlook regarding the legal system that varies from the opinion of light viewers. Volgy and Schwarz (1980) explain that the consumption of medical programs influences the observation of medical programs. Buerkel, Rothfuss and Mayes (1981) show the correlation between the viewing habits of daytime Soap Operas and the perception of the rate of recurrence of divorce. As per the results deduced from the several pieces of research, scholars use to include program-specific and overall consumption measures in their analyses.  




A New Contribution in the field of effect Studies 

No studies have examined directly the influence of political talk shows on the psychology of youth.  Cultivation theory is the framework of this effect study. 

So, above mentioned all researches provide a strong theoretical base for this new area of investigation to explore the different psychological effects on the cognition, behaviour, attitudes and emotions of youth after exposure to political talk shows.  




Research Questions 

RQ1: What would be the consumption pattern of male and female viewers watching political talk shows? 

RQ2: How much time is consumed by male and female viewers while watching political talk shows?

RQ3: Do political talk shows enhance political knowledge among youth? 

RQ4: To what extent the male and female viewers perceive the content of political talk shows positively or negatively? 

RQ5: To what extent do political talk shows have positive or negative psychological effects on youth?   

Research Methodology

Primarily Psychological paradigms are valuable with respect to the individualistic aspect of the fundamental question (i.e., what does exposure to mass communication do to people?). They are imperative to explain the conceptualization of the association among mass media messages and such phenomena as attitudes, patterns of perception, imitating the behaviour of models, decision making and overt behaviours (DeFleur & Rokeach, 1982). To investigate the psychological effects of political talk shows on youth, the survey method technique has been employed




 Research Design

It is a quantitative research approach to investigate the phenomena. The survey technique was found best to examine the human psychological system with respect to several sensory components of consumers. The questionnaire contains 15 close-ended questions and one open-ended question to get a response from the subjects. Relevant literature helped to construct the questions.  Particularly the statements of the questionnaire developed from the previous studies (Zhang. S., 2007; H. Y Lau, 2015).  A five-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly agree) to 5 (strongly disagree) has been adopted to quantify the respondents' responses.  




Population

The entire students of Bahauddin Zikraya University, Multan Pakistan are considered as the population of this research study. 




Sample Size and Characteristics

200 research participants are selected from the Department of Communication Studies Bahauddin Zikraya University of Multan belonging to the Social Science discipline. Participants include males and females from diffrent batches PhD, M.phil, and Bs (Hons) Programs having different socio-demographic characteristics like gender, age, and education. 




Sampling Frame & Strength

The sample strength is divided as follows:

? 100 male students

? 100 females students 




Sampling Technique

The purposive and convenient sampling technique has been adopted to draw the sample from the population. 




Variables

Two major variables were examined in this study to quantify the relationship between stimulus and response which is the basic assumption of the psychological paradigm. 




Independent/ Dependent Variable 

Exposure to political talk shows is the independent variable whereas its psychological impact on the perception of youth is the dependent variable. 




Operationalization 

Three major concepts of this study need to be operationally defined that are "psychological effects", "political talk shows", and "youth". 




The Psychological Effects 

DeFleur & Rokeach (1982) define the three stages of psychological effects on human beings. 

? Cognitive effects

? Affective effects

? Behavioural effects




Cognitive Effects

"Cognitive processes enable individuals to transform sensory input in numerous ways: code it, store it, interpret it selectively, distort it, and retrieve it for later use in decisions about behaviour. The cognitive processes that play key parts in shaping an individual's behaviour include perception, imagery, belief systems, attitudes, and values, tendencies toward balance in such factors, plus remembering, thinking, and numerous other mental activities". The political discourse perceived by consumers from political talk shows allowed them to think, perceive and interpret the political system of Pakistan in a certain way. However, to measure the cognitive effects, questions 4 to 11 in the questionnaire incorporate this specific agenda. 




Affective Effects  

"Affective processes are those generally referred to in terms of various categories of feelings and emotions. Human beings like and dislike; they fear, hate, love, and are amused by various features of their environment. In a society that has developed a considerable dependency on its media for information, affective change in people can be anticipated when the media deliver such information". Consumers' perceived reality about the political system is the product of media with subsequent positive or negative effects on them. To counter the affective processes question number 3 to 13 from the questionnaire inquire about the respondent's response.   




Behavioural Effects 

Overt action is, of course, the kind of effect that interests most people. Change in attitude, belief, and effective states is also an interest in this domain.  It is the degree of influence that political talk shows influences overt behaviour. Numerous possessions of media messages on the behaviour of viewers could consider as activation and deactivation effects (DeFleur & Rokeach, 1982). So, to cater for the overt changes in the behaviour of viewers, the researcher has asked questions 14 and 15.      




Political Talk Shows 

Political talk shows broadcasted on Television screens with different formats which may involve one host and remaining one or more than one guest speaker for discussion on political, social and economic agendas. Live panels, as well as telephonic kind of discussions, are the most important part of political talk shows in which various experts from civil society, political candidates and social activists took part. Media logic monthly review (2015) claims that Political talk shows are considered the top-ranking segments for the Pakistani population.   




Youth 

In Pakistan, youth comprises 60% of the total




population. University students are the young population of Pakistan. They fall between the ranges of 20 to 30 years age group.     




Data Collection & Data Presentation and Analysis 

For the purpose of data collection, a pre-constructed questionnaire has been utilized to gather the information from the research subjects. The questionnaire has been consisting of closed-ended questions to measure the responses. The questionnaire is prepared on the basis of a literature review and pilot study. For gathering data a convenience sampling technique has been employed.  Data obtained from the survey is transferred to a coding sheet and analyzed in SPSS by using contingency table analysis as a statistical tool. 

Data Analysis and Interpretation of Results

Table 1

Gender: Consumers' frequency to Watch Pakistani Political Talk Shows

Gender			Frequency of consumptions				Total
			On daily Basis	Weekly Basis	Monthly Basis	Rarely
	Male		70	23	0	7	100
			70.0%	23.0%	.0%	7.0%	100.0%
	Female		20	40	10	30	100
			20.0%	40.0%	10.0%	30.0%	100.0%
Total			90	63	10	37	200
			45.0%	31.5%	5.0%	18.5%	100.0%

 




Table 1 describes the gender political talk shows viewing frequency.  The data indicates that a total of 70% of males like to watch political talk shows on a daily basis whereas, 23% of males said they watch political talk shows on a weekly basis and only 7% of males responded they rarely watch political talk shows. In comparison to female respondents, results designate that 20% of females like to watch political talk shows on a daily basis, 40% on weekly basis and 10% watch them on a monthly basis while 30% of the proportion watch these talk shows rarely. So, overall findings depict that males are heavy viewers of political talk shows in comparison to female viewers.  

Graph 2

Average/ Mean Hours of Viewing Political Talk Shows



Graph (2) is about the average/ mean hours of viewing political talk shows by male and female respondents. The related graph listed shows the observations (frequency) of viewing hours on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. Analysis of this cluster bar chart depicts that male respondents consume an average of 2 hours per day watching political talk shows whereas, female respondents use to watch political talk shows an average of 1.7 hours per day. So, observation frequency addressed that males are heavy viewers of political talk shows than female viewers. 

 




Table 3 

Gender: Viewer's Observations about Political Talk Shows in Rank Order   



The data in Table (3) indicates the viewer's most frequent observation about political talk shows and ranked them accordingly. The majority of male respondents described that mostly they observe blame games in political talk shows and ranked it number one, healthy political discussion, fighting and exchange of harsh words obtain the same position as ranked number two. While, female respondents ranked the category "fight and exchange of harsh words" as number one which explains, mostly this kind of stuff they consumed from political talk shows.  "Blame game" and "healthy political discussion" got the second and third ranks respectively. Overall, the approach towards the content of political talk shows is perceived by viewers as cynical in both segments males and females. 




Table 4

Gender: Political Talk Shows as the Source of Political Knowledge

Gender			Source of Political Knowledge				Total
			Strongly agree	Agree	Neutral	Disagree
	Male		19	65	8	8	100
			19.0%	65.0%	8.0%	8.0%	100.0%
	Female		32	35	12	21	100
			32.0%	35.0%	12.0%	21.0%	100.0%
Total			48	100	18	29	200
			24.0%	50.0%	9.0%	14.5%	100.0%

 




Table (4) depicts the overall results that, 84% of male respondents agreed and considered political talk shows as the source of political knowledge for them. Some respondents were neutral and disagree with the same ratio of 8%. In comparison to male respondents female viewers agreed with the percentage of 67% which indicates a slight difference among the responses of both genders, 12% responses from females were neutral whereas 21% of females disagree. So it's proven that both males and females consider political talk shows as a source of political knowledge and rely on it, but on the other hand, it has been approved that males have higher acceptance of these political talk shows as a source of political knowledge as compared to females after the consumption of political talk shows.   




 

Table 5

Gender: Political Programs are Significant in Raising Political and Social Issues

Gender			Political programs are significant in raising political and social awareness					Total
			Strongly agree	Agree	Neutral	Disagree	Strongly Disagree
	Male		4	53	25	8	10	100
			4.0%	53.0%	25.0%	8.0%	10.0%	100.0%
	Female		15	47	12	16	10	100
			15.0%	47.0%	12.0%	16.0%	10.0%	100.0%
Total			19	100	37	24	20	200
			9.5%	50.0%	18.5%	12.0%	10.0%	100.0%

 

Above mentioned findings in Table (5) illustrate that 57% of male viewers agree, 25% are neutral, and 18% disagree that political programs are significant in raising political and social issues. On the other hand, 89% of females agreed on this and only 12% were neutral and 26% disagreed. With a slight difference gender wise responses have the same opinion about political talk shows that are considerable in highlighting political and social issues in the coverage.

 

Table 6

Gender: Consumer’s Level of Satisfaction after the Consumption of Political Talk Shows

Gender			Feelings after the consumption of Political Talk show				Total
			Satisfied	Neutral	Dissatisfied	Highly Dissatisfied
	Male		48	32	16	4	100
			48.0%	32.0%	16.0%	4.0%	100.0%
	Female		15	39	32	14	100
			15.0%	39.0%	32.0%	14.0%	100.0%
Total			63	71	48	18	200
			31.5%	35.5.0%	24.0%	9.0%	100.0%

 




Table (6) revealed that 48% of male respondents are satisfied after the consumption of political talk shows, 32% are neutral, and 20% feel dissatisfied. In comparison to female respondents, only 12% are satisfied, 52% are neutral, and 36% are dissatisfied. Subsequently, male respondents are satisfied after the consumption of political talk shows whereas females are not, this may cause female viewers to consume fewer political talk shows as compared to males.




 

Table 7

Gender: Participants of Political Talk Shows Projecting controversy in Issues

Gender			Participants in a political talk show projecting controversy						Total
			Strongly agree	Agree	Neutral		Disagree	Strongly Disagree
	Male		25	45	10	11		9	100
			25.0%	45.0%	10.0%	11.0%		9.0%	100.0%
	Female		9	20	14	35		22	100
			9.0%	20.0%	14.0%	35.0%		22.0%	100.0%
Total			34	65	24		46	31	200
			17.0%	32.5%	12.0%		23.0%	15.5%	100.0%

              




Table (7) explains that male respondents agreed with the ratio of 70% and 10% have neutral responses whereas 20% of viewers disagreed with this stigma. Respectively mere 29% of females agreed on the matter of projecting controversies in political talk shows by the participant's and 14% felt neutral but the highest fraction of 57% of female respondents disagreed with this construct.  So, male respondents have a more negative approach towards participants of political talk shows as compared to female viewers because male respondents are heavy viewers of political talk shows on television.




 

Table 8

Gender: Political Talk Shows Distorting the Image of Pakistan 

Gender			Political talk shows distorting the image of Pakistan					Total
			Strongly agree	Agree	Neutral	Disagree	Strongly Disagree
	Male		24	52	16	8	0	100
			24.0%	52.0%	16.0%	8.0%	.0%	100.0%
	Female		20	48	20	8	4	100
			20.0%	48.0%	20.0%	8.0%	4.0%	100.0%
Total			44	100	36	16	1	200
			22.0%	50.0%	18.0%	8.0%	2.0%	100.0%

 




The above table (8) illustrates the gender variable 76% of male and 68% of female viewers agreed that political talk shows distort the image of Pakistan. Although 16% of males and 20% of females were neutral, 12% of females disagreed while no response was found from the male in the category of disagreement.  Above mentioned statistical measures explain that male viewers of political talk shows have a more critical approach towards political talk shows and the image of Pakistan is being destroyed by the political talk shows.   




 

Table 9

Gender: Political Talk Shows are Violating the Code of Ethics

Gender			Political talk shows are  violating the code of ethics					Total
			Strongly agree	Agree	Neutral	Disagree	Strongly Disagree
	Male		40	40	12	8	0	100
			40.0%	40.0%	12.0%	8.0%	.0%	100.0%
	Female		24	52	8	12	4	100
			24.0%	52.0%	8.0%	12.0%	4.0%	100.0%
Total			64	92	20	20	4	200
			32.0%	46.0%	10.0%	10.0%	2.0%	100.0%

 




The above-given table (9) shows that 80% of male and 76% of female subjects agreed with the highest percentage that political talk shows violate the code of ethics of the participants of the program. Although, 12% of males and 8% of females answered neutrally.  On the other hand, 8% of male respondents and 16% of females disagreed with this stigma. According to this survey, it was revealed that Pakistan's youth is not satisfied with the ethical considerations of political talk shows. 




 

Table 10

Gender: Bad Governance in the Country is due to the Incompetence of Politicians Cross Tabulation

Gender			Bad Governance in the country is due to the incompetence of politicians					Total
			Strongly agree		Agree	Neutral	Disagree
	Male			36	52	0	12	100
				36.0%	52.0%	.0%	12.0%	100.0%
	Female			28	48	24	0	100
				28.0%	48.0%	24.0%	.0%	100.0%
Total				64	100	24	12	200
				32.0%	50.0%	12.0%	6.0%	100.0%

 




 Table (10) shows the cross-tabulation of gender variables regarding responses about the incompetence of politicians regarding bad governance. Males were agreed with the ratio of 88% and 12% disagreed whereas no response found in the neutral category. Of female respondents, 76% agreed, and 24% were neutral about this notion. No responses were found in the category of disagree. Overall, both males and females agree with the notion that politicians are responsible for the bad governance in the country. Males are heavy viewers of political talk shows that's why they have more negative psychological effects on their minds in comparison to females.   




 

Table 11

Gender: Pakistan’s Political and Economic Conditions are Improving

Gender			Pakistan's political and economic conditions are improving					Total
			Strongly agree	Agree	Neutral	Disagree	Strongly Disagree
	Male		4	20	4	64	8	100
			4.0%	20.0%	4.0%	64.0%	8.0%	100.0%
	Female		4	24	36	24	12	100
			4.0%	24.0%	36.0%	24.0%	12.0%	100.0%
Total			8	44	40	88	20	200
			4.0%	22.0%	20.0%	44.0%	10.0%	100.0%

 




Table (11) indicates the cross-tabulation of gender presents the data with a high frequency of difference of opinion, 24% of male respondents agree, 4% were neutral, and 72% of male viewers disagreed about the notion. While 28% of female viewers agreed, 36% share respond neutral and disagree with the same ratio.  So, it's proven that male respondents feel more negatively about the economic progress of Pakistan as compared to female viewers because male viewers have a high consumption rate of political talk shows which negatively affects their thinking.




 

Table 13

Gender:  Feel Disappointment about the Political System of Pakistan Cross Tabulation

Gender		Average viewing hours/day		Feel disappointed about the political system of Pakistan					Total
				Strongly agree	Agree	Neutral	Disagree	Strongly Disagree
	Male			20	60	16	4	0	100
			2	20.0%	60.0%	16.0%	4.0%	.0%	100.0%
	Female			28	40	28	4	0	100
			1.7	28.0%	40.0%	28.0%	4.0%	. 0%	100.0%
Total				48	100	44	8	0	200
			3.7	24.0%	50.0%	22.0%	4.0%	.0%	100.0%

 

Table (13) describe the cross-tabulation of gender variable and clearly depicts the responses of the participants regarding the psychological effects of political talk shows on youth, 80% of male respondents feel disappointment after the consumption of political talk shows which is higher than the ratio of female respondents with the percentage of 68%. Male subjects are heavy viewers and spend an average of 2 hours per day whereas female consumers spend less than 2 hours per day on an average basis. So, it has been explored that the psychological effects of political talk shows on males are high than on female viewers.

Table 14

Gender: Feel Restless after Consumption of Political Talk Shows

Gender			Average viewing hours/day	I found myself restless after watching political talk shows					Total
				Strongly agree	Agree	Neutral	Disagree	Strongly Disagree
	Male			12	40	28	20	0	100
			2	12.0%	40.0%	28.0%	20.0%	.0%	100.0%
	Female			15	32	24	16	13	100
			1.7	15.0%	32.0%	24.0%	16.0%	13 .0%	100.0%
Total				27	72	52	36	13	200
			3.7	13.5%	36.0%	26.0%	18.0%	6.5%	100.0%

 




The results of Table 6.4 in the cross-tabulation reveal that the psychological effects of political talk shows are more negative on males as compared to female viewers. However, males are high viewers than that of females that's the reason they feel restless with a ratio of 52% but 47% of results from female respondents depict a lesser impact on them.




 

Table 15

Gender: Uncertainty about the Future of Pakistan

Gender			Average viewing hours/day	Feel uncertain about the future of Pakistan after watching political talk shows					Total
				Strongly agree	Agree	Neutral	Disagree	Strongly Disagree
	Male			32	46	5	13	4	100
			2	32.0%	46.0%	5.0%	13.0%	4.0%	100.0%
	Female			12	50	4	14	20	100
			1.7	12.0%	50.0%	4.0%	14.0%	20.0%	100.0%
Total				44	96	9	27	24	200
			3.7	22.0%	48.0%	4.5%	13.5%	12.0%	100.0%

 




Table 15 with the cross-tabulation of the gender variable clearly conveys that 78% of males are more negative and uncertain about the future of Pakistan whereas 62% of female viewers are indecisive about Pakistan's future which is a clear distinction among the results. It also has been explored that males are heavy viewers of political talk shows which put more negative psychological effects on them as compared to female viewers because they are light viewers.




 

Table 16

Gender: Suspicious Sentiments about the Credibility of Politicians

Gender		Average viewing hours/day		I feel suspicious about the credibility of politicians after watching political talk shows					Total
				Strongly agree	Agree	Neutral	Disagree	Strongly Disagree
	Male			20	56	12	9	3	100
			2	20.0%	56.0%	8.0%	12.0%	.0%	100.0%
	Female			24	44	24	4	4	100
			1.7	24.0%	44.0%	24.0%	4.0%	4.0%	100.0%
Total				44	100	36	13	7	200
			3.7	22.0%	50.0%	18.0%	6.5 %	3.5 %	100.0%

 




Table (16) explored that it is conveniently clear from the above-mentioned table that 76% of the results revealed suspicious sentiments about the credibility of Pakistani politicians in male respondents whereas females are less suspicious with a percentage of 68% and the consumption of political talk shows increases the pessimistic behaviour in males more than the females towards the political system of Pakistan because males are heavy viewers with comparison to females. 




 

Table 17

Gender: Cultivation of Aggressive Behaviour in Consumers

Gender			Average viewing hours/day	Political talk shows cultivate aggressive behaviour in consumers					Total
				Strongly agree	Agree	Neutral	Disagree	Strongly Disagree
	Male			16	32	30	18	4	100
			2	16.0%	32.0%	30.0%	16.0%	4.0%	100.0%
	Female			8	32	28	32	0	100
			1.7	8.0%	32.0%	28.0%	32.0%	.0%	100.0%
Total				24	64	58	50	4	200
			3.7	12.0%	32.0%	29.0%	25.0%	2.0%	100.0%

 




Table (17) is about the variation among males and females, results investigated that the psychological effects of political talk shows on males are higher than on female viewers due to the disparity in consumption hours. In males, 48% agreed that political talk shows cultivate aggressive behaviour in them and 40% of females accept the notion.   

Discussion

Summary Review of Research Findings

"The role of political discourse (political talk shows) suggests that psychology has had more impact than sociology on the way specific theories of the effects of the televised audience have been conceptualized and studied" ( DeFluer & Rokeach, p. 208). The aim of the study is to examine the determinants of cultivation theory in today's society on the political attitudes of viewers. Originally, cultivation theory kept the focus on the viewing habits of televised audiences and the symbolic world of media cultivates the conception of the real world. The spectrum of this present study reflects the effects of political talk shows and their psychological emphasis on individuals.  The key findings of this study shed light on the application of the cultivation theory effects paradigm. Political talk shows as the media content hasn't concerned with violent behaviour in viewers but with emotions such as pessimism, anxiety, disappointment, distrust and aggression cultivated in viewers as the reflection of the media's symbolic reality. The prevailing results of the study highly endorse the theory of (Gerbner, 1976). Heavy viewers are exposed to more violence and therefore are affected by the Mean World Syndrome, an idea that the world is worse than it actually is.  According to Gerbner, the overuse of television is creating a homogeneous and fearful populace. 

A quantitative research approach has been employed to dig out the answer to five key research questions in this study. First, RQ1 described the consumption pattern of male and female viewers watching political talk shows. So, overall findings depict that males are heavy viewers of political talk shows in comparison to female viewers.  The majority of male respondents use to watch political talk shows on a daily basis whereas, female subjects use to watch them on weekly basis or rarely. 

RQ2 stated and explored the consumption hours of political talk shows by male and female respondents. Male subjects are heavy viewers and spend an average of 2 hours per day whereas female consumers spend less than 2 hours per day on an average basis. RQ3 investigated the tendency of male and female viewers regarding political talk shows, it has been approved that males have higher acceptance of these political talk shows as a source of political knowledge as compared to females after the consumption of political talk shows. Males have more political knowledge in comparison to females because they are heavy viewers compared to females. RQ4 demonstrates the observed frequency values about the viewer's observation and perception of the content of political talk shows among youth. Overall, the approach towards the content of political talk shows is perceived by viewers as cynical in both segments males and females. RQ5 illustrates the observed frequency value of the psychological effects of political talk shows on male and female viewers. The psychological effects of political talk shows on males are more than the female viewers has been approved because males are heavy viewers and these effects are cynical in nature.

 Though, males are heavy viewers in frequency to watch political talk shows in comparison to females that are the reason they are more pessimistic towards the political system of Pakistan.  Political talk shows as extreme media content alter political behaviour, attitudes as well as information processing with different cultivation outcomes. Overall, results concluded that Pakistan's political talk shows portrayed negative and unhealthy political discussions that provoke a pessimistic approach in the viewer's mindset highly endorsed by the previous literature of  (Ejaz, 2012: Lee. H, 2012: Taylor, 2013 & W.T. Lai et al. 2013). The psychological effects of political talk shows are higher on male viewers than on females. Generally, the impact of political talk shows is pessimistic in nature but it varies in degree and gender. Male viewers are more disappointed, sceptical and aggressive in behaviour after the consumption of political talk shows, so results of RQ5 have been endorsed by the findings of (Craig et al, 2003) that media increases the likelihood of aggressive behaviour in both immediate and long-term contexts.  

Conclusion

In conclusion, the present study acknowledges the existing influence and effectiveness of cultivation theory in today's society. Media has the power to affect the mindset of its users whether they are heavy or light viewers. The effects could be positive or negative in nature. In the domain of media content political talk shows are the source of knowledge and awareness provider about the political system of Pakistan. Viewers of political talk shows are heavily agreed with the notion that these programs broadcasted on Television portray negative content in an unprofessional way of presentation. Political talk shows have been creating many psychological effects (pessimism, disappointment, restlessness and aggression) on the viewers. These effects are heavily cynical in nature to deconstruct individual cognition and behaviou. 

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