Documenting Portrayals of Race/Ethnicity on Primetime Television over a 20‐Year Span and Their Association with National‐Level Racial/Ethnic Attitudes
2015/03/01 by Riva Tukachinsky, Dana Mastro, Moran Yarchi · 258 citations
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Anthropology #Asian americans #Association (psychology) #Computer science #Content analysis #Demography #Ethnic group #Gender studies #Gender, Feminism, and Media #Media Studies and Communication #Media, Gender, and Advertising #Multilevel model #Perception #Psychology #Race (biology) #Sociology
paper · doi:10.1111/josi.12094
published in Journal of Social Issues 71(1), 17-38 (Wiley)
openalex publication_date 2015/03/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Abstract
The current study content analyzes the 345 most viewed U.S. television shows within 12 separate television seasons spanning the years 1987 to 2009. Using multilevel modeling, the results from this comprehensive content analysis then are used to predict national‐level racial/ethnic perceptions (between the years 1988 and 2008) with data from the American National Election Studies (ANES). Content analysis results reveal severe underrepresentation of Latinos, Asian Americans, and Native Americans, and a tendency to depict ethnic minorities stereotypically (e.g., overrepresentation of hyper‐sexualized Latino characters). Multilevel‐modeling analysis indicates that both the quantity and quality of ethnic media representations contributes to Whites’ racial attitudes.
Citations
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