Media/press communication: The influence of the media on our behaviour

Thanks to media communication, social actors, that is to say we, develop there unconsciously (level of attention, extent of knowledge activated..).

These processes can lead to changes in people’s judgements, attitudes and behaviours, more or less important, beneficial and lasting.

In today’s society, social psychology is a relevant tool for studying all media, from more classical such as television, to the more recent ones, such as social networks and especially the Internet.

For example, women’s magazines are the first to reveal a beauty that is essentially based on slimming and youth…

The women’s press is built the same way, except for the magazine «Causette» which comes out of the ultra-feminine codes that want to unveil this type of newspaper: fashion, healthy recipes, beauty, sport…

Even unconsciously, women’s populations are trying to identify with the “perfect woman” who poses in her magazines.Three-quarters of the cover pages of magazines like Elle, Grazia, Cosmopolitan have a title on how to change appearance.

The example of the Summer-body is the very illustration of a change in behaviour among women: in view of what they see in magazines, all try to have a muscular body for the summer and change their food habit for this.Just an innocuous press release can change a woman’s way of thinking.

Cinema and television follow the same line as women’s magazines.

They also try to sell us any kind of product by affixing it to the image of a perfect female or male body.

On the other hand, children or pre-adolescents are most vulnerable to the influence of the media, which can influence their behaviour.

Television in particular is the media that has the most influence on younger people.

Yet these young people are increasingly exposed to media violence. In the face of this aggression in the media, there are three possible reactions among young people.

- Increased fear

- Desensitization to fear

- Increased aggressive behaviour

It is therefore important to keep some distance from “the media world”.

Thelma BLUMBERG