ABSTRACT
One of the primary focuses of the study of mass communication has been the social, cultural, and psychological effects of media content and use. Despite Berelson’s (1959) warning that our field was “withering away,” the study of effects has remained active and robust. Much of the empirical research published in the major mass communication journals concerns the effects of the mass media. There is no longer discussion in that literature about whether the media have effects or not; nor is our field as interested in identifying the different effects that media do have. Instead, most current research attempts to improve our understanding of media effects by refining our theoretical explanations of the processes by which media effects occur.
