ABSTRACT
The effects of media exposure on the construction and maintenance of consumers’ social perceptions, attitudes, beliefs, and actions have long been addressed by theoretical and empirical research in the domains of mass communication, social psychology, and cognitive psychology (Hardin & Higgins, 1996; Wyer & Radvansky, 1999). Accordingly, it should come as no surprise that media use has been determined to play a meaningful role in the development of racial/ethnic cognitions and intergroup behaviors. Indeed, research has consistently revealed modest but significant associations between viewing media portrayals of race/ethnicity and outcomes concerning evaluations of outgroup members’ competence (Zuckerman, Singer, & Singer, 1980), socioeconomic status (Armstrong, Neuendorf, & Brentar, 1992), group status (Giles, Bourhis, & Taylor, 1977), social roles (Atkin, Greenberg, & McDermott, 1983), and judgments regarding a variety of race-based attributions and stereotypes (Dixon, 2006; Dixon & Maddox, 2005; Ford, 1997; Mastro, 2003; Mastro, Behm-Morawitz, & Ortiz, 2007; Mastro & Kopacz, 2006; Mastro, Tamborini, & Hullett, 2005; Oliver, Jackson, Moses, & Dangerfield, 2004).
