ABSTRACT
The most profound effects of television on viewers are massive and take place gradually, over a long period. Most Americans will never have a chance to observe directly, through before-after comparison of individual cases, the dramatic effects that television can have on, stimulating curiosity and a thirst for knowledge, increasing skills in social navigation and communication with outsiders. The initially positive effects of TV on visiting and of home exposure on feelings of closeness to friends are two of several statistical indications we found that television is not inevitably a social isolating mechanism. Televiewing also correlated strongly and consistently with the index of total external contact. There is a corollary of the link we did find between Brazilian televiewing and an external orientation. TV-impact research should be aware of both the cultivation effect and the behavioral effects of the medium per se and its social repercussions in communities.
