Media and the Collectivist Perspective:

A case study *

by:

Allison A. Danao

2011 – 55628

*An academic paper submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the course COMA

104, section F, under the supervision of Prof. Janette Malata-Silva, 2nd semester, 2012-2013.

I. Executive Summary

The study analyzed the journal entries of the subject regarding different topics given, and

identified the writing perspective which is collectivism. This was done, by first, classifying the

statements in the journal entries into the different types of assertions, wherein a table presenting

the statements in the journal entries, with the corresponding types of assertions was generated.

The anaysis resulted to majority of opinions in the entries. These statements of opinion were then

analyzed for collectivism, wherein a table presenting the criteria for collectivism and the

corresponding opinions were generated. Results produced are that more than half percentage of

her opinions have collectivist perspective.

The study also inquired on the factors that could have contributed to the writing

perspective of the subject and identified one central factor: media. In analyzing the media

consumption of the subject, an interview was conducted with the subject. Data gathered from the

interview are that the subject is fond of Western television shows compared to local ones;

watches more entertainment shows compared to 'serious ones' e.g. news; mainly uses media for

social interaction, information, and entertainment. The interview also revealed that the subject's

opinion leader is her family.

In explaining how media influences the collectivist perspective of the subject, the

researcher used the Two-step flow theory of communication wherein media influences opinion

leaders, and opinion leaders in turn, influence others through interpersonal communication. In

this study, the subject is an opinion follower of her family which is generally influenced by

media since the family is a middle-class, the family's ability to consume media is greater,

because it is more readily available. Also, the subject consumes more media to satisfy her needs

which is explained by the uses-and-gratifications theory. Media, then is shown as the central

factor that links collectivism and her social status. Media also connects her having opinion

leaders to her collectivist perspective, since having a collectivist orientation values and promotes

shared group beliefs and interests,such as her family relationships, and the circulation and

generation of opinions have great impact on the generation of meaning from media.

The use of language of the subject, meanwhile,is a reflection of the subject's culture. The

subject's use of the English language in her standard entries, which reflected more of 'media

knowledge' is an effect of her greater exposure to English and Western shows. Meanwhile her

use of the Filipino language is a result of the language being her L1 and the language use for the

circulation and relaying of opinions in the family, since family is her opinion leader. The

collectivistic culture to where the subject belongs to is also a indispensible factor in her

expression of ideas, since she acts according to the norms of that culture; and positions herself as

part of that culture.

II. Introduction

The study was conducted to assess the effects of media consumption on the writing

perspective of the subject. The subject is a sophomore student in the University of the

Philippines Los Banos, currently taking up BA Communication Arts. The subject, Alecx Andrea

Bagatsolon, is a 19 year old female. She was born and raised in Occidental Mindoro, and went to

a private school for her primary and secondary education. It was identified that her mother

tongue or L1 is Tagalog/Filipino and her L2, which she learned at school is English. The subject

is a middle class as classified by the Bureau of Internal Revenue1 based on the annual income of

her family which is estimated Php 600, 000. Her mother is a retired teacher, now a housewife,

while her father is a bank employee in Cotabato. She is the 1st of six children in the family. It was

also established that the opinion leaders of the subject is her family.

The subject was also identified to be fond of media in the forms of television

shows/movies,social networking sites and news. Majority of the television shows and channels

that she subscribes to are the Western ones. Meanwhile, the subject subscribes to only two

programs namely, 24 Oras and TV Patrol, in watching news where she mainly gets updates on

current social issues. She is not fond of reading newspapers nor visiting any news site on the

Internet. However, the subject mainly uses social networking sites, which are Facebook, Twitter,

Yahoo, Youtube, and Ultimate-Guitar, for social interaction and entertainment purposes.

Based on the data stated above, the study probes on analyzing the writing perspective of

the subject and identifying possible factors that could have contributed to this perspective. The

analysis of the subject's writing perspective could be linked to the subject's consumption of

media and also to her social status. Moreover, this study places the subject as a significant role-

player in defining the aspects of language and culture in a society.It inquires on the creation of

perception by the societal factors like media and hierarchy/social status and socio-psychological

1 According to the latest survey of the National Statistical Coordination Board, families whose annual income ranges from Php 246, 109 to Php 2,000,072 were considered middle-class families.

and socio-cultural effects of these factors to the individual perspective.

In the larger context, this study emphasizes the role of media in shaping the thinking and

perspectives of individuals, and therefore influencing how a language is used or a culture is

created.

III. Literature Review

Media's great influence on the perspectives and consciousness of people have long been

observed in scholarly works of communication. It functions in different ways for the different

segments of our society and creates a reality based on its own. Media's existence greatly affect

how we think about and respond to the world(Littlejohn, 2008). As Mcluhan said in his medium

theory, “Media, apart from whatever content is transmitted, impact individuals and society.

Television affects you regardless of what you watch. The Internet impacts society regardless of

what sites people visit. Personal media(e.g. Ipods) change society, it doesn't matter what musical

selections an iPod user makes.” This emphasizes how powerful media is in penetrating the very

culture of our living. It seeps through our consciousness and establishes a worldview confused

with our own, making us in the process 'media thinkers'(Littlejohn, 2008).

Moreover, media could promote collective thinking among people. Its different effects of

social integration and social interaction creates mutual, communal sharing and empowerment

among the members of a group of users. It makes us feel like we are part of a social community

of users and offers a sense of belonging. Like what Pierre (2001) said, “The Internet provides

virtual meeting places that expand social worlds, create new possibilities for knowledge, and

provide a sharing of perspectives worldwide.” This makes media a 'shared ritual' among groups

of people in a way that it offers a collective perspective of those using it; therefore minimizing

individual perception tendencies.

Media has also been long known to structure the issues of public opinion(Littlejohn,

2008). This agenda-setting function of media, as described by Shaw and McCombs in their study,

is “the ability to effect change among individuals, to structure their thinking.” This theory

explains how information relayed by the media could largely be a product of gatekeeping2 of

people responsible for media production, and to set limitations and boundaries regarding issues

that the public could think of, therefore, 'setting the agenda' for opinion, discourse, or

information. Also, according to this theory, media will most often be powerful when media

2 Shoemaker, Pamela. This could also be related to the Gatekeeper Theory of Communication which applies hand-in-hand with the Agenda-setting function of media.

credibility is high, conflicting evidence is low, individuals share media values, and the audience

has a high need for guidance.3 In a community, there are shared media values since meanings of

media are worked out socially by the group, according to social action media studies(Littlejohn,

2008).

Collectivism, on the other hand, is not directly linked with media. Collectivism is defined

by Haplin as the 'belief in the primary importance of the group or community and in the

principles and values of collective responsibility, collective interest, cooperation, economic

equality, adherence to collective norms, public property. This puts the group as the most

important unit in this perpsective. Smith (1998, p.352) also considered that collectivists tend to

“be more concerned with the consequences of one’s own behaviour for in-group members, and to

be more willing to sacrifice personal interests for the attainment of the collective interest”(as

cited in the Canadian Academy of Oriental and Occidental Culture, Vol.5 no. 4 2009) Morris and

his colleagues (1994) expressed the same idea that collectivists regard individuals as

subordinates to the collectivity in terms of in-group sharing and harmony.4 Moreover, Triandis

(1995) proposed four social elements of collectivism5: 1) emphasis on the views, needs, and

goals of the in-group rather than on the self; 2) emphasis on behaviour determined by social

norms and duties rather than on by pleasure or personal advantages; 3) common beliefs that are

shared with the in-group; and 4) willingness to cooperate with in-group members. Through this

descriptions of collectivism, media could be considered as a collectivist perception because it is

a form of belief shared with the in-group. To reiterate what is stated above in the social action

media studies, media is most often powerful when individuals share media values.6 Media, then,

which is a shared value by the in-group is characterized by collectivism. This puts media in the

role of generating these collectivist opinion among the groups of people and also sustaining this

perspective.

The effects of media could be minimal but hegemonizing if we look into the Two-step

Flow Hypothesis of Lazarsfeld, Berelson and Goude. According to them, media informs opinion

leaders, who influence others through interpersonal communication(Littlejohn, 2008). Media,

then, is the major opinion source of the groups of people who interact with each other. This could

be applied to social relationships such as families, peers, workplace, etc. This places “ informal 3 As seen in Littlejohn, cited from the complete analysis of Walgrave and Van Aelst. For this extension on the

agenda-setting function, you may refer to the bibliographical listing of the author.4 Ibid.5 Ibid.6 As described from the paragraph with the footnote number 3.

social groups to have some degree of influence on people and mould the way they select media

content and act on it.”(Suresh, 2003) Having a collectivist orientation then, which values and

promotes shared group beliefs and interests could have great impact on the generation of

meaning from media.

Media also serves the purpose of gratifying certain needs of groups of people. This Uses

and Gratifications approach focuses on the effects of media on the socio-psychological aspect.

This also comes in continuum with the earlier social intergration and social interaction concept

described earlier. For one, Lull's television research (as cited in Suresh, 2003) found that families

used television for communication facilitation, relationship building, intimacy, and for

structuring the day. In the use of media, four kinds of gratifications were observed, namely7: 1.

Information- we want to find out about society and the world- we want to satisfy our curiosity.

This would fit the news and documentaries which both give us a sense that we are learning about

the world. 2. Personal Identity- we may watch the television in order to look for models for our

behaviour. 3.Integration and Social Interaction- we use the media in order to find out more about

the circumstances of other people. Watching a show helps us to empathize and sympathize with

the lives of others so that we may even end up thinking of the characters in programme as

friends. 4. Entertainment - sometimes we simply use the media for enjoyment, relaxation or just

to fill time.8 This approach in media effects places media at the center of our needs and in par

with our everyday living. Media then is a part of our culture, creating perspectives and

subjugating our consciousness with its subtle but 'normalizing' ways.

Media and collectivism overlaps in the context of explaining the culture of the individual

or groups of people. The perspectives and opinions generated by the groups could largely be a

product of media molding. But the acceptance of media, also relies on the shared beliefs and

values in the in-groups, which is characteristic of collectivism. Research proved that the stronger

an individual's ties to an 'in-group', the greater his/her use of media; that reflect in some way, that

group/community of interest. Then, the effects of media could reiterate or reinforce the

collectivistic system of these groups of people, or create a system of values based on the prior

one, only being unconsciously practiced by the people. This adoption of ideas throughout the

society influences every individual's perspective and worldview, as powered by media and their

shared belief system.

7 These four kinds of gratifications and their definitons are taken from the course website of Journalism and Mass Communication. For complete citations, refer to the Bibliography.

8 Ibid.

IV. Methodology

The study was conducted with the the selection of the subject through drawlots made in

the class. The journal entries of the given subject would then be analysed by the researcher as the

case at hand. The journal entries consists of different topics assigned every week by the

professor, namely: Philippine politics, holidays, Manny Pacquiao, winning and losing, life in

reference to the RH Bill, and feast of the Black Nazarene.9 A triangulation method which

involved analyzing the journal articles of the subject with a collectivist criteria, applying the

different types of assertion to the statements selected, conducting an interview with the subject,

and explaining the results with theories of communication was done.

The first method done was analyzing the declarative statements in the journal entries and

categorizing them according to the different types of assertions10 In order to categorize them into

assertions, the researcher first selected the declarative statements in the journal entries. The

results then were the ones anayzed in the table below. Table 1 shows the breakdown of the

number of statements according to the type of assertion.

Table 1. Different types of assertions classification11

Statements Fact Opinion Preference Convention TOTALno. of statements per topic

1.Philippine Politics 2 15 11 6 34

2. Holidays 0 15 14 6 35

3.Manny Pacquiao 3 24 10 5 42

4.Winning andLosing

0 11 12 1 24

5. Life in reference to RH Bill

3 17 10 1 31

6. Feast of the Black Nazarene

4 12 1 0 17

TOTAL no. of statements based on type of assertion

Fact: 12

6.55%

Opinion: 94

51.37%

Preference: 58

31.69%

Convention:19

10.38%

TOTAL: 183100%

The table shows the results of the analysis on classifying the 183 declarative statements

9 For the full text of the journal entries of the subject, see Appendix A.10 The classification of assertions based on the work of Harold Martin and Richard Ohmann as cited in Dadufalza's

Reading Into Writing II. For complete citation, see Bibliography.11 See Appendix B for the complete details on analysis.

statements in the subject's journal entries. The analysis turned out that more than half of the

statements in the journal entries of the subject were statements of opinion(51.37%), followed by

statements of preference(31.69%), statements of convention(10.38%), and the least number,

statements of fact(6.55%). The statements of opinion covering half of the subject's journal entries

revealed the subjectivity of the author in expressing her ideas regarding the topics. However, the

opinions are tested if they were intrinsically those of the author/subject or if the opinions were

affected by external factors like media and social relations.

To test the hypothesis that social relations and perhaps social perspectives influence the

opinion of the subject, the researcher organized the statements of opinion in another table and

analyzed them using the collectivist traits given by Hofstede(199chuchu) in his description of

highly collectivist countries. Collectivism was used as the criteria for analysis to test whether the

subject's opinions put emphasis on the views, needs, and goals of the in-group rather than on the

self; or emphasis on behaviour determined by social norms and duties rather than on by pleasure

or personal advantages; the two of the four elements of collectivism proposed by Triandis(1995).

The researcher generated a checklist out of the nine(9) criteria for collectivism vis-a-vis

the statements of opinion from the journal entries of the subject. A checkmark was put on the

criteria's column if the statement exhibits the concept of the criteria. The checkmarks were then

added to indicate the number of collectivism for each statement on the total column.Table 2 shows the summary of the data analysis on the collectivism of the statements of opinions of the subject.12

No. of statements of opinion analyzed

Expect absolute loyalty to group (nuclear family, extended family, caste, organization

Group orientation

Decisions based on what is best for the group.

Identity based on social system

Shame culture

Dependence on organization and institutions (Expects organization / institution / group to take care of individual)

“We” mentality

Emphasis in belonging

Private life “invaded” by institution and organizations to which one belongs

TOTAL:

Total: 93 93 93 93 93 93 93 93 93 93 837

Scores: 48 71 35 50 28 27 66 24 34 383

In the table are the scores of each statement of opinion based on the collectivism criteria.

There were nine(9) basis for collectivism presented in the criteria. The second row shows the

12 For the full table and details on analysis of data, see Appendix C.

total number scores of the statements based on the criteria. The total of 93 statements if marked

with all the 9 criteria would result to the score of 837. The scores, however, generated by the

statements only resulted to 383 which is only 46% of the total collectivism score.

The researcher, then, formulated a conclusion based on the number of statements which

have have scores higher than the mean score of the criteria. This follows as 9 criteria have a

mean of 5. The statements then which acquired the mean score of checkmarks out of the whole

criteria; that is 5 out of 9, were computed and summarized. The results were that 48 statements

have at least 5 checkmarks out of 9. This makes 51.61% or half of the statements appoved for the

criteria of collectivism. The succeeding table shows the summary of the statements which have

the mean score for the criteria.

Table 3. Mean number of criteria.

Criteria = 9; Mean=5 No. of Statements = 93 Percent = 100%

5 above count of checkmarks 48 51.61%

Less than 5 count of checkmarks

45 48.39%

The table shows almost half of the statements(48 =51.61%) were proved to have a

collectivist perspective, and less than half(45 = 48.39%) proved otherwise. On the basis of the

structure of how an essay should be ideally written, that is; on a 10 page paper, about 1/8 to 1/10

is dedicated for the Introduction, ¾ is dedicated for the Body, and about 1/5 to 1/10 is dedicated

for the Conclusion, the researcher identified the writing perspective of the subject to be

collectivist.

After analyzing the journal entries of the subject, an interview for the social background

of the subject was conducted. This is to gather information about the subject's consumption and

exposition to media and its possible relations to her writing perspective. 13

The following can be concluded based on the interview: the subject is a middle class

based on the annual income and number of household of the subject; the subject is more

comfortable with her L1(Tagalog) more than in her L2(English) because it is her mother tongue

and the language used at home; the subject mainly uses media for entertainment, social

interaction, and information/ updates/news; the subject consumes more Western shows than local

ones. The trend on the subject's media consumption based on the form of media results to more

13 See Appendix D for the full text of the interview.

television talk, series, and reality shows, followed by the using of Internet and the least, the

watching of news. Moreover, on the context of news, the subject does not subscribe to other

forms of news media, like newspapers nor visit any news site.

The interview also revealed that the subject's opinion leaders consist of her family. The

subject finds her family's opinions to be the most worthy in generating opinions and decision-

making. This information was linked to the Two-Step Flow theory of Communication.

Based from the analysis of the journal entries and the data gathered through the interview,

the researcher used communication theories such as the Agenda-setting theory of communication

to explain how media could possibly be a factor in the writing perspective of the subject. Also,

the uses-and-gratifications approach theories explained why the subject consumes media in

relation to the gratifications for her certain needs.

V. Analysis and Discussions

The study's objectives include: identifying the perspective used by the subject, identifying

possible factors on why that perspective was used; and explaining the significance of language

use and culture in expressing ideas. The first objective was met by the researcher by the

classification of the statements and achieving the result of mostly opinions. The subject writes in

a collectivist perspective since almost half of the crteria for collectivism were met. Moreover, the

analysis including the criteria for collectivism proved true the analysis with the Two step flow

theory. The perspective used by the subject was identified as collectivim/collectivist because

most of her journal entries consisted of opinions. In her generation of opinions, she was

influenced by her opinion leaders, which is identified as her family. According to the Two step

flow theory of communication, media informs opinion leaders, then the opinion leaders relay that

information to opinion followers through interpersonal communication. In the subject's case, she

is an opinion follower of her parents/family, her perspectives is being influenced within

communication and discussions in the family. Also, a research said that the stronger an

individual's ties to an 'in-group', the greater his/her use of media; that reflect in some way, that

group/community of interest. This proves that the way the subject views the world is at first seen

to be subjective, but found out rather that it was a perspective and view of a collective group of

people. This view of the collective group of people was found out to be more of opinions rather

than facts. This is because media structures the issue that people would base their opinions on.

This is the agenda-setting function of media which explains the subjects's perspective as a 'media

knowledge' of the topics. Also, because of the group orientation/collectivism on opinions, the

subject was not able to critically analyze the topics given, and rather have the media perspective

on things.

Besides having her opinion leaders - which is her family and also influenced by media, a

factor of her collectivist perspective, more of the effects of media have been found out in the

study. The subject's social status is also a factor in her writing perspective,since it is a factor of

the subject's consumption of media. We have earlier identified that media is the central factor in

the subject's writing perspective.The subject is a middle class,and is fond of consuming media,

which is specifically more Western that is explained by the uses and gratifications approach and

the dependency theory of media. Since the interview led to identifying that her primary reasons

for consuming media are social interaction, entertainment and information, and she relies on

media to meet these needs, she subscribes to 'less critical' forms of media which can be

exemplified by her watching of television shows and visiting social networking sites instead of

watching more news. Her social status allows her to do this, her ability to consume. And as

explained earlier, the dependency theory suggests that people will become more dependent on

media that meet a number of their needs than on media that satisfy just a few (Littlejohn & Foss,

2008). Moreover, it proclaims that in general, the more readily available, the greater the

perceived instrumentality, and the more probable media use will be regarded as the most

appropriate functional alternative (Littlejohn & Foss, 2008).

The significance of language use and culture of the subject is pertinent to the expression

of ideas of the subject in a way that her interpersonal relationships and media, shape the

language and culture she has, influencing her perspective on things. The language use in the

subject's expression of standard and nonstandard reflects the culture that she belongs to: a

middle-class family, fond of media, and has collectivistic,strong in-group ties. Since the subject's

family uses the Filipino language mainly at home, she preferred to use Filipino also on her

nonstandard, because she feels more comfortable with it; and her relationships with her family,

her sense of collectivism also promotes this use. Also, since the subject's opinion leader is her

family, the language in which the discussions and opinion generation and relaying of information

in her family is Filipino, the subject has adapted the Filipino in expressing her ideas, which as we

have known are mainly composed of statements of opinions. Moreover, the subject's use of

English language in the standard usage, is an effect of her exposure on western and English

media. Since media is also a central factor in the collectivist writing perspective of the subject,

media served the purpose of implying the use of the English language in the subject's standard

usage. Since the subject consumes more Western and English media, where she gratifies her

needs of information, social interaction, and entertainment, she adoptingly used the English

language in expressing herself in the form of 'media knowledge.' Language here assumes the role

of functionality in expression. It serves as a tool for deliberate expression of ideas which is

anchored in the subject's culture and perspectives and at the same time, the culture provides the

framework wherein language will function.

VI. Conclusions and Recommendations

The study provided an explanation on the relationship of media and collectivist

perspective in writing and also the significance of the language use and culture in the expression

of ideas of the subject. The role of media in the form of gratification of the subject's needs and in

her generation of opinions posed a great impact on the collectivist writing perspective of the

subject, which reflected how language use and the culture influences the subject's perspective or

expression.

Since the study utilized a generated collectivism indicator based on the traits of highly-

collectivist countries presented in another researcher's study, the study recommends using an

standard Individualism-Collectivism Collectivism scale to be answered by the target subject in

order to have a more objective, unbiased measure of the subject's collectivism. This is a

verfication method of the analysis of the subject's assumed journals, and could strengthen the

rgument of collectivism as it the measure is based on the subject itself.

The study could be a benchmark on further analysis of the effects of media on

collectivism or individualism of individuals and the role that it plays in the preference of

language use, as influenced by culture. This study could also serve the purpose of the subject's

beginning analysis on her own writing style if she inquires on deepening the understanding of

her writing as influenced by the culture she is part of.

VII. References

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Littlejohn, S. W., & Foss, K. A. (2007). Theories of Human Communication. Ninth ed. Belmont,

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Shaw, D.L., & McCombs, M.E. (1977). The emergence of americal political issues. St. Paul,

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Suresh, K. (2003). Theories of communication. In Journalism and Mass Communication.

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http://www.peoi.org/Courses/Coursesen/mass/mass2.html

The Occidental Observer. (2010, September). Recent research on individualism and collectivism.

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individualismcollectivism/

Triandis, H. C. (1995). Individualism and collectivism. Boulder, CO: Westview.

Urban, C. (1981). Factors influencing media consumption: A survey of the literature. Cambridge,

Massachusetts: Harvard.

Virola, R. A. National Statistical Coordination Board, (2007). Statistically speaking: Pinoy

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Walgrave, S., & Aelst, P. V. (2006). The contingency of the mass media's political agenda-setting

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Appendices