How Fantasy Becomes Reality: Seeing Through Media Influence [Hardcover]

Karen E. Dill (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0195372085 | ISBN-13: 978-0195372083 | Publication Date: September 3, 2009 | Edition: 1

It's a common belief that the stories we encounter through mass media--whether in video games, action movies, or political comedy skits on Saturday Night Live--are just entertaining fantasies that have no tangible impact on our everyday lives, attitudes, and choices. Not so, says Karen Dill in this lively and provocative book. As much as we may want to deny it, the images, sounds, and narratives that bombard us daily have ample power to alter our realities.
Dill, the author of the single-most-cited study on the effects of video-game violence, draws on extensive research in social psychology to show not only the myriad ways--for good and ill--that media influence us, but also why we resist believing they do. Vibrantly written and packed with eye-opening examples from everyday life, her wide-ranging analysis encompasses everything from gender and racial stereotyping to social identity, domestic violence, and presidential politics. She discusses the ways that super-thin models and actresses have altered women's self-images, dissects the manipulative strategies of advertising aimed at children and medical consumers, and explains how the "fake news" of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report may offer more authentic and incisive coverage than the cable channels and network newscasts. She also assesses the growing importance of "new media" like text-messaging, blogs, and Facebook in how we communicate and process information.
In a media-saturated society, Dill argues, understanding precisely how these powerful forces affect us and learning how to deal with them are vital to the very way we function as citizens. How Fantasy Becomes Reality shows what we can do to move from the passenger's seat to the driver's seat as media consumers.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Professor Karen Dill has done a remarkable job in presenting the scientific facts about the huge (often harmful, sometimes helpful) impact that TV, films, video games, and music have on us all, and she has done so in a way that is engaging and easy to understand. Two additional aspects of this book are of particular importance: her science-based explanations of why most people believe that they are not influenced; and her recommendations for how people can take control of the media in their lives rather than continuing to be controlled by the media industries. In my view, this is a 'must read' for anyone who is concerned about the healthy development of children and the future of modern society."--Craig A. Anderson, Distinguished Professor of Psychology; Director, Center for the Study of Violence; Iowa State University

"[Dill] takes complex psychological constructs and explains them in an entertaining, conversational style. For parents and older children, she offers an engaging and accessible discussion of the subtle ways that the pervasive presence of media affects us all...[Dill] provides a comprehensive, yet comprehensible walk through the world of media effects research... Dr. Dill's message focuses not only on the negative side of media, but also on how to create a positive and balanced media diet, especially for children. Media literacy is one part of the solution, and Dr. Dill's concluding message is that we all need to take more control of our media diet."--Jeanne Brockmyer, Distinguished University Professor of Psychology, University of Toledo

"Media, in all their evolving forms, have become the default activities for the 21st century. Dr. Karen Dill's excellent book explains the tremendous impact media have and what we can do. She translates solid science into a highly understandable, readable and enjoyable book."--David Walsh, Ph.D. President, National Institute on Media and the Family

"Finally, an engaging and interesting book college students enjoy reading about the pervasive effects of the media." --Brad J. Bushman, Ph.D. Professor of Communication Studies and Psychology, University of Michigan

"...a triumph, an eminently accessible yet thoroughly substantive volume on a topic of great relevance to all."--Sex Roles: A Journal of Research

About the Author

Karen E. Dill is a social psychologist who has given expert testimony before the United States Congress, lectured internationally as a media psychology expert, and has been interviewed by news outlets worldwide, including the BBC, Time Magazine, USA Today, and Japan's national network, NHK. She is Director of the Media Psychology Doctoral Program and Faculty, Media Psychology, School of Psychology, Fielding Graduate University.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 1 edition (September 3, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195372085
• ISBN-13: 978-0195372083
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #279,525 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Scientific research made plain - Awareness is power!, October 4, 2009

By 

The Pen (Greenville, NC) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: How Fantasy Becomes Reality: Seeing Through Media Influence (Hardcover)

Karen Dill's new book will capture readers from the first pages when she introduces what she calls "Media Manipulation Denial Syndrome." She coins this phrase based on three facts: "Fact 1: We spend most of our waking hours watching media. Fact 2: Research shows clearly that media are powerful and affect us in many ways. Fact 3: Many of us passionately disbelieve Fact 2."

Dill attributes our personal media diet in part to free choice and part to a Borg-like assimilation where "resistance is futile." Media exert a powerful influence whose purpose is to lure us into their productions and engage us at an emotional level. The positive or negative consequences depend a great deal on the choices we make about our personal media diet.

Dill offers numerous examples of how various products produce such consequences. She'll lead you through the basics of media and social construction, what it means to live and grow up in a media-saturated world, how violent media produce lasting effects, issues of race and gender portrayal, advertising and consumerism, media in politics, and how to take control of our personal media consumption.

While this text presents a great deal of scientific research that will teach you about basic psychology, it is also a relaxing read for anyone interested in media influence from video games to television. Dill's conversational style will allow you to see yourself in her examples and will soon have you scratching your head about why you make certain choices. You may be moved to both laughter and tears as you discover the truth of how we are influenced in very profound ways. If you heed her advice, you may find yourself playing a more vital role in your own life and the lives of those within your personal circle of influence. Don't miss it. Awareness is power!

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars When Social Brains Meet Screen Media, June 23, 2010

By 

dancer (New York, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How Fantasy Becomes Reality: Seeing Through Media Influence (Hardcover)

In her thoughtful and lively book, social psychologist Karen Dill deftly moves beyond the question of whether or not our use of screen media affects us. That debate, she confirms, is essentially over: it does. The more interesting question she asks is why we are so quick to deny such influence. As Dill argues, such denial renders us even more vulnerable to "media effects." Her task is to help us understand how our media use affects us (without our realizing it), so that we can begin to participate more proactively in the evolution of its form and content, and live healthier lives.

Using tools of social psychology, Dill examines how media producers provide eye-catching images and emotion-wringing scripts that stir our primal desires for food, sex, and social belonging. They attract our attention by shocking our sensory selves. We are soon addicted to the charge.

What is particularly helpful about this book is Dill's explanation of how the form and content of today's screen media--and she examines television shows, movies, rap music, music videos, video games, advertising, and political coverage--play right into our strengths as the socially-wired creatures we humans are.

Face to face with desire-grabbing images and sense-assaulting scripts, we cannot help comparing ourselves to what we see. We cannot help imitating at a neuro-chemical level the actions that we see. Nor can we help repeating stereotypes about race and gender, or absorbing the persistent, implicit message of many video games, rap songs, and popular films that violence is an acceptable and useful response to life's conflicts.

In short it is our nature as social creatures to learn from what we see about what is real, what matters, how we should act, and where we should, or do not, fit in. We do so without thinking. Even though we know that what we are seeing is fiction, it registers in our brains as real.

Thus, where our social brains meet screen media, Dill reports, we are apt to grow both increasingly anxious and insecure about our selves (as compared to the media's ideal forms), and addicted to the virtual and vicarious bursts of pleasure that those same images provide. In such a state we are more vulnerable than ever to promises about what products will fill the gaps that our use of media has opened. Advertisers take note.

To protect ourselves, Dill offers timely advice: assume that you are being manipulated, and then think critically, consume wisely, unplug frequently, vary your intake, and seek out non-screen activities that engage us in a state of flow.

Along the way, her riveting accounts of psychological experiments and her amusing anecdotes combine for an enjoyable as well as enlightening read. She is a friendly guide indeed!

Kimerer L. LaMothe, Ph.D., Author of What a Body Knows: Finding Wisdom in Desire

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Accurate and Accessible, April 7, 2010

By 

Zack Zoroaster (Indianapolis, IN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How Fantasy Becomes Reality: Seeing Through Media Influence (Hardcover)

Karen Dill's book on "How Fantasy Becomes Reality: Seeing Through Media Influence" is a rare work that exemplifies both of the characteristics necessary for informed, thoughtful readers: accuracy and accessibility. As we all know, there are a lot of uniformed people taking strong stands on media issues, often promoted by various media industries themselves. Dr. Dill's work, however, is based on decades of high quality behavioral science work. It also reflects the combined knowledge, expertise, and judgments of all of the major medical and behavioral science organizations, including the American Psychological Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Medical Association, among others. In other words, this book accurately portrays what the top researchers have learned about media effects.
In addition, the book is accessible to a wide audience. It is very readable. Dr. Dill's engaging style is laced with humor and wisdom. Readers will recognize themselves and their families in many of the stories and anecdotes. In sum, this book is a must-read for anyone interested the understanding and taking control of both the positive and negative aspects of the modern electronic media environment.