Changes in TV power themes track threat levels even when absolute levels do not

Evidence

We counted an average of 6 “power” shows per season in our high-threat period and 6.6 shows in the low-threat period, a nonsignificant difference, t(8)=0.32, p=ns. Analysis of the year-to-year changes, however, showed a rise in power shows (from 5 in 1978 to 10 in 1982) during the high-threat period (average increase of 0.8 per year) and a decline (from 11 in 1983 to 3 in 1987) in the low-threat years (−1.4 per year), a trend that is just significant in the predicted direction, t(8)=1.64, p<.10, as a replication of Sales’s (1973) earlier comic strip findings. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 779 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Societal threats produce increases in power-themed popular television; declines follow reduced threat — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 779; Anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim imagery differed in frequency because of political threat levels; Perceived threats escalate through interactive feedback loops between groups — Walter G. Stephan, Oscar Ybarra, Kimberly Rios Morrison, Intergroup Threat Theory, 25

Broader Connections

• Societal threats produce increases in power-themed popular television; declines follow reduced threat #corroborates (0.93) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 779