a single TV channel , which broadcasted American , British , and Australian programming . Three years after the introduction of TV , the rates of disordered eating behaviors tripled , body dissatisfaction swelled to 74 %, and dieting increased to 69 % among adolescent females who had televisions in their household ( Becker , Burwell , Herzong , Hamburg , & Gilman , 2002 ). Some scholars claimed that this Fiji case exemplified the cultivation effects of TV .
Cultivation has been used to explain attitudes of Americans toward body image , such that viewing body ideals in the media distorts the view of how one should look , which may make one feel that he or she should emulate the ideal body and place more importance on appearance . A study showed that female adolescents who watch more TV with idealized body images possess lower selfesteem ( Morrison et al ., 2004 ). Light TV viewers are affected by cultivation effects as well , though indirectly , by interacting with those who are heavy TV viewers ( Morrison et al ., 2004 ). Some scholars have argued against the cultivation hypothesis , and have claimed that there is no overall effect of TV viewing . Rather , the negative effects of TV on body image are specific to the content being viewed . A study among adolescent females showed that overall TV viewing did not predict body dissatisfaction or drive for thinness , but that the amount of
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