PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE This article was downloaded by: [EBSCOHost EJS Content Distribution - Superceded by 916427733] On: 5 August 2010 Access details: Access Details: [subscription number 911724993] Publisher Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37- 41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t775648091 Socialization to Work in Late Adolescence: The Role of Television and Family Cynthia A. Hoffner ab ; Kenneth J. Levine cd ; Raiza A. Toohey ef a University of Wisconsin, b Department of Communication, Georgia State University, c Michigan State University, d School of Communication Studies at the University of Tennessee, e Georgia State University, f Marketing Communication Department, Stryker Corporation, Michigan To cite this Article Hoffner, Cynthia A. , Levine, Kenneth J. and Toohey, Raiza A.(2008) 'Socialization to Work in Late Adolescence: The Role of Television and Family', Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 52: 2, 282 — 302 To link to this Article: DOI: 10.1080/08838150801992086 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08838150801992086 Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.informaworld.com/terms-and-conditions-of-access.pdf This article may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, re-distribution, re-selling, loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.
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PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE
This article was downloaded by: [EBSCOHost EJS Content Distribution - Superceded by 916427733]On: 5 August 2010Access details: Access Details: [subscription number 911724993]Publisher RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK
Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic MediaPublication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information:http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t775648091
Socialization to Work in Late Adolescence: The Role of Television andFamilyCynthia A. Hoffnerab; Kenneth J. Levinecd; Raiza A. Tooheyef
a University of Wisconsin, b Department of Communication, Georgia State University, c Michigan StateUniversity, d School of Communication Studies at the University of Tennessee, e Georgia StateUniversity, f Marketing Communication Department, Stryker Corporation, Michigan
To cite this Article Hoffner, Cynthia A. , Levine, Kenneth J. and Toohey, Raiza A.(2008) 'Socialization to Work in LateAdolescence: The Role of Television and Family', Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 52: 2, 282 — 302To link to this Article: DOI: 10.1080/08838150801992086URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08838150801992086
Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.informaworld.com/terms-and-conditions-of-access.pdf
This article may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial orsystematic reproduction, re-distribution, re-selling, loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply ordistribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden.
The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contentswill be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae and drug dosesshould be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss,actions, claims, proceedings, demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directlyor indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.
Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media/June 2008
Socialization to Work in LateAdolescence: The Role of Television
and Family
Cynthia A. Hoffner, Kenneth J. Levine, and Raiza A. Toohey
This survey of college freshmen examines the role of television and family in
anticipatory socialization to work. Findings indicate that both sources play a
role in the development of work-related values and aspirations, but contribute
in different ways. Wishful identification was higher for characters perceived to
have higher paying jobs and stronger extrinsic (but not intrinsic) work values.
Although causal direction cannot be shown, results suggest that respondents
internalized the intrinsic and extrinsic work values they perceived in their
parents’ jobs, but derived mainly extrinsic work values and desire for easy
work from observing their favorite characters at work.
Socialization has been defined as the process of learning the attitudes, values, and
behavior patterns of a given society or group in order to function effectively within it
(Elkind & Handel, 1989; Schaefer, 2005). One of the primary goals of socialization
is the preparation for various social roles, including occupational roles (Jablin,
2000; Vondracek & Porfeli, 2003). According to Erikson’s (1968) model of lifespan
socialization, occupational identity is one of the most important aspects of identity
formation in adolescence. In his view, a ‘‘moratorium’’ period during adolescence
allows young people the freedom to experiment with different identities and adult
roles. Ultimately, they must make a series of choices that lead to commitments in
a variety of domains, including the commitment to an occupation.
The work environment is one of the most important contexts in which individuals
function during their lives. Long before entering the workforce, children and ado-
lescents develop conceptions of what it means to work, and form aspirations and
expectations regarding their own place in the world of work. This process has been
Cynthia A. Hoffner (Ph.D., University of Wisconsin) is an Associate Professor in the Department ofCommunication at Georgia State University. Her research interests include media uses and effects, andemotional and cognitive responses to media messages.
Kenneth J. Levine (Ph.D., Michigan State University) is an Assistant Professor in the School of Communica-tion Studies at the University of Tennessee. His research concentrates on organizational socialization, smallgroup dynamics, and leadership.
Raiza A. Toohey (Ph.D., Georgia State University) is a Communication Specialist in the MarketingCommunication Department at Stryker Corporation in Michigan. Her research interests include mediatedcommunication, media effects, and interpersonal communication.
arts (e.g., artist, designer), 7.2%; and education (e.g., teacher, professor), 5.4%.
Forty-one respondents (18.5%) aspired to the same field of work as their favorite
character.
To answer Research Question 2, the income and education level of the respon-
dent’s dream job were correlated with these characteristics of the favorite character’s
job, as well as with respondents’ expected level of educational attainment and their
parents’ highest level of education, controlling for gender. The education level of the
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Hoffner et al./TV AND FAMILY IN SOCIALIZATION TO WORK 293
Table 1
Means and Standard Deviations of Key Variables
Respondent Parent
Favorite
Character
Wishful identification — — 2.67
(1.14)
Educational attainment 4.67 3.98 —
(0.68) (1.07)
Job characteristics
Income level 3.75 — 3.14
(0.81) (1.07)
Educational level 3.64 — 3.43
(1.38) (1.56)
Intrinsic work values 4.27 4.04 3.61
(0.51) (0.68) (0.89)
Extrinsic work values 4.23 3.63 3.28
(0.61) (0.78) (0.92)
Easy work 3.58 3.35 3.28
(0.71) (0.84) (0.80)
Exposure to work information — 3.88 3.43
from source (0.96) (1.13)
Dependency on source — 2.92 3.63
(0.93) (1.03)
Note: Standard deviations are in parentheses. Educational attainment refers to the highestlevel of education respondents expect to attain, and the highest level of education reported foreither parent. Job characteristics refers to the rated characteristics of the respondents’ desiredjob, and ratings of the jobs held by parents and favorite characters. All variables could rangefrom 1 to 5, except educational attainment and educational level of the jobs, which couldrange from 1 to 6.
respondent’s dream job was positively correlated with both the education level of
the character’s job, r (205) D .19, p < .001, and the income level of the character’s
job, r (205) D .22, p < .001, as well as their own expected level of educational
attainment, r (207) D .40, p < .001, but not with their parents’ education. The
income level of the respondent’s dream job was significantly correlated only with
expected level of educational attainment, r (207) D .28, p < .001.
Regression Analyses Predicting Respondents’ Work Values
To address Research Questions 3, 4, and 5, three hierarchical regression analyses
examined predictors of respondents’ work values: intrinsic work values, extrinsic
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294 Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media/June 2008
ing also may be important (Bilandzic & Rössler, 2004). Do young people actively
seek career-related information from television or is the information they acquire
primarily incidental? Individuals who are engaged in the process of defining their
occupational identity and future career direction may be particularly susceptible to
the influence of mediated work portrayals, depending on how they perceive and
process the messages (Bilandzic, 2006). Future research should explore in more
depth how young people select and make sense of a broad range of televised work
portrayals, and how they decide whether, and to what extent, the information is
relevant to the development of their own occupational identity.
As already noted, scholars also need to undertake longitudinal research (cf. Schoon
& Parsons, 2002). This would help identify the causal direction of associations
among family- and television-related variables and work values and aspirations. In
addition, the generalizability of the present findings is limited not only by the unique
characteristics of the sample, but also by the fact that the data were collected in
a specific time period. It is possible that the relative contribution of family and
television varies based on societal factors, and on the specific television offerings
available (Simanoff, 2006), which change over time.
The process of socialization to work is complex and multifaceted. The present
findings suggest that both parents and television play a role in young people’s devel-
opment of work-related values and aspirations, but that the two sources contribute
in different ways. Given the limited prior research in this area, much remains to be
explored regarding the underlying processes, and the social, familial, and individual
factors that influence the extent to which young people rely on different sources in
the development of their occupational identity.
Notes
1A fifth item intended to measure ‘‘easy work’’ was included on the list of work valuesfor the character, the parent, and the respondent: works with little supervision/leaves you(him/her) mostly free of supervision. This item substantially reduced the reliability for two ofthe three ‘‘easy work’’ scales, and thus was eliminated from all three scales.
2A 2 � 2 mixed ANOVA, with dependence on parents versus television as a within-subjects factor and parents’ education level (no college degree vs. at least a college degree) as abetween-subjects factor, revealed a significant interaction, F(1, 217) D 7.10, p < .01. Althoughboth groups relied more on parents than on television for information about occupations andcareers, the difference was significantly larger for those whose parents had more education(Ms D 3.68 vs. 2.80) than for those whose parents had less education parents (Ms D 3.53 vs.3.12).
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300 Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media/June 2008
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