The Michigan Daily-Friday, February 5, 1988-Page 5 Titles women choose convey different images Doily Photo by JOHN MUNSON Televisions at Fretter Appliance on Washtenaw are tuned to ABC's "World News Tonight" with Peter Jen- nings. A recent study found that broadcast news can have a profound impact on viewers' political opinions, TV news paints harmfully unrealistic image, study says By DAYNA LYNN A rose by any other name might smell as sweet -- but whether the title Ms. precedes a woman's name might make her more fragrant to potential employers, a recently published study by a University of Toronto psychology professor found. In his 1983 study, Dr. Kenneth Dion gave male and female college students one of three different descriptions of a fictitious 29 year- old, full-time working woman. The descriptions were identical except that some indicated that the woman preferred the title Ms. and others said that she preferred Miss or Mrs. B A S E D upon t h e s e descriptions, students were asked to choose from a list of traits which they thought applied to the woman. Results showed that women who preferred the title Ms. were perceived as more "achievement-motivated and more assertive, but also colder socially than than her more traditional counterparts," Dion said. He said although warmth is valued in the business world, competence is considered more important. DEBORAH Orr May, director of the Career Planning and Placement office, said that experience has lead her to believe the study. "To be able to achieve the objectives of the job" is essential to success in the business world, regardless of whether the employee is warm or not, she said. May found this study "interesting but not really surprising." In general, she said, the title Miss conveys the idea of a "young, ingenue type," but not necessarily someone capable of performing a job. On the other hand, Mrs. carries matronly connotations, that the woman's priorities center primarily around her family, she said. DION also stressed that women have an advantage over men, who are restricted to the title Mr., because women can create different images for themselves. The study showed that in situations where the woman wants to convey a "high-powered business attitude," she might find it beneficial to use the title Ms.. But in social settings where warmth is valued more, the woman may perceived as friendlier if she chooses to use a traditional title like Miss or Mrs. Women's Studies Teaching Assistant Sharon Holland said that using the title Ms. helps restore women's equality with the male sex. USING such a title "gets rid of preconceived notions" about the woman, and eliminates any bias related to her marital status - she is equal to men who use the title Mr. whether married or not, Holland said. When entering the working world, female students should therefore "think about it and make a deliberate choice" of which title will best convey the image they want to promote, May added. Lisa Fitzpatrick, LSA senior, said she will use the title Ms. after graduation "because Miss or Mrs. would describe whether I was married or not, and its nobody's business." Fitzpatrick said she wasn't worried about the possibility that some male employers might be turned off by the title, because "I probably wouldn't want to work for them anyway." But some women still prefer the traditional title Miss. Jenett McLaurin, a graduate student in the School of Library Science, said she does so because "marital status is not an issue" in the business world. "Most everyone, certainly the employer, already knows if you're married or not." UM News in The Daly 764-0552 By MICAH SCHMIT with wire reports Politicians and government officials have been saying for years that television news has a profound effect upon public opinion. According to a new University study, they now have proof. The study, by researchers at the University of Michigan and at the University of California-Los Angeles, examined the effects subtly altered news broadcasts had on 1,000 viewers at Michigan and Yale universities. The study took place between 1980 and 1986. ONE OF the study's goals was to raise consciousness in both viewers and broadcasters as to how powerful television's influence is, said Donald Kinder, a University political science and psychology professor. Kinder and Shanto Iyengar, a political science professor at UCLA, published their findings in a newly released book titled "News that Matters." Rather than merely settling on spoonfed press releases, reporters and newscasters should try to b e adversarially aggressive and genuinely objective, said Iyengar. THE FIRST set of studies looked at how the news sets political .,agenda for. viewers, including politicians, by highlighting certain issues and ignoring others. "For instance, in one experiment, viewers saw four defense-oriented news sto- ries edited into a week of Silk Knit Lingerie 325 E. 'Liberty '':95-42224; broadcasts," said Kinder. By the end of the week, defense had moved from the sixth to the second most-important issue among the viewers. Priorities of a control group who saw no defense stories remained unchanged. The study showed that people who were deeply engaged in political life were the least affected by agenda- setting because their priorities were relatively firmly established. HOWEVER, the findings indicated that the more news coverage a particular issue received, the greater the agenda-setting effect it had upon viewers. In contrast, the study said that "priming" affects everyone who watches TV news. The study said that TV news primes us to evaluate the government's performance - especially the President's - based on issues the newscasters have stressed as important. For example, when newscasters emphasize judicial appointments, we tend to judge the President by his stand on that issue, forgetting about the economy, taxes, or arms control. Members of the Detroit broadcast media refused to directly comment on the study. IYENGAR says that television news should devote less time to the President and more time to other individuals and branches of government who, more accurately, bear responsibility for what is occurring. He adds that Britain appears to exemplify this kind of independent journalism more closely "We found that viewers, who saw newscasts emphasizing a particular issue but downplaying the role of the President, were convinced that the issue was important but were not likely to evaluate the President on that issue alone. They were realistic," the researchers say.. Some political figures may have been devastated by the priming effect. A three-day barrage of news stories on the Iran hostage crisis just before the 1980 presidential election primed voters to vote against President Carter, the researchers said. your. moi Bellmke lunch hour re fufilig. REGISTER NOW! 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