From Ally McBeal to Sábado Gigante

Abstract

Although previous findings indicate that frequent television viewing is associated with holdingmore stereo typical attitudes aboutgender, no studies have examinedthis connection among Latino youth, who are frequent viewers of both English- and Spanish-language programming. The present study attempted to rectify this situation by examining connections between exposure to this content, viewer involvement, and the gender role beliefs of Latino adolescents. Surveying 186 Latino high school students, we found that girls who watched more television andwho perceived it to be realistic exhibitedmore traditional gender role attitudes. Similar contributions were seen from the viewing of specific genres of English- and Spanish-language programming, underscoring the importance of investigating associations by language, sex, and genre.