| The purpose of this study was to explore the meanings that at-risk adolescent girls develop through viewing and listening to the verbal and nonverbal social signs and symbols in music videos. Relatively little research has been conducted about music videos despite two decades of concerns. Prior research that is available suggests that music videos have a primarily negative effect on young people. Concerns include the psychological impact on youth, where normative expectations may be developed about conflict resolution, race, and male-female relationships.; The qualitative methods used in this dissertation were in-depth individual interviews, focus groups, participant observation, and collection of room photographs and media diaries. Interviews with 36 at-risk adolescent girls ages 11 to 18, and their media artifacts, provided insight into how this population uses music videos for information, entertainment, and education.; Findings indicate that participants learn behaviors that are cultivated by the multi-sensory and affective impact of music videos. Participants supported the findings of prior research that observational and incidental social learning is taking place through using music videos. This study identified five themes through constant comparison of the data, which suggest that this population uses music videos as social text to form identity and understand youth culture signs and symbols. Uses and gratifications identified in this study include identify formation, mood enhancement, modeling prosocial behaviors, and language development. Significant symbols presented in music videos, such as slang and dance moves, are important symbolic short-cuts that help viewers interpret meanings.; For this population, popular music videos are physiologically arousing and have psychosocial benefits. Participants indicated that some music videos are prosocial, providing information about healthy psychosocial behaviors, such as independence, problem-solving and spirituality. There is also evidence of the third-person effect, as participants believed that boys and young children are more susceptible to negative messages.; This study substantiates the need for media literacy curriculum that is designed to reach at-risk adolescent audiences. The unexpected prosocial element indicates a necessity to investigate the effects from programming not intended for young audiences. |
