Evolution Of Psychological Distance In Mass Communication

Distance exists in all aspects of life. It can refer to isolation in space or time, or refer to difference in terms of knowledge or emotion; it can be either spatial distance or mental distance. Spatial distance is tangible, either infinite or tiny, and despite the size, it can be calculated. On the other hand, mental distance is intangible and complex. In mass communication, mental distance exists between the communicator and the audience, between the communicator and the conveyed contents, and between different receiving groups. Mental health is the basis and core for constructing the relationship between communicator and the audience. Centering on the audience and basing on the main line of human communication activities, this thesis attempts to deeply explore, from the perspective of media's time and space bias, the evolution discipline and future development trend of mental health from the beginning of mass communication to date, along with the development of communication activities. It also aims to discover, with the historic transitions of human communication activities, the influence of communication activities on mental distance of different groups in the same society.The mental distance to be discussed on in the thesis refers to the disparity of the communicator and the audience in terms of knowledge, emotion and attitude, in the process of mass communication. These three factors are also the reasons for the forming and existence of mental distance. Mental distance is not the only concept about distance in the mass communication system, which also includes time distance, spatial distance and social distance; the four types of distance coexist in the mass communication system, relating to and influencing one another. This thesis relates media's time and space bias to mental distance in mass communication, and endeavors to sum up the evolution discipline and future development trend of mental health in mass communication, on the basis of media's time and space bias and along the development route of human communication activities. Harold Innis holds that all media has time and space bias. Yet this thesis argues that this kind of media bias is not absolute and one needs to define the field it is in before addressing its time and space bias. The development history of media's time and space bias can be summarized as follows: spatial developmentâ†'time resisting spatial developmentâ†'the two reaching a balanceâ†'spatial development emerging againâ†'time resisting spatial development againâ†'reaching a new balance…such circulation goes on and on. This thesis takes oral communication era as the scale (time and space tend to be balanced, and mental distance is balanced), so as to compare the changes of time and space bias and mental distance in various media ever after. From the beginning of mass communication to date, its progress and leap each time has casted huge influence on human and society while, definitely, it also has profound mental influence on people in the society. Mass communication can be felt in the audience's daily life, delicate yet profound.