title: Prosocial effects of entertainment television in India.
abstract: The study examines the prosocial effects of Hum Log (We People), India's 1st long running television soap opera.  Hum Log was a prosocial TV program that was designed to promote women's status in Indian society.  Regression analysis was used to measure the degree to which exposure to Hum Log affected viewers' (1) awareness of certain prosocial beliefs promoted by the series, (2) level of TV dependency, (3) involvement with the characters of Hum Log, and (4) adherence to 3 prosocial beliefs promoted by Hum Log.  Exposure to Hum Log was positively associated with viewer's awareness of the program's prosocial messages, TV dependency, and involvement with TV characters in the series.  Viewers who were more exposed to Hum Log were also more likely to believe in women's equality and women's freedom of choice, but not in family planning.  The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of present and future research on the use of prosocial TV programs for development in Asia.
authors.forename: W J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Brown
mesh_terms: D000329:Advertising; D001208:Asia; D001519:Behavior; D003142:Communication; D003710:Demography; D003906:Developing Countries; D004467:Economics; D005193:Family Planning Services; D007194:India; D008389:Marketing of Health Services; D008402:Mass Media; D009934:Organization and Administration; D011153:Population; D011157:Population Dynamics; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012919:Social Behavior; D012922:Social Change; D012939:Social Planning; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013690:Television; D014933:Women's Rights
keywords: Asia; Behavior; Broadcast Media; Communication; Communication Programs; Demographic Factors; Demographic Impact; Developing Countries; Development Planning; Economic Factors; Family Planning; India; Marketing; Mass Media; Organization And Administration; Population; Population Dynamics; Program Evaluation; Programs; Promotion; Social Behavior--changes; Social Change; Social Development; Socioeconomic Factors; Southern Asia; Television; Women's Status