Effects of a Prosocial Television Soap Opera in Promoting Women's Status

This study examines the effects of “Hum Log” (“We People”), India's first long-running television soap opera. “Hum Log” was a prosocial television program that was designed to promote women's status in Indian society. LISREL analysis was used to measure the degree to which viewers’ awareness, involvement, and television dependency mediated the effects of exposure to the television series. Results indicated that exposure to “Hum Log” was positively associated with viewers’ involvement with the characters in the program and with viewers television dependency but did not make viewers more aware of women's status issues. Viewers who were more aware of “Hum Log's” prosocial content had stronger beliefs in women s freedom of choice and family planning. Although viewers were highly involved with the characters of “Hum Log,” the role models for unman in the program did not consistently promote women's status because of occasional negative consequences associated with their behavior. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of present and future research on the prosocial effects of entertainment television.