BPCG 174 Solved Guess Paper 2026 · Psychology and Media (BAG and BA Honours)

Q1. Explain media and social media. Differentiate between the two and discuss the types of media.

Media is the collective term for the main channels of mass communication, such as broadcasting, publishing and the internet. The word is the plural of "medium", so media is any channel that carries one message to a large public at the same time.

Social media is an online platform where individuals create and share content themselves. It grew out of the internet; the first social networking site, Six Degrees, launched in 1997. Blogs, forums, photo-sharing sites, microblogs and chat apps all fall under it.

Types of media: (1) Print media, such as newspapers, magazines, books and billboards; (2) Electronic media, mainly radio, television and the internet; (3) New age media, covering mobile phones, computers and the internet, where sharing is fast and open.

Functions: Harold Lasswell (1948) and Charles Wright (1960) listed surveillance of the environment, correlation, cultural transmission, and education and entertainment.

Conclusion: Media carries messages to the masses, while social media lets users produce content. Print, electronic and new age media together decide how information reaches the public.

Q2. What is media fandom? Discuss the factors affecting parasocial relationships and their impact.

Parasocial relationship (PSR) is the one-sided psychological bond an audience member feels with a media figure who does not know them, first described by Horton and Wohl (1956). It can form even with fictional or cartoon characters.

Media fandom is fans of a show, star or game coming together, often online. New age media has connected like-minded fans worldwide, at events like Comic-Con, and a sense of belonging is central to it.

Factors affecting PSRs: (1) Similarity and ability to empathise; (2) Gender and age of the viewer, as girls pick male favourites more often than boys pick female ones (Hoffner, 2006); (3) Prevalent trends, such as a viral video star.

Positive impact: shaping identity, acting as social glue, a relationship with no fear of rejection, learning through familiar characters, and the Parasocial Contact Hypothesis, which shows media exposure can reduce prejudice (Schiappa, Gregg and Hewes, 2005).

Negative impact: parasocial breakups when a character goes off air (Eyal and Cohen, 2006), poorer body image through comparison, and aggressive viewers bonding with aggressive characters (Eyal and Rubin, 2003).

Conclusion: PSRs are shaped by similarity, age, gender and trends. They can build identity and connection, but they can also bring distress, body-image concerns and aggression.

Q3. Define destigmatization. Discuss the role of media in stigmatizing and destigmatizing behaviour.

Destigmatization is the process of removing stigma so that qualities seen as unusual become normal. Erving Goffman grouped people as the Stigmatized, the Normals, and the Wise (normals who accept the stigmatized). Gerhard Falk (2001) argued stigma persists because of the insider and outsider divide.

Media and stigmatization: narrow portrayals deepen stigma. North-east Indian roles often go to actors from elsewhere, for example Priyanka Chopra playing Mary Kom, and repeatedly casting one community as comic relief or criminals reinforces old labels.

Media and destigmatization: (1) Spreading awareness, as Taare Zameen Par did for learning disabilities; (2) New narratives, as in Queen and Dear Zindagi; (3) Normalising mental illness, as when Deepika Padukone spoke about depression; (4) Respectful representation, such as the LGBTQ+ character in Kapoor and Sons.

Conclusion: Media can spread stigma through unfair portrayals, and it can reduce stigma through awareness and fair representation.

Q4. Describe the steps in designing an effective advertising programme.

An effective advertising programme follows the Five Ms: mission, money, message, media and measurement (Kotler et al., 1999). These give five working steps.

1. Set the objective: informative, persuasive, comparison, reminder or reinforcement advertising. 2. Decide the budget: based on product life cycle stage, market share, competition and ad frequency; new products usually need more.

3. Develop the campaign: generate, evaluate and select the message, execute it well, and run a social and ethical review. 4. Select media: choose the media type, the exact vehicle and the timing, such as coolers in summer, preferring a lower cost per thousand viewers.

5. Evaluate the effect: check communication effect with pre-tests and post-tests of awareness, and sales effect through field experiments.

Conclusion: Objective, budget, message, media and measurement turn an advertisement into a planned, measurable programme.

Q5. Define stereotypes. Discuss the role of media in propagating gender stereotypes.

A stereotype is a simplified, generalised picture of a social group that ignores the diversity within it. It can carry positive or negative ideas, creates fixed expectations, and often leads to bias and prejudice.

Gender stereotypes: men are linked to an agentic cluster (strength, independence) and women to a communal cluster (emotional, caring) (Eagly and Steffen, 1984). Oliver, Hoewe et al. (2014) found two media patterns: underrepresentation of women, and stereotypical domestic or appearance-based roles (Jain and Pareek, 2018).

Male gaze: Laura Mulvey (1975) argued cinema is shaped by a male point of view, which turns women into objects, as in "item number" songs.

Clark's stages (1969): non-recognition, ridicule, regulation and respect describe how media portrays minority groups over time.

Conclusion: Media reinforces gender stereotypes by showing fewer women and fitting them into narrow roles.