Prosocial effects of entertainment television in India

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Abstract
The study examines the prosocial effects of Hum Log (We People), India's first long‐running television soap opera. Hum Log was a prosocial television programme 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 television dependency, (3) involvement with the characters of Hum Log, and (4) adherence to three prosocial beliefs promoted by Hum Log. Exposure to Hum Log was positively associated with viewers' awareness of the programme's prosocial messages, television dependency, and involvement with television 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 television programmes for development in Asia.

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