The Relationship Among Young Malaysian-Indians’ Self-Perceived Family Communication Patterns, Media Exposure On Tamil Movies And Their Attitude And Beliefs Toward Violence In Daily Life Context

Abstract

This survey research aims to explore the relationships among young Malaysian- Indians’ self-perceived family communication patterns, media exposure on Tamil movies, and their attitude and beliefs toward violence in daily life context. Four hundred young Malaysian-Indians living in Johor Bahru city, Malaysia were selected by using stratified sampling method to participate in the survey. The data was tabulated and analyzed by using inferential statistics including Chi-square, One-way Multivariate of Variance (MANOVA) and Multiple Regression at the significance level of .05. The findings revealed as follows: (1) The young Malaysian-Indians’ sex and age difference was significantly correlated with their self-perceived family communication patterns, but were not significantly associated with family type, number of siblings, mother’s educational level, father’s educational level, mother’s occupation, father’s occupation and family income. (2) The young Malaysian-Indians’ age difference, family type, and father’s educational level difference were significantly associated with their self-reported frequency of media exposure on Tamil movies and frequency of portrayal of violence in Tamil movies, but were not significantly associated with sex, number of siblings, mother’s educational level, mother’s occupation, father’s occupation, and monthly family income. (3) The young Malaysian-Indians’ self-perceived family communication patterns exhibited significantly different self-reported frequency of media exposure on Tamil movies and frequency of portrayal of violence in Tamil movies. The laissez-faire young Malaysian-Indians exhibited significantly less frequency of portrayal of violence in Tamil movies than consensual young Malaysian-Indians, protective young Malaysian-Indians, and pluralistic young Malaysian-Indians. (4) The young Malaysian-Indians’ family communication patterns differences exhibited significantly different level of machismo but exhibited insignificant frequency of acceptance of violence. (5) The young Malaysian-Indians who reported higher frequency of media exposure on Tamil movies exhibited significantly a higher degree of machismo and higher degree of acceptance of violence in daily life context.