What does the knowledge gap hypothesis propose?

• A. As mass media expands, those with higher socioeconomic status gain knowledge faster, increasing inequality in political knowledge
• B. Mass media reduces knowledge gaps
• C. Knowledge is uniform across SES with more media
• D. Knowledge gaps are independent of media

Answer: (A)

The knowledge gap hypothesis says that when mass media exposes people to more information, those with higher socioeconomic status (SES) tend to absorb and learn from it faster than those with lower SES, leading to widening political knowledge gaps. This happens because higher-SES individuals typically have more education, better access to resources, and stronger skills for acquiring, interpreting, and retaining information, so they benefit from expanded media more than others. As media availability increases, the gap between knowledgeable and less-knowledgeable individuals grows rather than shrinking.

The other ideas imply that more media would reduce gaps, make knowledge uniform across SES, or have no link to media at all. Those notions contradict the core point that differential access and ability to use information cause gaps to widen as media expands.