Two studies used multidimensional scaling to uncover viewers' spontaneous, largely implicit interpretations of Dallas (American) and Coronation Street (British), two soap operas in a genre of social realism that explicitly aims to parallel or directly contribute to the symbolic world of the viewer. The results bear upon the discipline of social psychology and cultural studies, and reveal the importance of gender, power, and morality in viewers' interpretations of the programs. The findings for the two programs were very different in that femininity was seen to be conventional in Dallas, but matriarchal in Coronation Street, and morality and power were seen to play different roles in the two programs. The study was particularly concerned with three categories of people--academic psychologists, researchers in cultural studies, and the general public--who watch and variously interpret television programs. The differences between, and problems within, the disciplines of social psychology and cultural studies, insofar as they deal with the mass media, illustrate how television contributes to the social reality of the viewer. Further research is necessary in this area. (3 tables, 7 figures, and 43 references). (CGD)