A statistic
commonly reported
on is the high
prevalence of violent
acts shown on TV
Studies have found
that popular children's
progs contain at least
one act of aggression
and antisocial
behaviour
Despite moral panic over
antisocial content in popular
TV progs, there has been
prosocial content that is of
comparable levels
Acquisition of
prosocial
behaviours and
norms
Social Learning
Theory -- claims we
learn by obs how to do
things and when they
are acceptable
May then imitate
behaviour,the likelihood of
repeating the behaviours is
determined by the
consequences of the
imitated behaviour
Prosocial acts on TV are
more likely to represent
social norms that have been
established (e.g. helping
others) then antisocial acts
(e.g murder, fighting)
These prosocial acts
are likely to reinforce
social norms rather
then contrast them
Suggests we are less
likely to be rewarded
for imitating antisocial
behaviour than for
prosical behaviour
Developmental
factors
It has suggested that
many of the skills
synonymous with
prosocial behaviours (e.g.
empathy, moral
reasoning) develop
throughout childhood into
adolescence
As a consequence --
might expect strong
differences in the
degree children are
influenced by prosocial
behaviour on TV
Older children may
be more affected by
prosocial portrayal in
media then younger
children
Parental
Mediation
For many the effect of TV
viewing is mediated by the
presence of a parent (as
co-viewer).
Parental mediation
recognised by BBC w/ early
children's programmes, like
'Watch w/ Mother'.
Austin (1993) argued that
effective mediation involves
parents discussing prog w/
child, explaining any
ambiguous/ disturbing material
and following up concepts
presented in prog
Parental mediation has
been shown to enhance
the learning effect of
Sesame Street (Rice et al,
1990)
Rosenkoetter (1999)
suggested that w/ parental
mediation, children as
young as 7 were able to
understand even complex
moral messages contained
in adult sitcoms.
Mares
(1996)
Altruism (e.g.
sharing,
offering help)
Studies typically
involve explicit
modelling of very
specific behaviours.
Sprafkin et
al (1975)
Young children
watched episode of
Lassie - child rescued a
dog
More likely to help
puppies in distress than
children who watched a
neutral TV prog
Mares concluded
children who saw
prosocial content
behaved more
altruistically than those
who viewed neutral/
antisocial content
Self control (e.g.
resistance to
temptation, task
persistence)
When exposed to TV
model demonstrating
self-control, children
subsequently showed
higher lvls of self-control in
their own behaviour
Friedrich and
Stein (1973)
4 yr olds who watched Mister
Rogers' Neighbourhood over 4
week subsequently showed more
taske persistence and obedience to
rules than those who watched
aggressive cartoons (such as
Batman) / neutral progs over the
same period
Observers watched
children at play,
counting the no of
aggressive acts, friendly
behaviours, expressions
of affection etc
Those who had watched
the prosocial prog behaved
more pos towards each
other than those who had
seen the neutral prog
Anti- stereotyping
(e.g. counter-
stereotypes of
gender)
Johnston
and Ettema
Conducted a
large-scale study
involving sev 1,000
9-12 yr olds.
Watched TV
series,Freestyle (prog
designed to reduce sex -
role stereotypes), once a
week for 13 weeks
Overall, there were mod pos
effects in studies such as this,
which featured counter -
stereotypical themes, w/ children
becoming less stereotyped or
prejudiced in their attitudes /
beliefs
Prosocial
effects of
other media
Mares and
Woodard
(2001)
Children's stories traditionally
carried prosocial messages (Snow
White, who looked after the
dwarves and triumphed over the
bad stepmother).
Young children - especially
fond of reading these stories
over and over again which
reinforces the message
Increasing no of children,
computer software and
Internet are important form
of entertainment, but not yet
focused on prosocial content