1 / 7

Media & Prosocial Behaviour

Media & Prosocial Behaviour. Many children’s programmes deliberately promote prosocial values & behaviour Aim to influence viewer behaviour through social learning Observation Vicarious reinforcement Imitation. www.psychlotron.org.uk. Media & Prosocial Behaviour. Helping behaviour

tannar
Download Presentation

Media & Prosocial Behaviour

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Media & Prosocial Behaviour • Many children’s programmes deliberately promote prosocial values & behaviour • Aim to influence viewer behaviour through social learning • Observation • Vicarious reinforcement • Imitation www.psychlotron.org.uk

  2. Media & Prosocial Behaviour • Helping behaviour • Positive attitudes towards diversity • Positive attitudes towards learning www.psychlotron.org.uk

  3. Media & Prosocial Behaviour • Greenberg et al (1980) • Children’s TV depicts pro & antisocial acts in similar numbers • Prosocial acts more likely to be rewarded • Effect depends on developmental factors: • Empathy • Perspective taking • Moral reasoning • Adolescents most likely to be resistant www.psychlotron.org.uk

  4. Media & Prosocial Behaviour • Some evidence that children will imitate prosocial behaviour following exposure • Poulos et al (1975) – ‘Lassie’ study • Friedrich & Stein (1973) – repeated exposure to prosocial content showed increased obedience & greater persistence • Higher number of friendly interactions observed with peers www.psychlotron.org.uk

  5. Media & Prosocial Behaviour • Large scale reviews of the literature • Hearold (1986) – 230 studies; found significant positive effects • Mares (1996) – evidence lacking for strong effect; most noticeable effects on self-control • Difference in conclusions probably due to H focusing on lab studies, M on real TV www.psychlotron.org.uk

  6. Media & Prosocial Behaviour • Strongest effects are with specific examples and similar contexts • E.g. ‘Lassie’ study PPs more likely to help puppies • General examples are more difficult to apply, esp for younger children • Effects tend to be short lived www.psychlotron.org.uk

  7. Media & Prosocial Behaviour • Strongest effects are observed: • In children from lower SES backgrounds • With repeated, sustained exposure • When real-life prosocial acts are depicted • When adults discuss prosocial viewing with children www.psychlotron.org.uk

More Related