Morality demonstrated in stories can alter judgement for early
adolescents

Date:
October 1, 2021
Source:
University at Buffalo
Summary:
A new study looks at how exposure to media content featuring
specific moral values (care, fairness, loyalty and authority)
might influence the weight kids place on those values. The main
study showed that exposure to books emphasizing four separate
moral values increased salience of their respective intuitions in
early adolescents.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
An important lesson in the moral education of children could be as close
as the book in their hands. Stories matter. And they can play a role in shifting the importance of particular moral values in young audiences, according to the results of a new study.


========================================================================== "Media can distinctly influence separate moral values and get kids
to place more or less importance on those values depending on what is
uniquely emphasized in that content," says Lindsay Hahn, PhD, an assistant professor of communication in the University at Buffalo College of Arts
and Sciences.

Hahn is first author of the new study, which adds critical nuance to a
body of literature that explores how media content affects children. While
many previous studies have focused on broad conceptualizations, like
prosocial or antisocial effects that might be associated with specific
content, Hahn's study looks at how exposure to content featuring specific
moral values (care, fairness, loyalty and authority) might influence
the weight kids place on those values.

Do children reading about particular moral characteristics absorb those
traits as a building block for their own morality? The findings, which
appear in the Journal of Media Psychology, suggest so, and further
support how this indirect approach to socializing children's morality
can supplement the direct teaching of moral principles kids might receive through formal instruction.

"Parents, caregivers and teachers are often wondering how media can
be used for good," says Hahn, an expert in media psychology and media
effects. "How can it be used for good things? How can it discourage bad
habits? How can it educate?" Answering those questions begins with a
better understanding about how to use media.

"When parents are considering what media they might want to select for
their children, they can take into account what particular moral value
is being emphasized by the main character, and how the main character
is treated because of those actions," she says.

For the study, Hahn and her colleagues took the main character from a
young adult novel and edited the content to reflect in each version
the study's focus on one of four moral values. A fifth version was
manipulated in a way that featured an amoral main character. Those
narratives were shared with roughly 200 participants between the ages
of 10 and 14. This is a favorable range for media research because it's
more difficult to introduce narrative comprehension in younger kids,
while equally challenging to hold the attention of older adolescents,
who become bored with rudimentary storylines, according to Hahn.

The team then created a scale designed to measure the importance kids
place on moral values to determine how participants might be influenced
by specific narratives.

"Measuring these effects can be difficult," says Hahn. "That's why, in
addition to testing our hypothesis, another purpose of this research was
to develop a measure of moral values for kids. Nothing like that exists
yet, that we know of." That measure, notes Hahn, can facilitate future research on media effects in young audiences.

Paper co-authors include Ron Tamborini, Michigan State University (MSU) professor of communication; Sujay Prabhu, an MSU affiliate; Clare Grall, Dartmouth College postdoctoral researcher; Eric Novotny, University
of Georgia postdoctoral researcher; and Brian Klebig, Bethany Lutheran
College associate professor of communication.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_at_Buffalo. Original
written by Bert Gambini.

Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Lindsay Hahn, Ron Tamborini, Sujay Prabhu, Clare Grall, Eric
Novotny,
Brian Klebig. Narrative Media's Emphasis on Distinct Moral
Intuitions Alters Early Adolescents' Judgments. Journal of Media
Psychology, 2021; DOI: 10.1027/1864-1105/a000307 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/10/211001130254.htm

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