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Media psychology
Media influences on antisocial behaviour
Observational learning
Antisocial behaviour stands out on television, therefore, children take more notice of such
behaviour, making children more likely to learn and imitate it. For example, fight scenes in movies
may stand out in contrast with other scenes that involve only talking between characters. Children
may focus more on such fighting, enhancing their memory for such behaviour, thereby making it
easier to imitate.
Cognitive priming
Observations of behaviour allow children to learn problem-solving scripts, which involve the
memorization of sequences of behaviours that can be performed in particular situations. Specifically,
frequent exposure to scenes of violence may lead children to store scripts for antisocial behaviour in
their memory. Aspects of the original situation may then act as a prime to retrieve the script in a
later situation. For example, if a child is watching TV and sees a character starting a fight after
someone bumping into them, then later, if someone bumps into that child (an aspect of the original
situation), such incident may prime the problem-solving script and cause them to react by initiating a
fight.
Desensitization
People typically experience anxiety when thinking about engaging in antisocial behaviour and this
anxiety inhibits such behaviour. Frequent exposure to media violence makes violent events seem
more commonplace and may cause viewers to become progressively less anxious about violence and
therefore more likely to engage in antisocial behaviour.

Evidence for media effects on antisocial behaviour

Bandura (1986): 3-5 year olds were shown video clips of aggressive behaviour towards a bobo doll.
Then, they were shown attractive toys that they were not allowed to play with, to make them
frustrated. Finally, the child was left alone in the room with a bobo doll while being observed.
Compared to a control group who did not see the video clips, children shown the video clips of
aggressive behaviour were more likely to exhibit aggressive behaviour towards the doll, suggesting
that they imitated the aggressive behaviour that was shown in the video clip.
However, this study has 3 important limitations. Firstly, participants in the lab setting knew their
behaviour was not going to be punished, which may have made them more aggressive. Second,
participants may have exhibited demand characteristics and responded how they thought the
experimenter wanted them to behave. Finally, the study was cross-sectional and involved only one
presentation of the video clip, which is not a realistic representation of media exposure, therefore, it
is important to examine whether media violence influences behaviour over time.
Belson (1978): longitudinal study involving over 1000 teenage boys in London who were interviewed
on several occasions. It was found that high exposure to TV violence was related to more violent
behaviour, regardless of whether the teens were from a wealthy or poor background.

Adam Clarke www.brain-freeze.co.uk

Evidence against media effects on antisocial behaviour

Charlton et al. (2000): 2 years after television was introduced to the remote island of St. Helena, it
was found that childrens behaviour in the classroom and on the playground was not worse
compared to before they had TV. The use of a naturalistic situation provides this study with strong
ecological validity.
Noble (1975): children who viewed media violence in small groups rarely imitated the violent
behaviour shown. It is possible that when children watch media violence with others, especially
older children, it may encourage them to learn and share critical opinions of antisocial behaviour,
which may discourage imitation of it.
Hagell and Newburn (1994): compared to non-offenders, young offenders watched less TV and had
no particular interest in violent TV. This suggests a lack of relationship between TV violence and
antisocial behaviour.
Savage and Yancey (2008): meta-analysis did not find an association between media violence and
criminal aggression.
Goldstein (1976): after seeing a violent movie, men were more concerned about murder and more
likely to state that the murderer deserved harsher punishment. This suggests that watching violent
movies may reduce antisocial behaviour.

Evaluation
Previous research did not take account of personality traits, such as sensation seeking, which can
lead to both selective exposure to media violence and increased aggressive behaviour (Slater et al.,
2003). In other words, it may be the individuals personality that leads them to expose themselves to
more TV violence as well as making them behave more aggressively.
Most of the previous research is limited because it considered only fictional media violence but did
not consider the role of non-fictional violence e.g. in documentaries and the news.

Adam Clarke www.brain-freeze.co.uk

Media influences on prosocial behaviour

Observational learning
Bandura (1965): children may learn prosocial behaviour from the media by observing it and later
imitating it if they expect that showing the prosocial behaviour e.g. sticking up for a friend who is
being bullied, is more likely to lead to reward than punishment.
Mares (1996): meta-analysis provided 4 key findings. Firstly, children who viewed TV clips of positive
interactions e.g. affection and peaceful conflict resolution, were found to act more positively in their
own interactions with others. Second, children who viewed TV clips of altruistic behaviours e.g.
donating and offering help, tended to behave more altruistically. Third, more positive effects have
generally been found for girls compared to boys. Finally, many studies showed that children were
only likely to show prosocial behaviour if the situation they were in was similar to that in which the
prosocial behaviour was shown in the TV clip.
Gunter and McAleer (1997): prosocial behaviours shown in educational TV shows increased the
likelihood that a child exhibited prosocial behaviours but only if they were frequently reminded of
the behaviours throughout the show.
Cole et al. (2003): used interviews to evaluate real-life prosocial TV effects of Sesame Street, which
was adapted to teach mutual respect and understanding among Israeli and Palestinian children. It
was found that there was an increase in positive descriptions of the outside group and an increase in
the number of prosocial justifications given to resolve conflicts. This study suggests that prosocial TV
shows can potentially increase prosocial behaviour in real-life settings.
Mares and Woodard (2005): found no ethnic or racial differences for the effects of TV on prosocial
behaviour. However, prosocial TV effects were stronger among higher socio-economic groups.
Mares (1996): there are age differences for the effects of TV on prosocial behaviour. If children are
too young, their behaviour is less affected by prosocial messages, especially if these messages are
complex. This may be due to lack of development in prosocial skills where younger children are less
able to recognise the emotional state of others and are less sure of how to help.
Midlarsky and Hannah (1985): younger children may be less likely to show prosocial behaviours after
seeing prosocial TV shows because they have more egocentric (selfish) motives, in that they are only
likely to imitate prosocial behaviours if they can easily recognise the immediate rewards of the
behaviour.
Roker et al. (1998): younger children are less able to understand the underlying principles of abstract
and complex prosocial messages, making it more difficult for them to imitate prosocial behaviour.

Adam Clarke www.brain-freeze.co.uk

The effects of video games and computers on behaviour

The negative effects of video games on behaviour
Anderson et al. (2007): survey found that children who played violent games were more aggressive.
Gentile et al. (2004): survey found a correlation between exposure to violent video games and
arguments with teachers and physical fights.
Weber et al. (2006) used brain imaging and found that playing a violent video game led to decreased
activity in the anterior cingulate cortex, a brain region involved in controlling aggression. This
suggests that violent video games can reduce control over aggressive behaviour.
Anderson and Dill (2000): found that after students played a violent video game they gave longer
noise blasts to an opponent in another room. However, a problem with this study is that such noise
blasts are not a realistic reflection of aggressive behaviour, particularly because they were only brief
and not very loud.

The positive effects of video games on behaviour

Greitmeyer and Osswald (2010): participants who played the prosocial game Lemmings were more
likely to display prosocial behaviour, specifically, helping the experimenter pick up pencils that were
accidentally dropped. However, prosocial content in games is rare, whereas violence is more
common.
Lenhart et al. (2008): individuals who played multiplayer action games engaged in more civic
prosocial behaviours e.g. being loyal to others, compared to individuals who played single-player
games.

The negative effects of computers on behaviour

Charles et al. (2011): based on a focus group and interviews it was found that anxiety was linked to
use of Facebook and to having more Facebook friends. Participants reported that their anxiety was
related to a strong desire to impress others. Therefore, Facebook may encourage people to focus on
impressing others, causing anxiety that prevents them from behaving and expressing their opinions
honestly online.
Karpinski et al. (2009): the majority of students who used Facebook everyday were found to be more
likely to academically underachieve compared to those who did not use Facebook. This indicates
that Facebook has negative effects on academic behaviour by distracting students away from their
work.

The positive effects of computers on behaviour

Gonzales et al. (2011): compared to participants who spent a few minutes looking at themselves in
the mirror, individuals who spent time looking at their own Facebook profile gave more positive
feedback about themselves. This suggests that Facebook can have enhance self-esteem, which is
likely to lead to more positive behaviours.

Adam Clarke www.brain-freeze.co.uk

Explanations for the persuasiveness of media

Hovland-Yale model
The persuasiveness of a message is influenced by the characteristics of the person presenting it, the
message contents, and the characteristics of the audience receiving the message.

Presenters characteristics
Hovland et al. (1953): experts e.g. scientists in lab coats, are more persuasive than non-experts.
Bochner and Inski (1966): found that experts were effective at persuading an audience even when
the persuasive message was largely different from what the audience believed e.g. a scientist
claiming that 1 hour of sleep per night is enough.

Message content
Arkes et al. (1991): repeated exposure to an argument can make it more liked and feel more true,
thus increasing its persuasiveness.
Witte et al. (1998): messages that arouse fear e.g. describing the harmful effects of unprotected sex,
are more persuasive if they also include an effective way of coping with the danger e.g. stating that
condoms can be freely obtained from a doctor.

Audience characteristics
Rhodes and Wood (1992): meta-analysis found that people higher in intelligence are more difficult
to persuade. This is because they are more likely to critically evaluate a persuasive message.
McGuire et al. (1968): people with low or high self-esteem are less easily persuaded than those with
moderate levels of self-esteem. Those with low self-esteem are less attentive and more anxious
when processing a message, and therefore are difficult to persuade. Those with high self-esteem
would be more difficult to persuade because they are more confident in their current beliefs.
Eagly (1978): women may be more easily persuaded than men, likely because of their greater
tendency to conform and greater susceptibility to social influence.

Adam Clarke www.brain-freeze.co.uk

The elaboration likelihood model

Petty and Cacioppo (1986): there are two ways of processing a persuasive message: the central
route, which involves elaboration and analysis of a message, and the peripheral route, which does
not. The mode of processing used depends on whether the message is relevant to the recipient and
whether they have the ability to critically evaluate the message.

Central route
In the central route, the message itself is most important. Arguments are followed closely and have
to be convincing. If an individual finds a persuasive message personally relevant or important (e.g.
lowering the legal age for alcohol), and if they have the ability to understand the arguments being
used, then it is likely that they will process the message through the central route.

Peripheral route
If an individual does not consider a persuasive message to be personally relevant or important, then
they are likely to process it through the peripheral route, in which they are more easily influenced by
contextual cues e.g. a car with a background of a sunset may have emotional cues of freedom and
relaxation. Attitudes acquired via the peripheral route are more susceptible to persuasion than
those acquired via the central route.
Need for cognition
Cacioppo and Petty (1982): individuals vary in their need for cognition (NC) i.e. the degree to which
they search for, scrutinize and reflect upon information, and how much they enjoy analysing
problems.
Haugtvedt et al. (1992): NC levels influence how an individual processes a persuasive message. High
NC individuals were found to be more easily persuaded by product attributes (central route) in
adverts than low NC individuals, who were more easily persuaded by simple peripheral cues
(peripheral route) e.g. the mood of an advert.
Lin et al. (2011): when deciding what products to buy in an online virtual shop, high NC individuals
were more persuaded by high review quality, which involved reviews that were mainly supported by
facts (central route).
Vidrine et al. (2007): for higher NC participants, a fact-based (central route) message concerning
smoking risk was most persuasive in increasing the attitude that smoking is a major health risk,
whereas among participants with lower NC, the emotion-based (peripheral route) message was
most persuasive.

Adam Clarke www.brain-freeze.co.uk

The persuasiveness of television advertising

Adverts
Pine and Nash (2002): found a positive correlation between the amount of TV adverts watched by
children from the UK and the number of gifts they requested for Xmas. Furthermore, compared to
children from the UK, children from Sweden, for whom companies are legally unable to direct TV
adverts towards, made fewer gift requests.
Robinson and Rossiter (1974): there are age differences in the persuasive effects of advertising. As
children get older they become more able to determine that an advert is attempting to persuade
them, making them less influenced by the persuasive effects of adverts.
Bushman (1998): found that an adverts effectiveness depends on the TV show that comes before
and after it. Specifically, both violent and humorous programmes were associated with low recall for
advertised material. This is likely because the emotional response to the TV shows distracted
viewers attention away from the adverts, preventing recall of these and potentially reducing their
persuasive effects.
Hard and soft sell adverts
Adverts can be distinguished based on the format that they utilise to persuade viewers.
Hard sell adverts show mainly factual info about a product. In contrast, soft sell adverts are oriented
towards the viewer rather than focusing on the product e.g. a soft selling advert might suggest to
the viewer that they can become more popular if they purchase the product.
Snyder and de Bono (1985): participants who were rated as more concerned with their self-image
were more easily persuaded by soft sell adverts. Participants less concerned with their self-image
were more easily persuaded by hard sell adverts.

Celebrity endorsement
Celebrity endorsement of a product can change the image of a product by allowing the viewer to
form an association between the product and a particular celebrity.
Walker et al. (1992): participants provided different ratings of their liking for an advertised product
depending on who endorsed it e.g. Madonna compared to a model.
However, a study of 5000 TV adverts found that celebrity endorsement did not enhance the adverts
persuasive effects (Hume, 1992).

Evaluation
Previous research measured the effects of persuasion only on preferences based on questionnaire
responses, therefore, it is unclear whether persuasion influences behaviour e.g. the likelihood of
actually purchasing the advertised product. Future research should use observations to determine
whether consumer behaviour is effectively influenced by adverts.

Adam Clarke www.brain-freeze.co.uk

The attraction of celebrity

Social explanation
When a person feels as if they have an interpersonal relationship with a celebrity, this is referred to
as a parasocial relationship.
Schiappa et al. (2007): meta-analysis found that people were more likely to engage in parasocial
relationships with TV characters if they perceived them as attractive, similar to themselves, and if
they seemed real.
Sood and Rogers (2000): the likelihood of an individual developing a parasocial relationship is not
related to their experiences of loneliness. Instead, people who are more socially active are more
likely to have parasocial relationships.

Evolutionary explanation
Human beings have a natural desire and love for novelty, known as neophilia. Before modern media,
the main form of entertainment for our ancestors involved direct interactions with one another.
Neophilia led to ever-more creative displays from potential mates, such as music, art, and humour,
where individuals who were most creative were considered the most attractive. In recent times,
people are repeatedly exposed by the media to celebrity displays of creative characteristics and due
to neophilia people then become attracted to celebrities.
Darwin (1871): female birds are attracted to males who display the most complex and creative
songs, indicating the importance of neophilia for attraction in non-human animals.
Duck (1982): boredom i.e. a lack of novelty, is often reported as a reason for ending romantic
relationships. This highlights the importance of neophilia for attraction between humans.
Barkow (1992): in the environment of our ancestors, any person about whom intimate details of
their private life was known, because it was shared, was regarded a socially important member of a
group. Evolution did not prepare people to distinguish between members of their own community,
who have genuine effects on their lives, and celebrities, who do not directly affect their lives, but to
whom they are repeatedly exposed to. Intense familiarity and exposure to celebrities and details of
their private life causes them to be perceived as socially important individuals, leading the public to
develop an attraction to celebrities.
De Backer et al. (2007): based on interviews, it was found that media exposure was a strong
predictor of interest in celebrities.
De Backer (2005): celebrity gossip initiates and maintains alliances and allows social networks to
form e.g. fan clubs, which further enhance the attraction of the celebrity.

Adam Clarke www.brain-freeze.co.uk

Research into intense fandom

Celebrity worship
Maltby et al. (2001): a relationship was found between celebrity worship and anxiety, depression,
and social dysfunction. This suggests that celebrity worship may reflect a psychologically harmful
way in which individuals attempt to escape from daily life.
Maltby et al. (2004): survey found that 5% of the public were intense-personal fans, displaying
intense and compulsive feelings about their favourite celebrity e.g. claiming that their favourite
celebrity is their soul mate. 2% were borderline pathological, stating uncontrollable behaviours and
fantasies about their favourite celebrity e.g. they claim that they would die to save the life of their
favourite celebrity. 15% were attracted to their favourite celebrity because of their perceived ability
to entertain and to become a source of social interaction and gossip e.g. discussing with friends what
their favourite celebrity has done. It is this form of celebrity worship which can be beneficial, where
the individual is participating in celebrity worship with a social network of fans, so they can share
information and experiences, which may promote social relationships and buffer against mental
health problems.

Celebrity stalking
Robert Hoskins was sentenced to 10 years in prison for stalking and terrorising Madonna,
threatening to cut her throat if she did not agree to marry him.
Jack Jordan stalked Uma Thurman for 2 years and sent her a letter claiming that he would kill himself
if he saw her on a date with another man.
James et al. (2008): reported that, of the individuals who have attempted to stalk and attack British
royalty, more than 2/3 were mentally ill, most of whom were exhibiting symptoms of schizophrenia.
Celebrity stalkers often suffer from delusional thought patterns. Since they may be unable to
develop normal personal relationships, they retreat into a life of fantasy relationships with
individuals they hardly know. In support of this, Tonin (2004) found that stalkers had significantly
more evidence of insecure adult attachment styles than a control group.

Adam Clarke www.brain-freeze.co.uk