Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
J Youth Adolesc. 2017 Sep;46(9):2060-2072. doi: 10.1007/s10964-017-0675-7. Epub 2017 Apr 19.
Watching news is important for preadolescents, but it may also harm their well-being. This study examined whether applying insights from positive psychology to news production can reduce this potential harm, by reducing negative emotional responses and enhancing positive emotional responses to negative news, and by encouraging prosocial intentions. Moreover, we explored whether peer discussion strengthened these effects. Preadolescents (n = 336; 9-13 years old; 48.5% female) were exposed to either constructive (solution-based news including positive emotions) or nonconstructive news. Subsequently, half of the children assigned to the constructive and the nonconstructive condition participated in a peer discussion. The findings showed that exposure to constructive news resulted in more positive emotional responses and less negative emotional responses as compared to nonconstructive news. Moreover, discussing the news with peers led to more positive and less negative emotional responses among preadolescents who watched the nonconstructive newscast, and to more prosocial intentions among preadolescents who watched constructive news. In all, constructive news reporting and peer discussion could function as tools to make negative news less harmful for preadolescents.
观看新闻对青春期前的儿童很重要，但也可能对他们的幸福感造成伤害。本研究通过考察积极心理学的观点在新闻制作中的应用是否可以减少这种潜在的伤害，即减少对负面新闻的负面情绪反应，增强对负面新闻的积极情绪反应，并鼓励亲社会意图，来探讨这个问题。此外，我们还探讨了同伴讨论是否能增强这些效果。研究对象为 336 名 9-13 岁的儿童（48.5%为女性），他们观看了建设性（包含积极情绪的基于解决方案的新闻）或非建设性新闻。随后，一半被分配到建设性和非建设性新闻条件的儿童参加了同伴讨论。研究结果表明，与非建设性新闻相比，观看建设性新闻会导致更多的积极情绪反应和更少的消极情绪反应。此外，对于观看非建设性新闻的儿童来说，与同伴讨论新闻会导致更多的积极情绪反应和更少的消极情绪反应，而对于观看建设性新闻的儿童来说，会导致更多的亲社会意图。总之，建设性的新闻报道和同伴讨论可以作为减少负面新闻对青春期前儿童伤害的工具。
