School of Family Life, Brigham Young University.
Dev Psychol. 2018 Feb;54(2):331-347. doi: 10.1037/dev0000412. Epub 2017 Oct 30.
Studies examining the effects of exposure to prosocial media on positive outcomes are increasing in number and strength. However, existing meta-analyses use a broad definition of prosocial media that does not recognize the multidimensionality of prosocial behavior. The aim of the current study is to conduct a meta-analysis on the effects of exposure to prosocial media on prosocial behavior, aggression, and empathic concern while examining multiple moderators that the prosocial behavior literature suggests are important to our understanding of why individuals voluntarily help others (e.g., target, type, cost). Results from 72 studies involving 243 effect sizes revealed that exposure to prosocial media was related to higher levels of prosocial behavior and empathic concern and lower levels of aggressive behavior. Moderation analyses suggest that several moderators accounted for heterogeneity in the model, including age of participant, region, media type (active vs. passive), and study design. In terms of multidimensional moderators, prosocial media had stronger effects on prosocial behavior toward strangers than did any other target and on helping and prosocial thinking but not donating or volunteering. Comparisons with other meta-analyses on media effects are made and implications for parents, media producers, and researchers are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record
研究表明，接触亲社会媒体对积极结果的影响越来越多，也越来越强。然而，现有的元分析使用了亲社会媒体的广义定义，没有认识到亲社会行为的多维性。本研究旨在对接触亲社会媒体对亲社会行为、攻击行为和同理心关注的影响进行元分析，同时考察亲社会行为文献认为对我们理解为什么个体自愿帮助他人（例如，目标、类型、成本）很重要的多种调节因素。共有 72 项研究涉及 243 个效应量，结果表明，接触亲社会媒体与更高水平的亲社会行为和同理心关注以及更低水平的攻击行为有关。调节分析表明，有几个调节因素解释了模型中的异质性，包括参与者的年龄、地区、媒体类型（主动与被动）和研究设计。就多维调节因素而言，亲社会媒体对陌生人的亲社会行为的影响比其他任何目标都要强，对帮助和亲社会思维的影响也比捐赠或志愿服务要强。与其他关于媒体效果的元分析进行了比较，并讨论了对父母、媒体制作人和研究人员的启示。
