Parents and TV as Socializers of 6- to 19-Year-Olds' Expressions of Emotion: Representative Data From Germany

• In Event: Extended Session: Parental Mediation

Abstract

This study examines joint influences of parental socialization and self-socialization via mass media on children's expression of emotions. The effect of parental approval of their child’s expression of emotions on the child’s approval of TV characters expressing the emotion, and the influence of both on the child's expression of emotions within the past 7 days is tested for the emotions fear, sadness anger, and joy with a representative survey of children (N = 1458) aged 6–19 in Germany. Moderating age effects were also considered. Consistent across the four emotions, results showed that self-socialization of emotions via mass media is (partly) driven by internalized parental socialization but has a comparably strong effect of its own on the child's expression of emotion that adds to the variance explained, especially with regard to high potency emotions such as anger or joy. Implications for the conceptualization of parental emotion socialization and emotional self-socialization are discussed.

Authors

• Sebastian Scherr, LMU Munich

• Marie-Louise Mares, U of Wisconsin - Madison

• Anne Bartsch, LMU Munich

• Maya Goetz, IZI International Central Institute