Testing the Model of Intuitive Morality and Exemplars in Children

• In Event: Learning From Media (Part 2): How & When Media Influence Children & Teens' Social Behaviors

Abstract

The MIME (Tamborini, 2013) argues that narrative media content highlighting altruistic intuitions can impact an intuition’s accessibility. Support for this is limited to adults. This study tested MIME predictions in two experiments using children between the ages of 10 to 13 years. Each study manipulated the salience of four altruistic intuitions identified in the MIME. Study 1 (a pilot) manipulated intuition salience with verbal primes provided in anecdotes during instructions. Study 2 (the main experiment) primed different intuitions in four versions of a comic book. In both studies, intuition salience was measured after the induction. Pilot study results suggest that priming care, fairness, and loyalty (but not authority) increased the salience of their respective intuitions. The main study showed that the comic book primes increased the salience for all four intuitions. The relevance for these results for the MIME and for understanding media’s influence on children’s moral judgments are discussed.  

Authors

• Lindsay S Hahn, Michigan State U

• Ron Tamborini, Michigan State U

• Sujay Prabhu, Michigan State U

• Clare Grall, Michigan State U

• Eric R Novotny, Michigan State U

• Brian Klebig