Perceived Warmth and Typicality of Mother-Adolescent Interactions in Media: Augmenting Self-Report Data With Video Vignettes

• In Event: Poster Session 14
  In Poster Session: PS 14 Topic - Methods, History, Theory

Abstract

The use of self-reports has come under criticism, particularly in research on parent-adolescent relationships, resulting in calls for alternative approaches in experimental designs (Razavi, 2001; Field et al., 2007). The focus of the present study was to develop video vignette stimuli for use in research examining warmth, hostility, and neutrality in mother-adolescent interactions. Video vignettes are particularly appropriate for contemporary youth because of the amount of time spent and familiarity with visual media. Media is often a source of learning about how family members ought to act and gender roles; this is especially true for children and adolescents (Ganong & Coleman, 1997; Coyne et al., 2016). To use media for experimental purposes, the quality and authenticity of actors’ character portrayals may influence how a character’s actions are perceived and, by extension, affect research findings. Specifically, poor acting quality and non-typical behaviors may bias whether a mother is perceived as displaying warm or hostile behaviors towards an adolescent by viewers. The objective of this study is to determine whether acting quality or perceived typicality of behaviors in mother-adolescent interactions were related to perceptions of mother’s warmth or hostility within video vignettes.
Participants and Methods
Participants (n=90, 81% female, Mage= 20.37 years) viewed 9 video clips containing adult female-adolescent interactions randomly selected from a pool of 29 video clips. Video clips were selected by researchers viewing 431 television episodes and 102 movies containing adult female-adolescent interactions to be portrayed as mother-adolescent interactions. Participants rated nine video clips on perceived maternal warmth, maternal hostility, and the typicality and acting quality for both the adult female and adolescent characters on a five-point Likert scale. To examine the relationship between typicality of behavior displayed in the interaction, quality of the actors performance, and perceptions of the adult female characters warmth and hostility a two level multilevel regression analysis model was built with participant responses (level 1) nested within the 29 video clips (level 2).
Plan of Analysis and Discussion
Preliminary bivariate analysis revealed that warmth and hostility both were correlated with typicality of the adult female’s behavior (Table 1). Preliminary findings indicate support for the hypothesis that typicality of the adult female character’s behaviors is predictive of perceptions of the adult female character’s warmth and hostility. To further explore the relationships between typicality of behavior, acting quality, warmth, and hostility the researchers will conduct multilevel regression analyses accounting for multiple membership participants. These analyses will allow for the differences between video clips to be examined more closely rather than the participants self-report data.
Discussion will focus on the importance of selecting appropriate vignettes in future studies, specifically the importance of selecting video clips that are both of sufficient acting quality and display character behaviors that are typical and relatable to the desired sample. Video vignettes have the potential to augment self-report research and address past concerns and criticisms regarding self-report research, such as in examining the ways in which labels may change perceptions of adult female actors in video vignettes.

Authors

• Seth C Lawson, Oakland University
  Presenting Author

• Mary B Eberly Lewis, Oakland University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Anthony Hanna, Oakland University
  Non-Presenting Author