Poster #234 - Effects of Gender and Social Realism on Children's Identification with Media Characters

• In Event: 1-169 - Poster Session 04
  In Poster Session: PS 04 Section - Technology, Media & Child Development

Integrative Statement

Identification is often characterized by perspective-sharing, shared similarities, and shared goals (Cohen, 2001). Previous research has found that as children believe they are similar to a media character, they are more likely to become emotionally invested, argued to result in an increased likelihood that children will learn from educational content (Richert et al., 2011). Additionally, research has demonstrated that children tend to identify more with media characters of their same gender (Schlesinger & Richert, 2017). According to Bandura’s (1997) social cognitive theory, when we believe that another is like ourselves, we are more likely to learn from them. When children believe that media characters are likely to exist in the real world, this is referred to as social realism (Bond & Calvert, 2014). Prior research has suggested 4- to 6-year-old children may be more likely to learn from media characters whom they believe are more socially real (Richert & Schlesinger, 2017); however, this may be impacted by children’s fantasy orientation, or the degree to which children engage in pretense or fantasy play (Richert & Schlesinger, 2017; Richert & Smith, 2011). The current study seeks to examine how fantasy orientation and gender relate to children’s identification and social realism with media characters, which has implications for young children’s learning from educational media.

Sixty-four 3-6-year-old children were interviewed regarding their levels of identification with Dora and Diego, characters from Dora the Explorer (e.g., “How much do you like Dora?”; “How much are you like Dora?”), and social realism (e.g., “Could you ever see Dora at the store?”; “Does Diego need to sleep at night?”). Fantasy orientation was assessed via an interview that included questions such as, “Do you like to pretend?”, and, “Do you have an imaginary friend?”

There was a significant effect of identification by gender, replicating prior research (Schlesinger & Richert, 2017). For Dora, girls (M=1.737, SD=.356) were more likely to identify with Dora than boys (M=1.308, SD=.686), t(62)=3.272, p=.002, Cohen’s d=.785. For Diego, oys (M=1.654, SD=.546) were more likely to identify with Diego than girls (M=1.333, SD=.593), t(61)=2.182, p=.033, Cohen’s d=.563.

In terms of social realism, boys were more likely to perceive Dora, t(62)=1.844, p=.070, Cohen’s d=.468, and Diego, t(62)=2.494, p=.015, Cohen’s d=.640, as as socially real than girls. Although there was no significant correlation between children’s fantasy orientation and perceived social realism of Dora, r=.244 p=.075, there was a small significant correlation between children’s fantasy orientation and perceived social realism of Diego, r=.252 p=.045. Children with higher fantasy orientation were more likely to believe Diego was real, furthering prior research suggesting critical relations between children’s fantasy orientation and their perceived social realism of media characters (Richert & Schlesinger, 2017; Richert & Smith, 2011).

These results provide support that children’s fantasy engagement and gender may play a large role in young children’s perceptions of and socio-emotional relationships with media characters that have far reaching implications for learning from educational media.

Authors

• Courtney Baugh, UC Riverside
  Presenting Author

• Rebekah Ann Richert, University of California, Riverside
  Non-Presenting Author

• Molly Schlesinger, Temple University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Alexandra Sakkis, University of California, Riverside
  Non-Presenting Author