Study finds TV can decrease self-esteem in children, except white boys (News release, pay-walled paper)

TracyMorganFreeman · 2012-06-01T16:53:26+00:00

If we can't read the study, we can't analyze its methodology or what kind of shows were involved in the study.

I'm skeptical that TV depicting husbands and brothers as clumsy idiots are helping self esteem of anyone, except maybe girls.

sewercake · 2012-06-01T11:18:07+00:00

[permanently deleted]

2012-06-01T19:10:54+00:00

Got the study. TV exposure was measured with a self-reported response method used in a previous study (Harrison, 2000). Self-esteem was measured using a Lawrence Self-Esteem Questionnaire with 11 items. Body satisfaction was also measured and controlled for. (It's possible that kids who watch a lot of TV are mostly sedentary, and get fat, and then feel bad about themselves.)

From the Discussion:

Overall, our findings support television consumption has an impact on children’s selfesteem, at least in the short term. Yet an alternative explanation for the findings reported here could be due to the specific content to which the children were exposed. In particular, the Black participants in this sample could be watching programming which exacerbates negative portrayals of African Americans. For example, Ward (2004) examined the impact of multiple forms of media use (e.g., exposure to music videos, sports, Black-oriented television) on self-esteem and racial self-esteem among 156 African American high school students. She found that exposure to music videos, but not exposure to prime-time television overall, predicted lower self-esteem and racial self-esteem among both genders.

Because longitudinal panel studies are not experiments, however, causal claims must be considered with caution. It could be argued, for instance, that individuals with low self-esteem seek out media consumption in an effort to feel better about themselves or to take their minds off of their problems. If that were the case here, self-esteem assessed in Wave 2 should predict television viewing during the same time period. We conducted regression analyses to test this possibility, and found that controlling for age, body satisfaction, and baseline television exposure, self-esteem assessed in Wave 2 did not predict television viewing.

Why did television exposure predict a decrease in self-esteem among all children except White boys? There are at least three potential explanations for this pattern. First, the majority of television content serves to reinforce both gender-role and racial stereotypes (Herrett-Skjellum & Allen, 1995). Indeed, males are portrayed as powerful, strong, and rational whereas females are portrayed as frail, emotional, and sensitive (Thompson & Zerbinos, 1997). Black male characters are disproportionately shown as buffoons, or as menacing and unruly youths, and Black female characters are typically shown as exotic and sexually available (Marable, 1996). The media comparisons made available for White boys, therefore, are quite positive in nature.

I'm not sure how to make the study available to everyone, but if anyone has specific questions, I'll try to find the answers.

Icouldifitried · 2012-06-02T03:30:15+00:00

TIL why I have never had self-esteem problems

DoctorStorm · 2012-06-02T05:40:21+00:00

Nicole Martins: two publications total.
Kristen Harrison: five publications total.
Communications Research (CR) Journal impact factor: 1.819 (not that great).
Longitudinal study with 396 children (white and black male and female children): average of 100 white male children.

So yes, it's entirely possible that two women who haven't been in the game very long, or published more than most grad students, somehow managed to show that 100 white male children, on average, subjectively expressed a higher than average level of self-esteem, then published their findings in a journal with a relatively low impact.

There's also a comparison study in the same journal issue, where someone merely compared and contrasted four theories, not terribly unlike a college student would for a class term paper.

Those are the facts. I wouldn't be too worried about this.

Embogenous · 2012-06-01T14:19:54+00:00

My personal opinion, ignoring the study;

I could totally see the hit to minority races, especially black people; the black kid in South Park is called "Token" for a reason. There's a running joke in horror movies about how the black guy always dies (and I always add 10 points to the movies where one of the survivors is black, like that movie with the super-intelligent shark). An easy majority of black people in movies are either shitty stereotypes or negative portrayals; even the positive ones are generally "yo yo yo, look how black and awesome I am, nigga". The movie Malibu's Most Wanted (among others) lampshades this, by having a couple of really ordinary peaceful black guys who pretend to be thugs. There are still certainly plenty of ordinary, capable black people on TV, but especially in high-budget blockbuster stuff there's far less positive portrayal versus white people.

Women, I disagree. Women in TV are certainly sexed up, but I think the "women are only valued for their sex appeal" does not apply. It may be somewhat better for men, I don't know, but men's sex appeal is certainly a thing in movies too; I think it more likely that society/feminists are simply far more sensitive to women being portrayed as sexy. Though I think that there are more women portrayed as purely sexual, with no other redeeming traits (i.e. it's rare to have men there simply for their sex appeal, generally the men with amazing bodies end up kicking some ass), women still do get plenty of roles where their attractiveness is irrelevant - unattractive people are cast for a reason.

I think the issue is that males in media are basically every possible role, while women get fewer roles.

For the study... I seriously struggle to believe that anyone could not be affected. Even if it's true that white males get better portrayals, those white males are still far more handsome and talented than the average person. Race and gender aren't the only things a person is portrayed by, there's obiously attractivesness, and how in shape/strong they are, as well as things like how wealthy they are etc. I would believe the effect is least for white males, but if the study really found there was no effect for white males, I have to think that the results are bullshit.

C0CKPUNCHER · 2012-06-01T11:46:59+00:00

Study finds my penis to the best in the world.

That's to say it's easy to get a study to show whatever. There are lots and lots of cartoons and kids tv shows that have female characters beating up or belittling male ones, none with male's surpassing females (that would be sexist).

I don't understand what tv shows these people are watching.

Title	Study finds TV can decrease self-esteem in children, except white boys (News release, pay-walled paper)
Author	[deleted]
Upvotes	9
Comments	26
Date	June 1, 2012 11:15 AM UTC (14 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/ufgr3/study_finds_tv_can_decrease_selfesteem_in/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/study-finds-tv-can-decrease-self-esteem-in.1020692 https://theredarchive.com/post/1020692

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