Nicole Martins

The virtual census: representations of gender, race and age in video games

A large-scale content analysis of characters in video games was employed to answer questions about their representations of gender, race and age in comparison to the US population. The sample included 150 games from a year across nine platforms, with the results weighted according to game sales. This innovation enabled the results to be analyzed in proportion to the games that were actually played by the public, and thus allowed the first statements able to be generalized about the content of popular video games. The results show a systematic over-representation of males, white and adults and a systematic under-representation of females, Hispanics, Native Americans, children and the elderly. Overall, the results are similar to those found in television research. The implications for identity, cognitive models, cultivation and game research are discussed.

Racial and Gender Differences in the Relationship Between Children’s Television Use and Self-Esteem A Longitudinal Panel Study

A longitudinal panel survey of 396 White and Black preadolescent boys and girls was conducted to assess the long-term effects of television consumption on global self-esteem. The results revealed television exposure, after controlling for age, body satisfaction, and baseline self-esteem, was significantly related to children’s self-esteem. Specifically, television exposure predicted a decrease in self-esteem for White and Black girls and Black boys, and an increase in self-esteem among White boys. The findings are discussed in terms of cultivation theory and social identity theory.

Virtual muscularity: A content analysis of male video game characters

The 150 top-selling video games were content analyzed to study representations of male bodies. Human males in the games were captured via screenshot and body parts measured. These measurements were then compared to anthropometric data drawn from a representative sample of 1120 North American men. Characters at high levels of photorealism were larger than the average American male, but these characters did not mirror the V-shaped ideal found in mainstream media. Characters at low levels of photorealism were also larger than the average American male, but these characters were so much larger that they appeared cartoonish. Idealized male characters were more likely to be found in games for children than in games for adults. Implications for cultivation theory are discussed.

Nothing to Fear? An Analysis of College Students' Fear Experiences With Video Games

This study presents the results of a survey of 269 undergraduate students conducted to examine fright experiences caused by video games. Over half of the participants reported game-induced fear. Sex, sensation-seeking, and empathy all emerged as important individual differences in terms of enjoyment of frightening content, consumption of frightening content, and frequency of fright experience. Interactivity and presentations of realism also predicted fear. This work identifies titles, stimuli, and features that caused fright experience.

Televised relational and physical aggression and children's hostile intent attributions.

An experiment was conducted with 150 children (mean age=10.1years) in third to fifth grades to test whether exposure to different forms of aggression in the media affected hostile attributional biases in response to different forms of provocation scenarios. Children were randomly assigned to watch a clip containing physical aggression, relational aggression, or no aggression. After exposure, children were asked to respond to a series of written provocation scenarios where a character caused some form of harm (instrumental or relational) to a target person, but the intent of the provocateur was ambiguous. Results revealed that exposure to relationally aggressive portrayals resulted in a hostile attributional bias in response to relational scenarios, whereas exposure to portrayals of physical aggression was associated with a hostile attributional bias in response to instrumental scenarios. Moreover, these biases were shown to be specific to the exposure condition (physical or relational) and not simply associated with exposure to aggression in general. The findings are discussed in terms of the general aggression model and childrens social information processing.

Mirroring the Media: The Relationship Between Media Consumption, Media Internalization, and Profile Picture Characteristics on Facebook

Social cognitive theory suggests that stereotypes of attractiveness from mainstream media may function as models for online profile pictures. The present study explores the relationship between media consumption, internalization, and body-ism, clothing, and gaze through a content analysis of the Facebook profile pictures of 288 students, and a survey to assess their media consumption and internalization. The relationship between magazine exposure and pictures was mediated by internalization: magazine readers who internalized media ideals were more likely to select pictures showing their body in revealing clothing. Television viewing had a direct effect on picture selection, but was not mediated by internalization.

Parental Communication About Kidnapping Stories in the US News

We conducted a random telephone survey of 182 parents to assess how they communicate with their children about kidnapping stories featured in the news. Three different strategies emerged. Some parents warned their children, signaling to them that kidnappings are likely to occur. Other parents reassured their children, suggesting that such threats rarely take place. Several parents cautioned their children, offering specific strategies to encourage vigilance. Logistic regression analyses revealed several predictors of these different communication strategies. The findings are discussed in terms of parental mediation and the cultivation of fear by the media.

Playing by the Rules: Parental Mediation of Video Game Play:

This study examined parental mediation of children’s video game play in an Internet survey of 433 parents of children aged 5 to 18 years. We assessed the valence of active mediation (i.e., positive, negative, neutral) and the relationship between parental involvement and mediation techniques. Furthermore, we explored whether parental mediation was associated with child delinquency. Our results demonstrate that active mediation is generally negative or neutral in nature. Involved parents were more likely to use each mediation strategy than less involved parents; however, parental involvement did not predict negative mediation. Restrictive and negative mediation were significantly related to child delinquency. In sum, the findings show that parents are involved in monitoring their children’s use of this medium, just as they are with television.

A Content Analysis of Teen Parenthood in “Teen Mom” Reality Programming

ABSTRACT A content analysis of the MTV shows 16 and Pregnant (n = 59), Teen Mom (n = 20), and Teen Mom 2 (n = 20) was conducted to determine whether these programs accurately portray teen pregnancy. The results revealed that teen mothers on 16 and Pregnant were younger, more often White, and had more healthy babies as compared to national averages. The babies’ fathers were more involved in the daily care of their child as compared to reality. Medical insurance or receipt of government assistance was almost never discussed. Teen mothers in the Teen Mom shows were significantly more likely to achieve a high school diploma as compared to reality. Finally, mothers on Teen Mom and Teen Mom 2 were significantly less likely to voice concern about finances and had more active social lives than mothers on 16 and Pregnant. Using social learning theory as a theoretical framework, we argue that these shows provide mixed messages to young audiences about teen pregnancy and parenthood.

Genre Differences in the Portrayal of Social Aggression in Programs Popular with Children

A content analysis was conducted to examine the amount and nature of social aggression across genres of programming popular among 2- to 11-year-old children. Results reveal that the reality programming genre is systematically different from the other 3 genres in terms of the amount and context of social aggression. Findings are discussed in terms of social cognitive theory.