Journal Issue: Children and Electronic Media Volume 18 Number 1
Spring 2008 Media and Prosocial Behavior So much public
attention has been paid to potential negative effects of the
media on children that parents and researchers alike have
scarcely acknowledged the positive. Yet if television and movies
can teach children antisocial behaviors such as aggression, then
it makes sense that these same media can teach beneficial
behaviors as well. The challenge is to differentiate the media
messages that are potentially harmful from those that are
positive or prosocial in nature. Prosocial behavior can be
broadly defined as any voluntary behavior intended to benefit
another person.99 Altruism is the most common example of
prosocial behavior. Others are friendliness, sharing,
cooperation, sympathy, and even acceptance of others from
different groups. Clearly children are exposed to a great deal
of violence in the media. But how often do they witness
prosocial behavior? One recent, large-scale study examined a
random