Positive Effects of Television on Children's Social Interactions: A Meta-Analysis

TLDR

We performed a meta‑analysis of 34 studies, 108 effect sizes, and 5,473 children to examine television’s impact on children’s social interactions. The analysis revealed consistent moderate positive effects of prosocial TV content on children’s social interactions, with self‑selected prosocial viewing matching the negative impact of violent content, strongest for altruistic depictions, while aggressive prosocial content produced small negative effects.

Abstract

Abstract We conducted a meta-analysis of 34 studies of the positive effects of television on children's social interactions, levels of aggression, altruism, and levels of stereotyping (a total of 108 effect sizes, 5,473 children). Across dependent measures, there were consistent moderate positive effects for those who watched prosocial content in experimental settings compared to control groups or those who watched antisocial content. Moreover, the positive effect of self-selected exposure to prosocial content was as strong as the negative effect of self-selected exposure to violent content. Effects were largest for depictions of altruism, primarily because such content tended to involve explicit modeling of desired behaviors. Strong negative effects occurred in the few studies where children watched aggressive prosocial content.