Abstract
Previous research suggests that empathy could serve as a mediator in the relation between media violence exposure and social behavior (i.e., aggressive and prosocial behavior). However, conceptualizations of empathy are diverse and empirical findings are mixed. Theory as well as previous research suggests that sympathy, more than empathy, may explain how media violence can affect youths’ aggressive or prosocial behavior. The present study formally tests this assumption using a three-wave longitudinal design with 878 early adolescents. Although neither sympathy nor empathy provided a significant indirect pathway between media violence and social behavior, the findings do show that sympathy is more strongly related to media violence and social behavior than empathy Methodological challenges and suggestions for future research are discussed.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 389-409 |
| Number of pages | 21 |
| Journal | Journal of Children and Media |
| Volume | 15 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| Early online date | 30 Sept 2020 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The research reported in this paper is supported by a grant from the European Research Council under the European Union?s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013)/ERC grant agreement no [AdG09 249488-ENTCHILD] awarded to prof. Patti Valkenburg.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Keywords
- Media violence
- aggression
- empathy
- prosocial behavior
- sympathy
