WEEK 6 – Always visible: Media representation and identity development
Media and the Development of Gender Role Stereotypes
Ward, L. M., & Grower, P. (2020). Media and the Development of Gender Role Stereotypes. Annual Review of Developmental Psychology,
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This review summarizes recent findings (2000–2020) concerning media’s contributions to the
development of gender stereotypes in children and adolescents. Content analyses document
that there continues to be an underrepresentation of women and a misrepresentation of
femininity and masculinity in mainstream media, although some positive changes are noted.
Concerning the strength of media’s impact, findings from three meta-analyses indicate a
small but consistent association between frequent television viewing and expressing more
stereotypic beliefs about gender. Concerning the nature of these effects, analyses indicate
significant connections between young people’s screen media use and their general gender
role attitudes; their beliefs about the importance of appearance for girls and women; their
stereotyping of toys, activities, and occupations; and their support for traditional sexual roles.
The studies presented here show some evidence that media use contributes to:
A. traditional gender role attitudes
B. Appearance beliefs and sexualization
C. Toy and play behavior
D. Sexual roles
E. Courtship behavior
F. Occupational aspirations
G. Academic performance
Media Use and the Development of Racial and Ethnic Attitudes and Stereotypes
Ward, L. M., Tran‐Dubongco, M., Moss, L., & Cox, V. (2020). Media Use and the Development of Racial and Ethnic Attitudes and
Stereotypes. The International Encyclopedia of Media Psychology, 1-12.
Understanding the workings of race in a multiracial society is a complex, multidimensional
phenomenon.
1. First, this understanding includes multiple types of beliefs. Racial attitudes are
believed to include three components:
A. Stereotyping (the cognitive compo- nent)
B. Prejudice (the evaluative component)
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, C. Discrimination (the behavioral component)
2. Second, racial attitudes are multidimensional concerning the forces contributing to
their development
* These attitudes are believed to develop early with contributions from:
A. Internal sources – such as perceptual abilities and categorization skills
B. External forces – such as models and values provided by parents, peers,
teachers, and the media
Indeed, because the media provide a steady stream of models and storylines
and are consumed by youth for numerous hours a day, they are especially
poised to offer formative information about race.
Conclusion
Although media use is a dominant part of the lives of youth around the world, we still know
very little of how this socialization force contributes to their beliefs about race/ethnicity and
their own racial/ethnic identities. Instead of outlining specific suggestions for future research,
more research of any kind to help build a knowledge base in this field is called for. For
example:
* Survey and longitudinal research that links everyday media use to beliefs about race
held by POC and White youth
* Experimental studies that test the assumptions and preferences that may result from
exposure to stereotypical and multidimensional portrayals
* Research across different media, including the understudied domains of film, video
games, and social media
* Developmental work that compares how youth of different ages respond to and are
affected by the same racial media content is called for
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, A tool for help or harm? How associations between social networking use, social
support, and mental health differ for sexual minority and heterosexual youth
Ceglarek, P. J., & Ward, L. M. (2016). A tool for help or harm? How associations between social networking use, social support, and mental
health differ for sexual minority and heterosexual youth. Computers in Human Behavior, 65, 201-209.
Although use of social networking sites has been linked to both positive and negative changes
in young people's mental health, it is likely that these contributions may vary based on users'
motivations and social status. This study sought to examine the relations between sexual
minority youth's social networking site use and their social support, sexual identity
strength, and mental health.
Results indicated that although both sexual minority and heterosexual youth use social
networking sites at equal rates, sexual minority youth indicated that they use sites more
for identity development and social communication. Moreover, using sites for general
identity expression or exploration predicted negative mental health outcomes, whereas using
sites specifically for sexual identity development predicted positive mental health outcomes.
These results provide greater insight into how social networking sites may impact the mental
health of marginalized groups, and provide a framework for understanding differences in
social networking site use by sexuality.
Conclusions
The first hypothesis, which predicted that greater use of social networking sites for identity
exploration and identity expression would each relate to better mental health outcomes for
all youth, was not supported Instead, greater use of SNS for identity exploration was
related to worse mental health for heterosexual youth, and was unrelated to sexual
minority youth's mental health.
Moreover, the element of upward social comparison with others could also be mediating the
observed association between identity exploration and negative mental health. Youth shape
and modify their identities based on social feedback, directly or indirectly, obtained from
their peers, and these processes are similar on SNS. As youth present their identities online,
they critique and judge their own self based on identities they see as more or less developed
or desirable than their own – in other words, they use social comparison to shape their
identities.
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