ers, program content, family interaction, and oppor-
tunities for other activities moderate television’s
effects on children’s achievement and creativity.
Does Television Affect Behavior with Others?
Concern regarding television’s effects on chil-
dren’s social development has been most apparent in
the longstanding debate over the link between tele-
vised violence and children’s aggression, but extends
to other areas such as development of stereotypes, un-
derstanding and expressing emotions, and problems
such as substance abuse and eating disorders. Several
overlapping theories offer reasons why television may
exert effects.
Arousal theory emphasizes physiological re-
sponses that can be produced by television programs.
Programs causing emotions also produce bodily re-
sponses, such as increased heart rate from excitement
during a violent or suspenseful show. The excitement
of shows that produce physical arousal will attract
many children. This theory, however, also predicts
that with increased exposure, children need stronger
stimulation to reach the same level of arousal and
emotional reactions, and so they can become desensi-
tized to violence and other themes that provoke emo-
tions. Perhaps the most compelling evidence for this
perspective is that children show reduced responses
to real-life aggression after viewing televised violence.
Social cognitive theory, developed by psycholo-
gist Albert Bandura, stresses that children learn many
social behaviors by observing those modeled by oth-
ers. Children are more likely to try a behavior if they
can identify with the person modeling the behavior
and the model is successful at achieving a goal or ob-
taining a reward. Heavy exposure to television char-
acters who succeed by behaving in aggressive, violent,
or stereotypical ways may encourage children to use
similar strategies in their own lives. Numerous studies
provide evidence that heavy exposure to televised vio-
lence is linked to increased aggressive behavior in
children and adolescents.
Script theories address ways in which television
influences the development of children’s knowledge
and beliefs about the world. Based on experiences
with real and media events, children build represen-
tations of what to expect in certain situations or of cer-
tain people. In turn, children’s expectations may
guide their behaviors. Children who observe frequent
aggressive solutions to conflict situations are more
likely to expect others to behave aggressively. One
specific version of script theory, cultivation theory,
proposes that heavy viewing leads people to see the
world as it is portrayed on television. For example,
television programs overrepresent the occurrence of
violence and exaggerate the presence and the power
of white males. Consistent with cultivation theory,
heavy viewers are relatively likely to see the world as
mean and threatening and to develop ethnic and gen-
der stereotypes.
Some evidence supports each of these theories.
Results from any single study, however, cannot estab-
lish a clear causal link from television to a particular
behavior. The strongest argument is possible when
multiple sources of evidence converge, as is the case
for the conclusion that viewing televised violence con-
tributes to aggressive behavior. Even here, heavy
viewing of violent television is only one contributor to
the development of aggressive behavior, and is most
likely to affect children who are prone to aggressive
behavior for other reasons (e.g., children from fami-
lies or cultures in which aggression is an acceptable
response to conflict).What Can One Do about Television and
Children?
Parent activism has spurred the development of
broadcasting regulations, which in turn may exert
some influence on children’s viewing. Direct parental
involvement, however, may have the greatest poten-
tial to affect the nature of television’s impact on chil-
dren’s development. When children are young, it is
relatively simple for parents to provide guidance con-
cerning the amount and kind of viewing children do.
Such guidance can help establish viewing habits that
will continue to exert an influence as children get
older and exercise more independent choice. If pre-
schoolers learn to be selective about program choices
and understand that there are many ways to spend
their time, they may be less apt to fall into uncritical
heavy viewing later in childhood. As children get
older, parents can assist them in viewing critically and
can avoid creating an environment that assigns televi-
sion undue importance (e.g., a television in the child’s
room). Together, federal regulations and parental
vigilance may help television contribute positively to
children’s development.See also: SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT; VIOLENCEBibliography
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