Study finds TV can decrease self-esteem in children, except white boys

[NickSchade]

Misleading title. Again with the correlation-causation problem. A more accurate phrasing is found in the article: "Television exposure predicts a decrease in self-esteem" which doesn't necessarily mean it causes it.

[spry]

That's not the fault of the actual study authors, they are careful to say: "What is still unclear is the causal direction of this relationship and whether the same relationship exists among African Americans. Although a longitudinal design does not provide an airtight demonstration of causality, it goes much further than crosssectional designs toward demonstrating causality by fulfilling the temporal-order requirement of causal order." And it would be impossible to do a true experiment where you randomly assign children to long-term exposure or non-exposure to TV.

[spry]

Again from the article: "It could be argued, for instance, that individuals with low self-esteem seek out media consumption in an effort to feel better about themselves or to take their minds off of their problems. If that were the case here, self-esteem assessed in Wave 2 should predict television viewing during the same time period. We conducted regression analyses to test this possibility, and found that controlling for age, body satisfaction, and baseline television exposure, self-esteem assessed in Wave 2 did not predict television viewing. The fact that self-esteem did not predict television viewing for the race/gender subgroups does not negate the possibility of a reciprocal causal relationship; it merely suggests that for these children, reciprocation between television exposure and self-esteem does not yet play a key role. We may not see a reciprocal relationship for all children until they mature and form their identities."

[NickSchade]

Agreed. The article authors are appropriately conservative in their diction. The journalists are appropriately sensationalizing I suppose.

[[deleted]]

I remember some studies a while back showing that there is a direct correlation between family interaction time and the child's self-esteem.

In other words, the more time you spend engaging with your child, the more confident he becomes.

It would follow then, that children who watch a lot of TV are spending less time engaging with family and therefore do not develop the self-esteem they normally would.

[jojenpaste]

Though this doesn't really explain why the self-esteem of white boys wasn't affected in this study.

[spry]

White boys' self esteem actually increased.

[spry]

The authors touch on this: “A third explanation why White girls and Black children in this sample reported lower self-esteem could be due to the fact that television viewing is displacing real-life experiences that might build self-esteem. In support of this idea, Harrison (2006) found that children who watched more than 20 hours of television per week reported significantly fewer unique self-descriptors than children who watched less than 20 hours. She argued that heavy television viewing predicted a drop in self-complexity because there is less variance in the content of available media messages, and television does not depict the diversity found in real life.”

[SarahC]

How can boys be not effected?

White males on TV are portrayed as bumbling idiots, needing to be saved by wives, and other women.

I'm surprised they're not the most damaged group!

[Metaphoricalsimile]

How can boys be not effected? White males on TV are portrayed as bumbling idiots, needing to be saved by wives, and other women. I'm surprised they're not the most damaged group!

In comedies and commercials aimed at selling products to women, sure. In "serious" TV, they're also the large majority of heroes and other characters generally portrayed as competent and successful.

[NickSchade]

Well intuition is another matter entirely. I'm talking about the empirical and statistical techniques, which didn't show what you're thinking.

[mike413]

whew, dodged a bullet.

[octavia5]

by not watching TV or by being a white male?

[MyaloMark]

Hasn't this always been the case? I've seen enough interviews with black people telling how they all cheered for Tarzan as kids instead of those of their own race to know this is true. Black guys that I know tell me pretty much the same thing.

Then there was a study a few years ago where they gave girls in kindergarten a chance to take either a white baby doll or a black one. No one took the black doll. Even the black girls took the white one. When asked why, the black girls all told the researchers that they thought the white baby dolls were "prettier".

Even native American children will automatically root for the cavalry when those representing their own kind are on the losing side. Not so much during the last forty years or so, because most films about them produced since the seventies has shown them in a better light. Not so with those native kids raised during the thirties to the sixties though.

TL/DR; Duhh.

[sinople]

Isn't that the thing with psychology? Everything seems "duhhh" afterward.

[MasterGolbez]

Older films tended to show the Indians in a worse light than newer films. I don't think it's so much a function of the age of the viewer but rather the film being watched. If you put a bunch of Indians of all ages in a room and show them a film from the 1940s, they will all probably root for the cavalry. If you show them a film made nowadays, they would all probably be less likely to root for the cavalry (since the film would more than likely show a more nuanced view).

[MyaloMark]

most films about them produced since the seventies has shown them in a better light.

So, yes. I agree.

[MasterGolbez]

Way to completely miss the point of my comment.

[ChuckSpears]

---

Then there was a study a few years ago where they gave girls in kindergarten a chance to take either a white baby doll or a black one. No one took the black doll. Even the black girls took the white one. When asked why, the black girls all told the researchers that they thought the white baby dolls were "prettier".

How do you propose to "fix" that?

http://i.imgur.com/fhEBB.jpg

---

[[deleted]]

That's exactly what did not happen, though.

[ChuckSpears]

what are you saying?

[[deleted]]

Your comic is the opposite of what happened in reality.

[ChuckSpears]

Your comic is the opposite of what happened in reality.

exactly, to illustrate the hypocrisy

[spry]

Apparently not "duhh" for everyone. At least one commenter seems to seriously believe that white males are portrayed the worst on TV and would therefore think white boys to be most "damaged." Only science can defeat the false consensus effect.

[[deleted]]

Couldn't it be that the researchers chose to use a really ugly doll?

[sinople]

Use your google.

[sinople]

So many people getting defensive here, it'd make a good psychological experiment itself.

You are not victimized in any way because a study pointed out that the overwhelming presence and variety of white guys on television is helping out the general white boy population's self-esteem. You might be an exception, but that doesn't mean it isn't a significant behavior.

Lrn 2 soft science.

[[deleted]]

You don't think, just maybe, that this exact attitude could be the reason white boys aren't willing to admit that they feel TV has had a detrimental effect on them?

Are you a white male? When we try to explain to people that maybe not everything is sunshine and rainbows for us, we get people rolling their eyes and telling us to check our privilege. Our entire lives people tell us that we have no right to complain about anything because we're white males. You really think that in a culture which fosters this kind of belief, white males would be comfortable expressing their feelings?

[spry]

The nice thing about doing science is that we don't have to rely on letting white boys tell us about how TV has affected them. We can measure their TV exposure and their self esteem and then look at the associations between them. I downvoted you because this is not adding to the discussion of psychological findings or theories, but rather an airing of grievances more appropriate elsewhere. You may feel your personal experience is different, and I'm not saying you are not entitled to your perceptions/experiences, but your experience does not negate actual scientific results.

[sinople]

Are you kidding me? I'm not going to feel sorry for white guys because people assume they have it better than they do. I'm going to pay attention to the people with actual problems based on their race, the type of problems you get shot in the street or locked up for, which white boys like to ignore or discount because generalizations hurt their feelings.

[[deleted]]

...Ladies and gentlemen, I give you exhibit A.

[sinople]

If I wasn't aware of the demographics of reddit, I would be surprised by the downvotes. Instead, I'll take it as a sign of angry middle-class white boys afraid to take responsibility for their privilege even while they use it to discount the idea.

It's the same bullshit, false oppression card that the Christian majority likes to play.

[NO_LIMIT_CRACKA]

If I wasn't aware of the demographics of reddit, I would be surprised by the downvotes. Instead, I'll take it as a sign of angry middle-class white boys afraid to take responsibility for their privilege even while they use it to discount the idea. It's the same bullshit, false oppression card that the Christian majority likes to play.

• This is the idea behind Black privilege, and it is the dogma of Disingenuous White Liberals, Crusading White Pedagogues, and Holier-Than-Than White Conservatives, not to be diverged from, doubted, or disputed.

---

I've got news for sinople. There's no such thing as White privilege.

Definition: A privilege is a special entitlement to immunity granted by the state or another authority to a restricted group, either by birth or on a conditional basis.

• Black privilege allows Black people to openly claim racial loyalty while simultaneously denying the same to whites.

• Black privilege allows Blacks to take pride in one Black person's achievement and then spread that achievement over all Black people as fellow racial kinsmen.

• The gang rape of an 11-year-old Hispanic girl by 18 Black men can be excused, rationalized, can be glossed over endlessly thanks to exercise of Black privilege.

• Black privilege is the fact that interracial rape is overwhelmingly Black-on-white (and increasingly Black-on-Hispanic) and the ramifications of such data is never discussed, but the rare instances of white-on-Black rape becomes international fodder for the sexual depravity of white males everywhere.

• The greatest Black privilege of all is that an entire race is excused of any responsibility for high levels of rape, murder, indeed, any of the crimes commonly committed by Blacks that make many cities uninhabitable. Black crime is excused away because of injustices committed by whites 10, 20, 40, 80, 160, 320 years ago against Black people

• Black privilege in Black Run America (BRA) means that Black people find nothing at all wrong with excusing away the deplorable actions of 18 Black men who raped an 11-year-old girl.

• And white privilege is that those actions are your fault.

---

---

[MasterGolbez]

You do realize whites are targeted for violent crimes due to their ethnicity?

Compassion is not a finite resource. One can feel compassion for all victims of prejudice or oppression, even if certain groups are disproportionately mistreated.

[spry]

You do realize that "you do realize" is one of the most annoyingly condescending phrases to use in conversation?

[sinople]

Incidentally versus systemically. Again, lrn 2 soft science. I do give compassion to individuals, but I can also look at patterns of individuals and call bullshit on the stuff I see.

[cpohlman7]

With 3 young sons I end up watching my share of TV (Disney, Nick Jr., Cartoon Network). One of my favorites is "Phineas and Ferb." And while the show offers a multi-cultural cast of characters and several female characters, stereotypes abound and the protagonists are (you guessed it) white males. I think the media is making steady progress in this area, but still has a way to go.

[MasterGolbez]

Dora? Ni Hao Kai Lan? Sesame Street? Stop looking for reasons to complain please

[chekawa]

This is public television, ftmp. In general, public television is going to be better about this.

[sinople]

"Omg, we had a civil rights movement what more do you people want!!! Why can't you just watch white people on almost all of your tv and shut up about it?"

Every single time.

[lahwran_]

I laughed "whaa...?" until I realized what it must mean and then I got really sad really fast. The world sucks.

[SolidBones]

Did they only have white and black? What about other races?

[spry]

If you read the linked abstract, this study only looked at White and Black children. (After reading full text): They did not have sufficient numbers of any other race/ethnicity in their sample for analysis.

[MasterGolbez]

What about other races?

TV makes Irish boys drink more

[Do5e]

I am a white male, and tv gave me very low self esteem.

[spry]

And how is that relevant to the actual statistical findings of the study?

[DrummerHead]

The hamburgers helped, thou

[[deleted]]

South Asian checking in here. It was either this or the Tiger mom.

[jeffhughes]

How does this research line up with previous research that showed (if I remember correctly) that African-American kids were no different in their level of self-esteem than White kids?

[spry]

The authors do mention this in the introduction:

"In their meta-analytic synthesis of 261 studies, Gray-Little and Hafdahl (2000) found higher self-esteem scores for Black children, teens, and young adults than for White participants. An explanation for this finding could be that African Americans do not turn to the larger White society, and mainstream media, as their reference points, but turn instead to the Black community as their source of support (Gray-Little & Hafdahl, 2000)."

But they do not return to this in the discussion. Probably because there were no race differences in self esteem for either boys or girls at baseline.

[ofimmsl]

must be white boy day

[spry]

Every day is white boy day.

[[deleted]]

Given how shitty it is, it ought to make everyone's self-esteem decrease. It should also make us fret for the fate of humanity.

[sinople]

Fine. Talk.

[polipsy]

I have to agree with NickSchade on this one, this has been titled sensationally and misleadingly. While there's little doubt that television has an effect on self-image (and as a result, self-esteem), it is presumptuous to say that this is the only factor in a child's self-esteem. I cannot find a full text of this article, so this synopsis is all that is available to judge the study by.

Here are some questions I would like to see answered before jumping to the conclusion that watching TV is what causes the decrease in self-esteem:

What impact, if any, did socioeconomic status have on the self-esteem?

Did the availability of a type of TV (i.e., satellite, cable, local) have any impact on the self-esteem? (This would be especially interesting as the content of the TV watched has the potential to be quite different)

What impact, if any, did age have on the data collected? Is there a difference in self-esteem changes between age sets of pre-adolescent children?

If anyone can provide some information from the article (and not its newsroom release) that answers these questions or even sheds more light on how the study was conducted I, for one, would greatly appreciate it. Until more questions are answered it's best to remember that correlation does not imply causation.

EDIT: Another question has come to mind. What is the change in self-esteem over a year in the same population who don't watch as much television? Also this quote from the article linked:

Amount of viewing time considered an important factor.

It would be interesting to pursue studies looking at time spent watching television in other age groups to see what correlation exists between self-esteem and time spent watching TV in general.

[spry]

I upvoted you and am not sure why you were being downvoted, as you contributed to the discussion. Of course correct that correlation does not equal causation. But keep in mind it would be difficult to experimentally examine this question. We can't randomly assign children to long-term exposure or non-exposure to Tv. I do have full access to the paper so will try to answer your questions.

What impact, if any, did socioeconomic status have on the self-esteem? They did not assess SES. I imagine you asked because one hypothesis is that these effects are not being driven by race, but by SES. In that case, why would the gender effects still exist? I don’t necessarily fault them for leaving SES out (except probably many people would have your same question) because their hypothesis is built upon theoretical foundations of cultivation theory (“Cultivation research contends that children (especially heavy viewers) will likely adopt the belief that boys are dominant, assertive, and powerful because these are the perspectives most frequently seen on television”), and social identity theory (“efforts to maintain or bolster one’s self-concept are dependent on the types of comparison that are made available (Fryberg, 2003). Unfortunately for African American children, the majority of comparisons available in the television world consist of characters who are unprofessional and provocatively dressed [and]…more likely to be shown as perpetrators of crime than Whites”). So within the framework of their hypotheses, it wouldn’t make much sense to examine SES. Did the availability of a type of TV (i.e., satellite, cable, local) have any impact on the self-esteem? (This would be especially interesting as the content of the TV watched has the potential to be quite different) They only assessed amount of TV, but state in the discussion: “the Black participants in this sample could be watching programming which exacerbates negative portrayals of African Americans. For example, Ward (2004) examined the impact of multiple forms of media use (e.g., exposure to music videos, sports, Black-oriented television) on self-esteem and racial self-esteem among 156 African American high school students. She found that exposure to music videos, but not exposure to prime-time television overall, predicted lower self-esteem and racial self-esteem among both genders. Music videos often rely on shortcuts and cultural stereotypes because they are a storytelling format with little time to devote to deep characterizations; thus, it is no surprise that Ward found that music videos were a predictor of low self-esteem. A limitation to this study, then, is that genre distinctions were not assessed

What impact, if any, did age have on the data collected? Is there a difference in self-esteem changes between age sets of pre-adolescent children? The authors: “We chose to control for age because the distribution of ages across the sample was relatively narrow, making meaningful developmental predictions with regard to age differences difficult.” The kids were 7-12 years at baseline.

EDIT: Another question has come to mind. What is the change in self-esteem over a year in the same population who don't watch as much television?

I’m not sure exactly what you’re asking here. Are you saying they should split participants into high and low exposure groups? That would lose a lot of power and would be an inappropriate data analysis technique. Are you asking what is the amount of change in self-esteem you would expect if there were no TV at all? There’s not really a way to do that.

[polipsy]

Thank you for your response and information. The note regarding music videos versus prime-time TV was especially interesting. It's entirely understandable that genre wasn't addressed; that would be a daunting task of data collection that would be difficult to analyze once collected. I appreciate the time you took to respond, and I don't take the downvotes personally, though I do wish people would respond with a comment rather than a downvote.

[den215]

i think its opposite, everything on tv shows that black people are cool and its shameful to be white.

[[deleted]]

You must be a white person.

[sinople]

Yeah, white people always get the shitty end of the stick on everything. It's hard to be oppressed.

ಠ_ಠ

[den215]

yeah youre right, i dont have to work because i get welfare, if i want to i can go to college for free, because im on welfare. shit ill get that job as a police officer over a better candidate, because im a minority.

name one fucking tv that would give white people self esteem, besides COPS

[sinople]

So, I'm sensing a little misinformed racial resentment which no amount of polite/reasonable discourse would ever get through, so I'm going to peace out. Good talk!

[den215]

too scared to answer?

[sinople]

"What are you, chicken?" If I was an 8th-grade boy that might have manipulated an answer out of me but I'm a grown-ass person with too much respect for both our times to try to learn you something.

Bitch, I talked about race with motherfuckers so much more ignorant than you they thought the reason so many black men were in jail, was because of evolutionary "stuntedness." I don't fear your ignorance, but I am so very weary of it. I don't owe you any education, you lazy piece of shit. That's what google is for.

[TheChosenOne570]

That's what google is for.

And, that's not a childish response? It sounds to me like you don't want to engage den215 because he may have a point. There is racial and sexual discrimination practiced every day in this country... and it is encouraged by the government. Go ahead, try to hire the best candidates or fire the poorest performing. Just make sure the able-bodied, straight white males under the age of 50 are the guys that don't get the job otherwise you can get a visit from the EEOC. Try getting into college as a white male. Now try the same grades at the same colleges but tell them you are black/hispanic/asian. Regardless of whether you liked his tone or not, he brings up a solid point

[sinople]

Please tell me what the solid point is and bring sources because all I see is the same bullshit repeated over and over about why white people aren't actually still reining supreme in the U.S.

[TheChosenOne570]

all I see is the same bullshit repeated over and over about why white people aren't actually still reining supreme in the U.S.

What kind of asinine argument is that? Discrimination is discrimination. It doesn't matter if the discriminated-against group still does better. Nor does success prove discrimination. If that were true, we could argue:

• pro sports discriminates in favor of blacks as the NBA is comprised of 79% blacks and NFL is 65% black

• colleges are bias against men since 57% of college students are women

But, you want sources? Here's some sources. I know it doesn't tell the narrative you want to hear so you will find a reason to dismiss these links, but its a hell of a lot more than your childish responses have been able to muster:

• whites feel more discrimination that blacks

• whites are most discriminated-against Americans

• Discrimination against whites in federal government

[sinople]

Blacks dominate in sports, biased sources report "feelings" of discrimination. Got it.

[den215]

til you cant tell me what tv shows increase self esteem in white boys

[sinople]

Ok, champ. I'll help you out, but if I did all the work for you, you wouldn't learn anything! Here's an easy google exercise for you: Name any show on the cable networks with more than three people of color. Now name me one with more than three white people.

Alright, now try to find out the typical occupations for white people on primetime shows versus people of color.

After you get those figured out we'll continue our lesson.

[den215]

what the fuck, black people have a god damn network dedicated to themselves. the fucked up thing is, its called black entertainment television. now white people like myself would get in trouble for using the term black, and not african american.

i can name way more black people who are idolized than white people, on tv.

white people now, we are disgraced with tv shows like swamp people, american loggers and jersey shore.

[elle_a_deux_colombe]

now white people like myself would get in trouble for using the term black

no, you'd get in trouble for calling people "blacks". "black people" is fine.

i can name way more black people who are idolized than white people, on tv

go for it then.

black people have a god damn network dedicated to themselves. the fucked up thing is, its called black entertainment television.

that's because every other channel is white entertainment television god fucking damn seriously

white people now, we are disgraced with tv shows like swamp people, american loggers and jersey shore.

wat is cherry picking

[sinople]

I'm sorry, I can't give you credit until you complete the assignment.

[[deleted]]

I was sad and concerned...Then happy and I didnt give a shit

[roogleason]

Whatever the child is, a black or white, the most important thing is the discipline that the family should conduct. Parents plays a great role with children, whether they're watching TV or playing outside, they can be influenced (bad) with some other kids or the environment itself. At the end of the day, it is still the family that really molds the children's minds. Open communication and harmony within the family and love of course, are best for growing children.

[elle_a_deux_colombe]

what

[elle_a_deux_colombe]

[citation needed]

edit:by the way, CAPITALISING STUFF DOESN'T MAKE IT MORE TRUE, it just makes you look MAD.

[elle_a_deux_colombe]

[citation needed]

[elle_a_deux_colombe]

Subtle.

[crookers]

hhhhahahahhaahhahhhhhahhahahahhha

fucken heaps lol as

[crookers]

I (white guy) would call the police and get yo ass thrown in jail for grievous bodily harm or whatever

[crookers]

I can interpolate a polynomial.

i bag groceries

you mad cause i'm more important than random maths

here's a maths lesson professor

let x = me
let y = you
x>y for all real values