Parents' Biased Perceptions About Media Influence: Examining Perceived Effects on One's Own Child, Other Children, And Other Parents From Violent Tv Ads And Psa's To Stop Cyberbullying

Abstract

This study found within a large, demographically diverse sample of American parents evidence of a parental third-person effect and a parental first-person effect. This was regardless of whether the respondent was a mother or father. Parents' perceptions of influence seem to be a function of their perception of the child's likely exposure to the message. A belief that the child was predisposed toward physical aggression was important in producing influence judgments from violent TV ads. A belief that the child was predisposed toward the teasing behavior was more important than perceived exposure in producing influence judgments about the PSAs to stop cyber-bullying. Parents were willing to monitor their child's TV viewing and expand dissemination of the PSAs based on these influences biases.