Psychological Science OnlineFirst,published on December 11.2013 as dol:10.1177/0956797613503854 Research Article PSYCHO Long-Term Relations Among The A (s)2013 Prosocial-Media Use,Empathy, com/ 0.1177/ 567y761550354 and Prosocial Behavior SAGE Sara Prot',Douglas A.Gentile',Craig A.Anderson',Kanae Suzuki2,Edward Swing',Kam Ming Lim',Yukiko Horiuchi Ma reta lelic Barhara krahe wei li qing er t K.Liau',A ngeline KhooPoesis D na Petrescu Akira Sakamoto,Sachi Tajima Roxana Andreea Toma" Wayne Warburton Xuemin Zhang,and Ben Chun Pan Lam of Psych Abstract Despite recent growth of research on the effects of prosocial media,processes underlying these effects are not unde Two studies explored the cally relevant mediator d moderators of the sof prosocia med helping my,and he by empathy and was similar across cultures.Study 2 explored longitudinal relations among prosocial-video-game use violent-video-game use,empathy,and helping in a large sample of Singaporean children and adolescents measured three times across 2 years. ath analyses showed significant longitudinal e ects of prosocial-and violent-video-game nge in empathy. -cultural differences,social behavior,prosocial media,violent media.prosocial behavior,empathy helping,general learning model,prediction Received/1/13:Revis ccepted 8/10/13 Recent vears have witn sed increasing interest in pos (Greite 2009)For example.Gentile et al tive effects of prosocial media (e.g.Greitemeyer,2011a (2009 found that adolescents'greater use of prosocial 2011b).A growing research literature has demonstrated video games was related to more frequent helping that pros can fo vision shows (Mares Woodard.2005)video games (Saleem,Anderson.Gentile,2012a),and music lyrics E-mail spro@iastate.cdu m17.2013 Psychological Science XX(X) 1–11 © The Author(s) 2013 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0956797613503854 pss.sagepub.com Research Article Recent years have witnessed increasing interest in posi￾tive effects of prosocial media (e.g., Greitemeyer, 2011a, 2011b). A growing research literature has demonstrated that prosocial media can foster prosocial interactions. Significant effects of prosocial media on helping have been demonstrated for a variety of media, including tele￾vision shows (Mares & Woodard, 2005), video games (Saleem, Anderson, & Gentile, 2012a), and music lyrics (Greitemeyer, 2009).1 For example, Gentile et al. (2009) found that adolescents’ greater use of prosocial video games was related to more frequent helping, 503854PSSXXX10.1177/0956797613503854Prot et al.Prosocial-Media Use, Empathy, and Prosocial Behavior research-article2013 Corresponding Author: Sara Prot, Department of Psychology, Iowa State University, W112 Lagomarcino Hall, Ames, IA 50011-3180 E-mail: sprot@iastate.edu Long-Term Relations Among Prosocial-Media Use, Empathy, and Prosocial Behavior Sara Prot1 , Douglas A. Gentile1 , Craig A. Anderson1 , Kanae Suzuki2 , Edward Swing1 , Kam Ming Lim3 , Yukiko Horiuchi4 , Margareta Jelic5 , Barbara Krahé6 , Wei Liuqing7 , Albert K. Liau3 , Angeline Khoo3 , Poesis Diana Petrescu8 , Akira Sakamoto4 , Sachi Tajima9 , Roxana Andreea Toma8 , Wayne Warburton10, Xuemin Zhang7 , and Ben Chun Pan Lam1 1 Department of Psychology, Iowa State University; 2 Faculty of Library, Information and Media Science, University of Tsukuba; 3 National Institute of Education, Singapore; 4 Department of Psychology, Ochanomizu University; 5 Department of Psychology, University of Zagreb; 6 Department of Psychology, University of Potsdam; 7 School of Psychology, Beijing Normal University; 8 Department of Psychology, West University of Timisoara; 9 Department of Psychology, Kantogakuen University; and 10Department of Psychology, Macquarie University Abstract Despite recent growth of research on the effects of prosocial media, processes underlying these effects are not well understood. Two studies explored theoretically relevant mediators and moderators of the effects of prosocial media on helping. Study 1 examined associations among prosocial- and violent-media use, empathy, and helping in samples from seven countries. Prosocial-media use was positively associated with helping. This effect was mediated by empathy and was similar across cultures. Study 2 explored longitudinal relations among prosocial-video-game use, violent-video-game use, empathy, and helping in a large sample of Singaporean children and adolescents measured three times across 2 years. Path analyses showed significant longitudinal effects of prosocial- and violent-video-game use on prosocial behavior through empathy. Latent-growth-curve modeling for the 2-year period revealed that change in video-game use significantly affected change in helping, and that this relationship was mediated by change in empathy. Keywords mass media, cross-cultural differences, social behavior, prosocial media, violent media, prosocial behavior, empathy, helping, general learning model, prediction Received 3/1/13; Revision accepted 8/10/13 Psychological Science OnlineFirst, published on December 11, 2013 as doi:10.1177/0956797613503854 Downloaded from pss.sagepub.com by Cai Xing on December 17, 2013