Prosocial-Media Use,Empatby,and Prosocial Bebavior 9 observed relationship between prosocial-media use and ings co novel e ence tha entertain ,the effects of mall.Howe changes in empathy as a personality trait magnitude are to be expected given the long-term stabil Other findings of note concern potential moderators of ity of personality traits and the many factors that may prosocial media ehavior.In Study (Caspi,o obert se pre such as h ntal factor al-m was found to predict significant changes in trait empathy mediated this relation in all three cultural groups.Although and prosoc al behavioral tendencies over time is not multigroup modeling demonstrated signific cant difference ermore,the positive assc led tions of the m e the In short.the links between prosocial-media use and pro statistical consequence of such data (Prot Anderson social behavior generalize across cultures.The cros 2013). be the result Conclusion nd si af cial behaviors (Miller,Bersoff,&Harwood,1990:Yamagishi This lead to lon Yamagishi,1994).For example,the expression of pro- g social behavior learned from prosocial media may be ore. daonegyrcgulatcd gender,age,and culture.These findings under score the fact that media are powerful teachers.Just as vidualistic cltures This speculation suggests future oletmetiacan1eadioneganreouicomg research directions cial media can lead to positive ch a that links among pro increased empathy and helping.Coupled with the rapid increases in media use among youth in developed cour males and females.The literature on media violence has suggest that accum of medi reported similar cross-group robustness of media effects (eg..C.A.Anderson et al..2003:C.A.Anderson et al. Th and cros ways.Knowledge of these long-term effects may help parents,policymakers,and other concemed citizens ests that the mechanisms through which media affect behavior are fairly general. the futur about what kind of society they want for w to create Author Contributions Limitations nducted by C.A.Anderso elf D.A.Gentile, Prot.K.Suzuki,B.Krahe.Y.Horiuchi nd x Zha studies,it may be useful to employ other measures of media use,empathy,and prosocial behaviors Study 2 wa ucted by A.Khoo,A.K.Liau,K.M.Lim,and rot B C P I ta an And Dat rate than selfr rts in the case of media use or emn sesfor study 2 were conducted by s.Prot D.A. Gentile,an thy).It is possible that both social desirability and self-enhanc manuscript. prosocia ever, Acknowledgments behavior scales used in these two studie Cheung et al.,1998 Gentile et al.,2009).Furthermore We than such measurement error would tend to weaken the students for their assistance with this study. 1.30 Prosocial-Media Use, Empathy, and Prosocial Behavior 9 youth spent consuming prosocial and violent media. These findings constitute novel evidence that entertain￾ment media not only can cause short-term changes in empathy in laboratory studies, but also can lead to stable changes in empathy as a personality trait. Other findings of note concern potential moderators of prosocial media’s effects on prosocial behavior. In Study 1, greater prosocial-media use predicted higher levels of prosocial behavior in samples from Western, East European, and East Asian countries. Empathy significantly mediated this relation in all three cultural groups. Although multigroup modeling demonstrated significant differences in the magnitude of prosocial media’s effects across the cultural groups, the direction of the effects was the same. In short, the links between prosocial-media use and pro￾social behavior generalize across cultures. The cross-cul￾tural differences that did appear may be the result of differences between individualistic and collectivistic cul￾tures in social norms and situational affordances of proso￾cial behaviors (Miller, Bersoff, & Harwood, 1990; Yamagishi & Yamagishi, 1994). For example, the expression of pro￾social behavior learned from prosocial media may be more strongly regulated by appropriateness in the imme￾diate social situation in collectivistic cultures than in indi￾vidualistic cultures. This speculation suggests future research directions. Potential effects of gender as a moderator were exam￾ined in both studies. We found that links among proso￾cial-media use, empathy, and helping were similar for males and females. The literature on media violence has reported similar cross-group robustness of media effects (e.g., C. A. Anderson et al., 2003; C. A. Anderson et al., 2007). The cross-culture, cross-age, and cross-gender similarity of the media effects in the present studies fur￾ther suggests that the mechanisms through which media affect behavior are fairly general. Limitations Both studies were based on self-reports, so these findings may have been influenced by self-report biases. In future studies, it may be useful to employ other measures of media use, empathy, and prosocial behaviors (such as informant reports or observational measures, although it seems unlikely that such measures would be more accu￾rate than self-reports in the case of media use or empa￾thy). It is possible that both social desirability and self-enhancement tendencies influence self-reports of prosocial behavior. However, past research supports the construct and predictive validity of the prosocial￾behavior scales used in these two studies (e.g., P. C. Cheung et al., 1998; Gentile et al., 2009). Furthermore, such measurement error would tend to weaken the observed relationship between prosocial-media use and prosocial behavior. In both studies, the effects of prosocial media on trait empathy and helping were small. However, effects of this magnitude are to be expected given the long-term stabil￾ity of personality traits and the many factors that may influence them (Caspi, Roberts, & Shiner, 2005; Roberts, Walton, & Viechtbauer, 2006). The fact that a single envi￾ronmental factor such as prosocial-media consumption was found to predict significant changes in trait empathy and prosocial behavioral tendencies over time is note￾worthy. Furthermore, the positive associations among the multiple predictors may well have led to underestima￾tions of the true effect sizes, a necessary but conservative statistical consequence of such data (Prot & Anderson, 2013). Conclusion This research provides evidence that prosocial-media use can lead to long-term increases in trait empathy and helping. Furthermore, these relationships generalized across gender, age, and culture. These findings under￾score the fact that media are powerful teachers. Just as exposure to violent media can lead to negative outcomes such as desensitization and increased aggression, use of prosocial media can lead to positive changes such as increased empathy and helping. Coupled with the rapid increases in media use among youth in developed coun￾tries, our studies suggest that accumulation of media effects has the potential to significantly alter important interpersonal behaviors in both positive and negative ways. Knowledge of these long-term effects may help parents, policymakers, and other concerned citizens make decisions about what kind of society they want for the future and how to create it. Author Contributions Data collection in Study 1 was conducted by C. A. Anderson, E. Swing, D. A. Gentile, S. Prot, K. Suzuki, B. Krahé, Y. Horiuchi, M. Jelic, W. Liuqing, P. D. Petrescu, A. Sakamoto, S. Tajima, R. A. Toma, W. Warburton, and X. Zhang. Data collection in Study 2 was conducted by A. Khoo, A. K. Liau, K. M. Lim, and D. A. Gentile. Data analyses for Study 1 were conducted by S. Prot, B. C. P. Lam, C. A. Anderson, and E. Swing. Data analy￾ses for Study 2 were conducted by S. Prot, D. A. Gentile, and C. A. Anderson. S. Prot, C. A. Anderson, D. A. Gentile, B. Krahé, A. K. Liau, M. Jelic, and B. C. P. Lam wrote and revised the manuscript. Acknowledgments We thank Qing Feng for his assistance with data collection in Beijing. We also thank the participating schools, teachers, and students for their assistance with this study. Downloaded from pss.sagepub.com by Cai Xing on December 17, 2013