Hoorcollege 9
Adolescent Media Use and Effects
Hellen Vossen
Adolescent development → Media use
Moderate discrepancy hypothesis (MDH) (adolescent development → media use and
preferences)
- Children and adolescents are predominantly attracted to (media) entertainment that
deviates only moderately from the things they know, understand, and are capable of
- Children and adolescents are not or less interested in media entertainment that deviates
too much from their existing framework and experiences
o (they like to be challenged, but not too much, it has to stay in their way)
- Hypothesis is a viable explanation of why media preferences differ so much among
different age groups [they learn more, experience more, so they are interested in
different things than when they didn’t understand it yet]
The uses and gratification theory
- Needs
- Gratifications sought
- Use of media
- Needs satisfied
- Depends on different situational and individual factors, including development (media
use to gratify their needs)
,Five main developmental characteristics that inform needs and gratifications
- Identity exploration (who you are, social media can play a role in that)
- Autonomy and self-efficacy
- Peer orientation (peers and romantic partners become important and media can play a
gratifying role)
- Emotionality and sensation seeking
Physical development
- Changes in appearance
- Interest in sex
- Impact on mood
Link to media
- 50 sex questions you were afraid to ask (online article)
- How to treat pimples overnight (youtube video)
, - Videos
- Netflix (sex education)
- Messages (boys asking girls for nude selfies – negative influence of physical changes
influencing media use (sexting))
Physical development
- Pruning: decline grey matter → more efficient processing → cognitive development
Cognitive development
Cognitive development
- Formal operational thinking: logical, abstract, hypothetical, problem-solving, interest
in future
- Only completely in place at the end of adolescence
- Adolescents will switch between concrete and formal operational thinking (they are
still learning it then)
Formal operational thinking
- Video?
- Advantages:
o Abstract thinking
o Scientific thinking
o Future thinking
o Metacognition
- Disadvantages
o Nothing goes without saying
o Question everything
o Critical
o Adolescent egocentrism, imaginary audience (also: what would other people
think)
- Media implications?
Media implications
, - More complexity in story lines
- More complex characters
- Topic that deal with big world issues
o War movies, science fiction (The Hunger Games)
- Fast-past media which stimulates problem solving skills (video – game; tasks become
harder and ingewikkelder)
Cognitive development
- Changes in dopamine (make us feel satisfied) + increased cognitive capacities =
boredom
o Desire for adventure and excitement
Sensation seeking
- Sensation seeking is the tendency to seek out novel, varied, and highly stimulating
experiences, and the willingness to take risks to attain them
- Focus on immediate rewards (instead of delayed rewards)
- Peaks during adolescence (12-17) and then decreases
Link to media
- Need for excitement and risk taking (online gambling, sexting, chatroulette)
- Imagining the perspectives of others on ‘overdrive’ – metacognition (what do others
think of me – sayat.me → get anonymous and honest feedback about yourself)
Socio-emotional development
- Autonomy (independent of parents; own person)
- Identity (who they are and want to be)
- Intimacy (learn how to form meaningful relationships and how to maintain these
relationships)
In order to acquire autonomy, identity and intimacy, they need to learn:
- Self-presentation (what kind of aspects from themselves they are presenting, given the
audience)
- Self-disclosure (what information are you willing to share, how much; first time not
sharing everything, not very personal information; but if you want to form more close
relationships you have to share some of your personal information)
- Try different approaches and see how people respond
Affordances of social media
Adolescent Media Use and Effects
Hellen Vossen
Adolescent development → Media use
Moderate discrepancy hypothesis (MDH) (adolescent development → media use and
preferences)
- Children and adolescents are predominantly attracted to (media) entertainment that
deviates only moderately from the things they know, understand, and are capable of
- Children and adolescents are not or less interested in media entertainment that deviates
too much from their existing framework and experiences
o (they like to be challenged, but not too much, it has to stay in their way)
- Hypothesis is a viable explanation of why media preferences differ so much among
different age groups [they learn more, experience more, so they are interested in
different things than when they didn’t understand it yet]
The uses and gratification theory
- Needs
- Gratifications sought
- Use of media
- Needs satisfied
- Depends on different situational and individual factors, including development (media
use to gratify their needs)
,Five main developmental characteristics that inform needs and gratifications
- Identity exploration (who you are, social media can play a role in that)
- Autonomy and self-efficacy
- Peer orientation (peers and romantic partners become important and media can play a
gratifying role)
- Emotionality and sensation seeking
Physical development
- Changes in appearance
- Interest in sex
- Impact on mood
Link to media
- 50 sex questions you were afraid to ask (online article)
- How to treat pimples overnight (youtube video)
, - Videos
- Netflix (sex education)
- Messages (boys asking girls for nude selfies – negative influence of physical changes
influencing media use (sexting))
Physical development
- Pruning: decline grey matter → more efficient processing → cognitive development
Cognitive development
Cognitive development
- Formal operational thinking: logical, abstract, hypothetical, problem-solving, interest
in future
- Only completely in place at the end of adolescence
- Adolescents will switch between concrete and formal operational thinking (they are
still learning it then)
Formal operational thinking
- Video?
- Advantages:
o Abstract thinking
o Scientific thinking
o Future thinking
o Metacognition
- Disadvantages
o Nothing goes without saying
o Question everything
o Critical
o Adolescent egocentrism, imaginary audience (also: what would other people
think)
- Media implications?
Media implications
, - More complexity in story lines
- More complex characters
- Topic that deal with big world issues
o War movies, science fiction (The Hunger Games)
- Fast-past media which stimulates problem solving skills (video – game; tasks become
harder and ingewikkelder)
Cognitive development
- Changes in dopamine (make us feel satisfied) + increased cognitive capacities =
boredom
o Desire for adventure and excitement
Sensation seeking
- Sensation seeking is the tendency to seek out novel, varied, and highly stimulating
experiences, and the willingness to take risks to attain them
- Focus on immediate rewards (instead of delayed rewards)
- Peaks during adolescence (12-17) and then decreases
Link to media
- Need for excitement and risk taking (online gambling, sexting, chatroulette)
- Imagining the perspectives of others on ‘overdrive’ – metacognition (what do others
think of me – sayat.me → get anonymous and honest feedback about yourself)
Socio-emotional development
- Autonomy (independent of parents; own person)
- Identity (who they are and want to be)
- Intimacy (learn how to form meaningful relationships and how to maintain these
relationships)
In order to acquire autonomy, identity and intimacy, they need to learn:
- Self-presentation (what kind of aspects from themselves they are presenting, given the
audience)
- Self-disclosure (what information are you willing to share, how much; first time not
sharing everything, not very personal information; but if you want to form more close
relationships you have to share some of your personal information)
- Try different approaches and see how people respond
Affordances of social media
