Helping behavior in Disney animated movies and children’s helping behavior in the Netherlands

Figures & data

Table 1. Descriptive statistics for children’s characteristics and outcome variables by condition.

	Total (N = 113)	Experimental condition (n = 57)	Control condition (n = 56)
Prevalence
Boys	46.0%	40.4%	51.8%
Prior exposure to Disney^a	76.1%	77.2%	75.0%
Had seen Cars before	53.9%	51.8%	57.1%
Mean (Standard Deviation)
Children’s age	9.03 (.738)	9.12 (.73)	8.93 (.74)
Initial prosocial behavior^b	2.73 (.30)	2.79 (.31)	2.67 (.28)
Appreciation of the clip	3.73 (1.41)	3.65 (1.45)	3.80 (1.38)
Number of times helping^c	1.95 (1.16)	2.21 (1.35)	1.68 (.86)
Amount of time spend on helping (in seconds)^d	58.43 (36.72)	63.67 (34.61)	53.11 (38.33)

^a Defined as having watched at least half of the most recently released Disney movies once or more.

^b A two-sided t-test demonstrated a significant difference between children in the experimental condition and children in the control condition on their initial levels of prosocial behavior (t [df = 111, N = 113] = −2.317, p = .022).

^c A t-test demonstrated a significant difference between children in the experimental condition and children in the control condition on the number of times they helped their friends (t [df = 95.11, N = 113] = −2.512, p = .007, one-tailed).

^d A t-test demonstrated a significant difference between children in the experimental condition and children in the control condition on the time they spend on helping (t [df = 111, n = 113] = −2.007, p = .023, one-tailed). Further, no significant differences were found between conditions.

Table 2. Correlation between the model variables.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
1- Children’s sex^a
2- Children’s age	−.02
3- Initial prosocial behavior	.21*	.07
4- Prior exposure to Disney	.20*	−.06	−.01
5- Had seen Cars before	−.45**	.12	.04	.26**
6- Appreciation of the clip	−.23*	.12	.13	.22*	.41**
7- Condition^b	.12	.13	.28**	.03	−.12	−.05
8- Number of times helping	.11	−.07	.01	−.05	−.08	−.12	.20*
9- Amount of time spend on helping (quartiles)	.11	.07	−.02	.01	−.12	−.08	.19^*	.09

^a 0 = boy; 1 = girl.

^b 0 = control condition; 1 = experimental condition.

^** p < .01

^* p < .05.

Table 3. Findings from linear regression analyses on the relation between watching prosocial Disney content and children’s helping behavior.

	Number of times helping		Amount of time spend on helping (quartiles)
	b	SE	b	SE
Unadjusted
Children’s sex^a	.19	.22	.25	.21
Children’s age	−.08	.15	.09	.14
Initial prosocial behavior	.11	.36	−.10	.35
Prior exposure to Disney	−.01	.02	−.01	.02
Had seen Cars before	–.06	.08	−.12	.08
Appreciation of the clip	–.09	.08	−.04	.08
Condition^b	.53**	.21	.42*	.21
Full model (N = 112)
Children’s sex^a	–.15	.28	.16	.27
Children’s age	–.11	.15	.07	.15
Initial prosocial behavior	–.07	.39	–.30	.38
Prior exposure to Disney	.01	.02	–.01	.02
Had seen Cars before	.02	.11	–.07	.10
Appreciation of the clip	–.06	.09	.01	.09
Condition^b	.52*	.23	.41*	.22

Note: b = regression coefficient; SE = standard error.

^a 0 = boy; 1 = girl.

^b 0 = control condition; 1 = experimental condition.

** p < .01

* p < .05, one-tailed.