The Representation of Altruism and Egoism in Children’s Books

ABSTRACT

Although the social implications of children’s media have been a central public concern for millennia, there has been no systematic attempt to quantify the representation of other- versus self-serving values in children’s literature. A coding scheme based on the model of intuitive motivations and exemplars was applied to examine the representation of altruistic and egoistic motivations in popular children’s books. Echoing previous findings on the content of popular children’s songs and television programming, the current findings suggest that egoistic motivations were represented significantly more often than altruistic motivations. Examining differences by the target age of books revealed that altruistic motivations were more prominent in books targeted at younger children, whereas egoistic motivations became more prominent in content for older children. The fact that these findings replicated across several children’s media denotes the societal importance of these motivations and their representation. These findings are discussed in terms of their social import and note the particular need for future investigations into the exemplification of egoistic motivations, which have been overlooked in most previous content analyses of children’s media.

KEYWORDS:

• Altruistic intuitions
• content analysis
• egoistic intuitions
• model of intuitive morality and exemplars
• moral intuitions
• popular books

Data Availability Statement

The data described in this article are openly available in the Open Science Framework at https://osf.io/mtcqa/

Open Scholarship

This article has earned the Center for Open Science badges for Open Data and Open Materials through Open Practices Disclosure. The data and materials are openly accessible athttps://osf.io/mtcqa/.

Notes

1. We also attempted to examine our main research question in a sample of children’s movies, as well as code whether the motivations represented in books and movies were depicted as desirable or undesirable through (A) the reward/punishment associated with the motivation exemplar and (B) whether the characters associated with the exemplar was affable or surly. However, reliability for our main variables in movies and the additional desirability categories fell below acceptable level of 80% agreement. Although data associated with these variables was presented in an earlier version of the paper that was presented at a conference, both the investigation into movies and the additional variables for books were dropped from consideration in the publication version of this paper and are not discussed further.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ron Tamborini

Ron Tamborini (Ph.D., Indiana University) is a Professor in the Department of Communication at Michigan State University where he teaches courses in media processes and methods of communication inquiry. His research examines how characteristics of traditional and new media alter psychological experience and influence on users.

Lindsay Hahn

Lindsay Hahn (Ph.D., Michigan State University) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York. Her research investigates the cognitive processes surrounding media use and effects in audiences across the lifespan.

Brian Klebig

Brian Klebig is the Eleanor Wilson Chair of Communication Studies at Bethany Lutheran College, where his primary research area is an examination of the role of primal intuitions in shaping beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors. He is currently the director of the VOX Lab, a virtual and mixed reality research and production facility.

Brandon M. Walling

Brandon M. Walling is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Communication at Michigan State University. With a focus on communication theory and research methodology Brandon's work explores the influence that human interaction can have on outcomes related to health, specifically in the context of mental health, provider-patient communication, and relationships between women offenders on probation and parole with their program officers. His dissertation examines the effect that different disclosure and social support-seeking strategies have on support offered in the context of an online depression help group.

Kevin Kryston

Kevin Kryston (M.A., University of Dayton) is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Communication at Michigan State University. His research focuses on entertainment media psychology, with a specific focus on social influences on audiences’ selection and enjoyment of various forms of entertainment. His work employs behavioral, psychophysiological, and self-report measures to determine the mechanisms underlying audience response.

Melinda R. Aley

Melinda Aley (M.A. Michigan State University) is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Communication at Michigan State University. Her research focuses on the ability of media content to act as a socializing agent for children. Her current projects include examining how moral messages in media content can influence the behaviors of children, media depictions of gender stereotypes, and media’s influence on young adults’ career choices.