Meta-analyses confirm a negative relationship between aggressive behavior and empathy, that is, the ability to understand and share the feelings of others. Based on theoretical considerations, it was, therefore, hypothesized that a lack of empathic responsiveness may be characteristic for cyberbullies in particular. In the present study, 2.070 students of Luxembourg secondary schools completed an online survey that included a cyberbullying questionnaire4 and a novel empathy short scale. According to the main hypothesis, analyses of variances indicated that cyberbullies demonstrated less empathic responsiveness than non-cyberbullies. In addition, cy-berbullies were also more afraid of becoming victims of cyberbullying. The findings confirm and substantially extend the research on the relationship between empathy and aggressive behavior. From an educational point of view, the present findings suggest that training of empathy skills might be an important tool to decrease cyberbullying.

No abstract

Recent findings indicate that events in video games, as well as players' perceptions of game characters, moderate well-established video game effects. This includes the level of identification with game characters, and players' interpretation of whether or not the actions of the characters are conceived as moral. In the present study, it was tested whether manipulating empathy for well-known game characters influences video game effects in a violent beat-'em-up game. As was expected, playing the comic hero Superman led to more prosocial behavior (i.e., returning a lost letter) than playing the evil villain Joker. A similar positive effect was observed for inducing game characters as warm and empathic before playing. Compared to a neutral text, participants in the empathy text condition judged the violence in the game as less justified, irrespective of game character. When looking at hostile perception, an interaction was found between empathy and game character. For Superman, empathy led participants to interpret neutral faces as less aggressive. When playing the evil Joker, however, empathy even increased hostile perception. This is in line with previous findings that empathy may not be positive per se. In fact, it may backfire depending on the interaction of game characters and the empathy players feel for them.

No abstract

In a survey study, 158 dyads of German parents and their nine to 12 year-old children reported on their television and video game consumption, parental mediation strategies, and family climate. Parents also reported their beliefs concerning media effects. We found that mediation strategies differ from acknowledged media usage conceptions in that parents play a more active role than previously assumed. Restrictive mediation comprises rules and restrictions, but also parents' educative explanations that media do not reflect reality.Patronizing mediation includes shared media consumption, but also parents commenting on media contents. Pointing out and emphasizing socio-emotional features in the media (e.g., empathy) characterizes active-emotional co-use (AEC). Regression analyses revealed that parental fear of negative media effects predicted both AEC and restrictive mediation.Children and parents' congruent perceptions of family interactions predicted AEC and patronizing video game mediation. Overall, positive ratings of family interactions were associated with children using media less frequently.Keywords: parental mediation, children, television, video games, family interaction, media effects. PARENTAL MEDIATION AND FAMILY PROCESSES 3Parental Mediation of Children's Television and Video Game Use: Active and Embedded in Family ProcessesElectronic and interactive media have become an integral part of everyday life, especially welcomed by young people (Television Bureau of Advertising [TVB], 2010). It is not surprising that the potential effects of excessive media use (e.g., Gentile et al., 2011;King, Delfabbro, & Griffiths, 2010) and sexually explicit or violent content (e.g., Wilson, 2008) on children and their development have drawn immense public attention. First and foremost, it is the parents and caregivers who are worried about media effects and therefore seek to actively regulate media use in consistency with family norms and standards. We specifically hypothesize that all forms of mediation strategies are inherently based on active parental involvement. Additionally, video gaming might be more challenging to regulate than television (TV), because the child expert mostly plays alone in his or her room. In the present study, we therefore investigated: (a) whether there are differences in mediation between media types (i.e., TV and video games [VG]), and (b) the factors that best predict parents' choice of mediation strategy. Types of Electronic MediaDue to their specific characteristics, TV and VG differ with regard to the effects they may have on the users (Buckley & Anderson, 2006;Carnagey & Anderson, 2004). For instance, VG are superior to TV with regard to the intensity and frequency with which violence is being depicted (Wilson, 2008). More generally, a constant pressure to act is put on the players in most VG, forcing them to continuously focus on ongoing events. In contrast, TV viewers often engage in additional activities (e.g., holding conversations, doing domestic work), thereby paying less...

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract