Influences of Family Communication on Children's Television-Interpretation Processes

A field study (627 children and 486 of their parents) tests the effects of family communication environment and parental mediation of television content on third-, sixth-, and ninth-graders' perceptions of the realism of television content and its similarity to real life and their identification with television characters. Interpersonal family communication helps children form real-world perceptions, which children intrapersonally compare with their perceptions of the television world better to assess realism. A mismatch between real-world and television-world perceptions diminishes perceptions of realism. Realism contributes to perceived similarity, which contributes to identification with television characters. Through active discussion of television content, the parent directly mediates perceptions of similarity, but not of realism.