Question

Studies from many fields have shown that it's important for children to see characters who look like themselves and their families. It's important for those characters to sound like them as well.

There's a relationship between low self-esteem and negative portrayals of racial groups. There's also an association between poor self-esteem and the lack of portrayals of a particular group. Others have found that media misrepresentations of ethnic groups can cause confusion about aspects of their identity among children of these groups.

In our study, we show children images of diverse animated faces and play voices that use different dialects. We then ask kids to tell us if the person is good, bad or if they can't tell. We follow this up by asking them why they think that.

We're not far enough along yet in our research to provide definitive answers to our questions. But we do have some preliminary findings.

First and foremost, kids notice differences.

We presented first- and second-grade children with cartoon faces they haven't seen before. We found that they have no problem sorting them into "good" and "bad" characters. They are able to tell us lengthy stories about why they think a character might be a hero or villain. Interestingly, they do so with minimal information. Sometimes this seems to be based on their belief that a character looks like another media character they've seen. They'll then make the assumption that a face they're shown looks like "a princess" or "someone who goes to jail."

With the lack of diversity in the world of children's television, it's not surprising that kids would make associations with so little information. But it's also a bit alarming, given what we know about the prevalence of stereotyping. Children seem quick to make attributions of who's good and who's evil.

It's important that children not only have a diverse universe of characters but also that these characters have diverse characteristics. It's okay for characters to have non-American accents. But good guys – not just bad guys – should have them, too. The heroes can be male and female, and non-white characters don't have to be relegated to the role of sidekick — they can assume leading roles.

How can you determine that this evedince is accurate?
Are they relevant, or directly connected to the claim?

Answer 1

To determine if this evidence is accurate, it would be necessary to examine the research studies that are referred to in the article. The article does not provide detailed information about the studies, so it's not possible to make a determination without further investigation.

The evidence presented in the article is relevant and directly connected to the claim that it's important for children to see characters who look like themselves and their families, and that media misrepresentations of ethnic groups can cause confusion about aspects of their identity among children. The article cites studies from various fields to support these claims, and the research presented is focused on the relationship between children's exposure to diverse characters in the media and their perceptions of themselves and others.