Children and teens go through phases of lesser and greater inclusiveness toward particular social outgroups. Media depictions may serve as interventions to foster inclusion via formation of parasocial relationships with outgroup characters, extended contact portrayals of intergroup friendships, models of improvements in attitudes, and depictions of discrimination experienced by marginalized groups. All approaches have yielded mixed results. Effects can vary by child demographics (e.g., age, race/ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation), preexisting attitudes and beliefs, real‐life exposure to outgroup members, intervention design, and focal outgroup as target of inclusion. Meta‐analytic results suggest media may be more effective at promoting positive attitudes toward some groups (e.g., individuals with disabilities) than others (e.g., racial/ethnic minorities). Future directions include parental socialization of their child's inclusivity and (for marginalized groups) positive ingroup attitudes. More work is needed to understand the specific mechanisms, and obstacles, involved in promoting positive outcomes among youth of varied demographics and experiences.
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