Emotional displays in children's television programming

The Role of Television in the Socialization of Nonverbal Behavioral Skills

“…One of the most striking aspects of these data is that television viewing was associated with increased encoding success of happiness and sadness, but with decreased encoding success of fear/surprise and disgust. This pattern of results is provocative when considered with Houle and Feldman's (1991) analysis of the nonverbal displays of emotion in television shows popular among elementary school children. In that study, 1,000 15-sec excerpts of popular television programs were examined.…”

“…Moreover, it appears that the models television presents of emotional displays are different from models presented in children's social environment. One examination of nonverbal behavior on the programs most frequently viewed by children found that nonverbal displays of emotion occurred at an unexpectedly high rate of some 200 expressions per hour (Houle & Feldman, 1991). This differs significantly from the considerably lower rate of emotional expressivity seen in natural settings (Coats & Feldman, 1994).…”

“…This differs significantly from the considerably lower rate of emotional expressivity seen in natural settings (Coats & Feldman, 1994). Furthermore, although television depicts a wide range of emotions, certain emotions, such as happiness, sadness, and anger, are displayed considerably more frequently than others, such as fear and disgust (Houle & Feldman, 1991).…”

Content Analysis of Physical Affection Within Television Families During the 2006–2007 Season of US Children's Programming

“…Influence of Media Images on Children Houle and Feldman (1991) explain that beyond parental influences, television is "another primary socialization factor likely to affect nonverbal behavior" (p. 262). The sheer amount of exposure to mediated images provides support for this position.…”

“…Dorr, Kovaric, and Doubleday (1989) found that children perceived nonverbal depictions of emotion to be among the most realistic messages in family sitcoms. Houle and Feldman (1991) reported that young children may not have a complete understanding of the plot embedded in television programs. They may attend more to nonverbal behavior, using the information to learn social-emotional responses.…”