29th Annual Student Research Conference
Holy Under-representation Batman!: A Look at Minorities in Children's Media
Alison K. Notter
Dr. Amber Johnson, Faculty Mentor
As children shape their behavior and values, they may look to movies for role models. Schema theory states that knowledge is organized into units, and that these units lead to stereotyping. If children don't see themselves reflected in movies, then it can have negative consequences. This study proposes that minorities are represented at an unequal rate compared to whites and able-bodied people. The population of the study is G-rated children's movies from the years 1990-2014. Samples were chosen by use of a stratified sample; 20% of the population was taken to code. There is no statistically significant difference between the year a movie was released and how many minorities were represented. The year a movie is released does not affect the rate of minority representation, or how they are represented. This shows that contrary to popular belief, minorities are not represented more than they were in the past.
Keywords: Minorities, Representation, Children, Media , Movies
Topic(s):Sociology
Presentation Type: Poster
Session: 12-
Location: GEO-SUB
Time: