Young people who feel rejected by peers are more likely to experience anger and frustration. As a result, they are more likely to look for antisocial and risky content on media such as YouTube and TikTok, says Xanthe Plaisier in her thesis.
Plaisier investigated how adolescents are attracted to media with antisocial, risky and norm-breaking behaviour, such as violence, bullying, drug use, abusive language and sexually transgressive behaviour. "I wanted to better understand for whom and under what circumstances media can have harmful effects."
"Young people grow up in a world full of media in which such content is easily accessible via platforms such as YouTube and TikTok. Short snippets from higher age rated series, such as Squid Game, and user-created videos depicting dangerous stunts, pranks or illegal activities, are often shared among peers. This raises concerns about possible consequences for behaviour and moral development."
Blurring moral norms
“My research shows that rejection by friends blurs moral norms: adolescents who feel rejected by peers and are angry or frustrated as a result, are more likely to find transgressive behaviour in the media acceptable and seek it out more often. Young adults don’t show this effect. This indicates that it is specific to young people in the developmental phase of adolescence.
“The social environment plays a role in this: young people adjust their media preferences to the judgments of peers. However, rejected young people ignore negative reactions and continue to find antisocial behaviour acceptable, even when peers disapprove of it. Furthermore, it appears that the type of emotion and how young people regulate that emotion are important: anger processed by blaming others reinforces the preference for antisocial media, while self-reproach does not have this effect. In short, emotions and their processing strongly influence why young people find cross-border media attractive.
"For parents, teachers and youth workers, this means that guidance on media use is important, especially in moments of emotional tension. It is not about forbidding everything, but about teaching young people to look critically and to regulate emotions. In this way, conscious and healthy media use can be stimulated."
More information on the thesis
