My graduate training in clinical psychology began in the University of Alabama at Birmingham Youth Safety Lab, where we studied and developed interventions to prevent youth unintentional injury – one of the leading cause of childhood death in the United States. I remember sitting in my preceptor’s office pitching ideas for my master’s thesis. The prior weekend I went to see Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Throughout the movie I watched Miles Morales climb buildings, swing across New York City, fall from the sky, and engage in combat. As I watched Miles, I also observed the five-year-old in front of me punch the air in unison, cheer wildly when Miles landed safely on his feet, and leave the theater with a shirt plastered with Avengers characters. The question popped into my head: What about superheroes – How might they fit into youth injury prevention? A line of research evaluating the influences of superhero media on young children’s risk-taking behaviors and unintentional injury outcomes emerged from this self-reflection and resulted in both my master’s thesis and dissertation projects.

The Popularity of Superheroes and Superhero Media

The term “superhero” is multifaceted; it involves both the superhuman behaviors (Rosenberg & Coogan, 2013) and the “heroic” identity (e.g., benevolence and bravery; Rosenberg & Coogan, 2013). The creation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (the MCU) in 2008 is evidenced as a turning point for the current popularity of superhero media (Brown, 2016; Fitzgerald, 2019). Since then, an overall increase in supply and demand for superhero media persists across all age groups. Although teenagers and adults are most often the target audience, school-aged children are also exposed to superhero content. Preschoolers, however, are arguably exposed to the most diverse content, with developmental appropriateness varying wildly (e.g., PJ Masks v. Black Panther).

Superhero Media as Risk-glorifying Media

Risk-glorifying media highlights, displays, and celebrates risk-taking while minimizing harm by not showing realistic outcomes (Fischer et al., 2011). Given that children regularly model behavior witnessed in media, exposure to risk-glorifying media stimulates modeling of risky behavior in child viewers (Fischer et al. 2008). Frequent exposure to superheroes among young children, and the potential identification with those characters, is concerning from an injury risk perspective because superheroes demonstrate superhuman abilities. These abilities embody risk-taking and encourage engagement in activities requiring idealistic physical risk-taking. Superheroes are also often risky decision-makers, behaving recklessly and impulsively. These lifestyles are rewarded, with most superhero behaviors being portrayed in a justified, romanticized fashion, with minimal negative impact on well-being. This lack of realistic outcomes is exemplary of risk-glorifying media and a critical reason for why it presents as a concern for childhood injury risk. Youth exposed to such glorified behaviors, both acutely and chronically, may worship and imitate them.

Study 1 – Master’s Thesis (Morgan et al., 2021b)

Study 1 evaluated children’s exposure to risk behaviors present in superhero media and how those risk behaviors might influence risk-taking behavior. We also considered the role of prosocial behavior in superhero-themed media and the role of parental supervision on risk-taking. Participants included 59 children, aged 4-6-years-old, randomly assigned to either a superhero group or neutral group. Children in the superhero group watched a 13-minute episode of a popular children’s superhero show (PJ Masks), and children in the neutral condition watched a 13-minute episode of a popular children’s show without superhero content. Risk-taking outcomes were measured using four risk-taking measures: vignettes (e.g., Morrongiello & Rennie, 1998; Schwebel et al., 2012; Shen et al., 2016), picture sort (Morrongiello & Bradley, 1997), virtual reality (Schwebel et al., 2018), and activity room (Morgan et al., 2021a). Prosocial outcomes were measured using vignettes (e.g., Morrongiello & Rennie, 1998; Schwebel et al., 2012; Shen et al., 2016) and a questionnaire (Ji et al., 2013).

Findings were mixed and mostly null. Risk-taking and prosocial behavior did not differ between the superhero and neutral exposure groups, suggesting superhero media may not acutely increase risk-taking or prosocial behavior among children exposed to a single superhero-themed television episode. Educational or child-oriented superhero television shows are not highly promotive of risk-taking; perhaps, PG-13 and adult superhero movies might pose a greater risk for child injury. We intentionally chose to not include adult superhero movies to minimize the confounding influence of aggressive behavior, which has already been heavily established in the modeling literature. However, young children are regularly exposed to adult superhero movies, making them a potential topic for future study in this area of research. Additionally, modeling is theorized to consist of four main processes: attention, retention, motor reproduction, and motivation (Bandura, 1971). The current study was somewhat able to capture attention retention, and motor reproduction, but motivation was less controlled and understood. We theorized the vicarious reinforcement superheroes receive for performing the risky actions would be one motivating mechanism for the participants. However, self-reinforcement (Bandura, 1971) may be more impactful. For example, differences in motivation may occur between children with a history of identifying with superheroes and experiencing more superhero content versus children with no exposure or interest in superheroes. In fact, research has shown greater imitation of behavior for children identifying with the character exhibiting the particular behavior (Konijn, et al., 2007).

Study 2 – Dissertation (Morgan & Schwebel, in press)

The question on self-reinforcement inspired the development of Study 2, which examined the relations between pretend play, imagination susceptibility, superhero identification, and children’s risk-taking. Participants included 105 children aged 4-5 years-old and their caregivers. Children were randomly assigned to either a superhero- or school-themed, story-based protocol. Both protocols included three identical previously- validated behavioral tasks to assess risk-taking: 1) Abilities Test – well beyond and just beyond (Plumert, 1995), 2) Picture Sort (Morgan et al., 2021b), and 3) Activity Room (Morgan et al., 2021a). Superhero variables were measured using parent-report questionnaires and child interviews (Coyne et al., 2017; Morgan et al., 2021b).

Results were mixed in significance and suggested that young children’s risk-taking behaviors may be slightly influenced by a combination of close identification with superheroes and active superhero pretense. Our findings relating to the impact of pretense on children’s risk-taking across the full sample were null; children pretending to be superheroes did not take more risks than children pretending to be in school. One explanation for this null finding considers that participants may not have fully engaged in their pretend superhero role. Many factors impact active engagement in pretense (e.g., collaborative social dialogue and role-taking, symbolic use of objects and actions, knowledge of a script, ability to improvise; Fein, 1975; Bergen, 2002). Although we attempted to integrate most of these factors, challenges emerged related to the experimental manipulation.

Further, superhero identification did not independently predict risk-taking, but superhero identification interacted with pretending to be a superhero to predict risk-taking behavior for some outcomes. These interactions presented differently across the risk-taking outcomes we administered. No significant interactions were observed for the picture sort task.

In support of our hypothesis, children with higher levels of superhero identification who were pretending to be superheroes took significantly more risks than children pretending to be in school in the well beyond ability test. This finding introduces concern from an injury prevention perspective since children’s interpretation of risk is associated with their willingness to attempt potentially-injurious physical risks (Plumert, 1995; Sandseter, 2007).

Results for the just beyond ability test were significant among children with low levels of superhero identification, demonstrating children pretending to be in school took more risks than children pretending to be superheroes. This finding may reflect an unexpected influence of the school condition on children’s risk-taking.

Finally, a close examination of data patterns within the activity room revealed unique relations between pretense and identification. First, children with low levels of superhero identification pretending to be superheroes took significantly more risks than children with low levels of superhero identification pretending to be in school. Second, risky play for children pretending to be superheroes was at about the same level, regardless of superhero identification. Third, children with lower levels of superhero identification and pretending to be in school had no influence from immediate superhero exposure and demonstrated the lowest percentage of activity room risk-taking. Last, children with high superhero identification in both conditions, plus those pretending to be superheroes, all showed more risk-taking in the activity room.

Conclusions

Both studies improve our understanding of preventable injury outcomes, risk factors associated with physical risk-taking behaviors in preschoolers, and mechanisms underlying those associations. Further, they provide research findings that could educate parents and inform public policy concerning appropriate media exposure and monitoring for children. Last, they support injury prevention efforts and guide future research in the domain of children’s risky play behavior. Ultimately, the relationship between superheroes and risk-taking behavior continues to be complex and understudied; superheroes are not disappearing, instead, superhero media is likely to remain popular for adults and children of all ages for many years. As superhero media continues to remain popular, future research should identify risk factors and strengthen prevention strategies in the domain of risky play in young children.

References

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