Soap-opera, Parental Mediation, Perceived Reality and Antisocial Behavior

Abstract

Many attentions have been spotted to the potential drive and effect of television on anti-social behavior. The main argument lies on the frequent repetition of intense violent showed by television soap opera. Previous studies showed that children with heavy viewing habit of violent soap-operas were tend to imitate anti-social behavior. Children were considered to have limited skill to differentiate facts and fictions from television content, and this is where parental mediation (restrictive, active, or viewing) should take place to moderate the impact of television violence. The research was intended to explain the effect of watching soap-opera, parental mediation, and perceived reality on anti-social behavior of children. Using survey method, the study non-randomly collect data from children of age 10-12 years old in Semarang. Research finding shows considerable effect of soap-opera viewing, and perceived reality on anti-social behavior of children. However, no effect of parental mediation appeared on anti-social behavior of children.