Description du projet
Les médias malléables et leurs effets sur la définition que les jeunes donnent au succès
Les adolescents d’aujourd’hui ont plus tendance à fonder leur définition du succès sur ce qu’ils voient sur les réseaux sociaux et dans les médias de masse plutôt que sur ce qui existe dans la vie réelle. Le projet MIMIc, financé par l’UE, entend établir quels sont les effets des «idéaux malléables» dans les médias. Il s’agit de représentations idéalisées de différentes réalisations, caractérisées par la malléabilité qui les entoure. Une équipe composée de chercheurs de différentes nationalités va étudier les effets des pressions créées par les idéaux médiatiques et leurs conséquences sur les problèmes de société ou personnels des adolescents. De nouvelles théories seront formulées et testées afin d’améliorer notre compréhension des effets des idéaux médiatiques.
Objectif
MIMIc will develop and establish a new theoretical perspective that will fundamentally redirect the current research on idealised representations of life in mass and social media and their effects on (adolescent) audiences. MIMIc combines insights from cultural sociology, media theory, and developmental psychology to define the effects of ‘malleable ideals’ in media. Malleable ideals are idealised representations of different achievements and are characterised by the malleability that surrounds these achievements; they approach ideals from a utilitarian, individualistic discourse that links personal responsibility and dedication with both the failure and success of achievements. By focusing on malleable ideals and thus applying a sociocultural analysis to media ideals, a crucial perspective will be added to our understanding of the development of adolescents and, more precisely, the pressures they experience. These pressures are viewed as an important factor in the relatively high prevalence of both internalising and externalising problems in adolescence. Content analytical, diary, and longitudinal studies in three different cultural contexts will be triangulated to develop a theoretical model: MIME. Content analyses map the extent to which media abound with aesthetic, sexual, professional, romantic, and social ideals as well as the importance of malleability in these representations. Longitudinal and diary research examine the internalisation of these ideals as a key explanatory process for the effects they may have both on outcomes regarding personal and societal problems and among different groups of adolescents. The multimethod approach further allows the theorisation and testing of the role of varying time intervals associated with understanding the effects of mediated ideals. For this research, the applicant who is experienced in multimethod research on media effects among adolescents will compose and lead a cross-national team of researchers.
Champ scientifique
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Régime de financement
ERC-STG - Starting GrantInstitution d’accueil
3000 Leuven
Belgique