Media

Media can be broadly defined as any means of transmitting information from its source to a recipient. Any given medium (e.g., books, music, television, video games) serves as the middleman between the information source and the information recipient. For example, a person may watch a sports game in-person (a direct, unmediated experience) or watch the same game on television (an indirect, mediated experience). Media have become ubiquitous across the life span in modern society and can have powerful effects—both negative and positive—making it critically important to understand how media influence people. This entry explores the use of screen media from childhood into adulthood and describes how it affects individuals in terms of aggression, prosocial behavior, attention, academic performance, stereotypes, and sexual outcomes.