Prosocial and Pro-Environmental Media Effects – A Scoping Review of Content Characteristics and Underlying Mechanisms

Stehr, Paula (2025): Prosocial and Pro-Environmental Media Effects – A Scoping Review of Content Characteristics and Underlying Mechanisms. 75th Annual Meeting of the International Communication Association, Denver, Colorado, USA, 12.-16. Juni 2025.

Abstract

Humanity currently faces great challenges: the climate crisis, armed conflicts, and global pandemics—to only name a few. These challenges can only be overcome through cooperation. In this scoping review, I want to shed light on potential prosocial media effects, i.e., how media may lead to attitudes and behaviors that do not only benefit the individual, but other people, the society, and the environment. A database search of Communication and Mass Media Complete, SocINDEX, PsycINFO and the Core Collection of Web of Science resulted in 3571 records. After a two-stage screening of abstracts and full texts, 352 studies were included in the data analysis. This scoping review provides a structured overview of the research field of prosocial and pro-environmental media effects and shows which factors should be specified. Hence, future studies can make conscious decisions and, based on the classification proposed here, explicitly state which types of prosocial or pro-environmental behavior, which content characteristics and which underlying mechanisms they focus on. The scoping review also highlights some research gaps. For example, given that most challenges humanity faces—including the climate crisis—cannot be solved by individual behavior, it can be critically noted that most studies address individual behavior and only a few also examine political participation, e.g., policy support.

• Dokumententyp: Konferenzbeitrag (Vortrag)
• Keywords: Konferenz ICA 2025
• Fakultät: Sozialwissenschaften > Institut für Kommunikationswissenschaft und Medienforschung (IfKW)
• Themengebiete: 300 Sozialwissenschaften > 380 Handel, Kommunikation, Verkehr
• Sprache: Englisch