title: Brief report: Into the wild? How a film can change adolescents' values.
abstract: In adolescence, behavior and attitudes are constantly rethought and value priorities are established. Still, there is hardly any research addressing how values are shaped throughout this sensitive period. We employed an experimental design, testing whether adolescents' values can be influenced by exposure to a film. In our study, 154 German adolescents (80 females, ages 13-15) were randomly assigned to an experimental group that watched excerpts from the film "Into the wild" or to a control group. Value change was assessed in a pre-post-test design with a one-week interval. As hypothesized, values changed in the direction of those displayed by the film's protagonist: Universalism values increased significantly and conformity values decreased significantly as compared to the control group. Our findings suggest that single exposure to a film may initiate value change, indicating that not only major live events, but also everyday experiences significantly affect adolescents' values.
authors: Royal Holloway, University of London, UK. Electronic address: anna.doering@rhul.ac.uk.
authors: Anna K
authors: AK
authors: Döring
authors: University of Muenster, Department of Psychology, Fliednerstrasse 21, 48149 Muenster, Germany. Electronic address: alessa.hillbrink@uni-muenster.de.
authors: Alessa
authors: A
authors: Hillbrink
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D001290:Attitude; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009040:Motion Pictures; D012307:Risk Factors; D012649:Self Concept
keywords: Adolescence; Experiment; Film; Intervention; Value change; Values