From Stepmonsters to the Family’s Saving Grace: Viewer Perceptions of Stepfamilies, Stepfathers and Stepmothers in Media

Abstract

Research has shown that media portrayals greatly influence viewers’ beliefs, but few have studied stepfamily portrayals or how viewer demographics might impact what they notice. In this exploratory sequential mixed methods research, undergraduates reported perceptions of media portrayals of stepmothers, stepfathers and stepfamilies in 107 narratives. Those categories created a way to quantitatively distinguish between perceptions based on viewer sex and family type in the second study with 341 college student participants. The first study revealed that perceptions of stepparent portrayals in media might often align with stereotypes (e.g., stepmonsters) while also highlighting a mix of negative and positive perceptions and narratives about the depicted normalcy of stepfamilies. Study Two identified that sex or family type might slightly influence what some notice in television portrayals. However, media often portrays unambiguous views of stepfamilies, and these portrayals are noticed and remembered by viewers with only a slight impact from demographic differences.