Donald F. Roberts’s research while affiliated with Stanford University and other places

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Publications (11)


Figure 1. Trends in themes in popular music 1960-2010. 
Table 1 . Percentage of top-40 songs referring to 19 content categories by decade.
What has America been singing about? Trends in themes in the U.S. top-40 songs: 1960–2010
  • Article
  • Full-text available

January 2018

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9,797 Reads

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33 Citations

Psychology of Music

Peter G. Christenson

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Silvia de Haan-Rietdijk

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Donald F. Roberts

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This study explored 19 themes embedded in the lyrics of 1,040 U.S. top-40 songs from 1960 through 2010, using R strucchange software to identify trends and breaks in trends. Findings reveal both continuity and change. As in 1960, the predominant topic of pop music remains romantic and sexual relationships. However, whereas the proportion of lyrics referring to relationships in romantic terms remained stable, the proportion including reference to sex-related aspects of relationships increased sharply. References to lifestyle issues such as dancing, alcohol and drugs, and status/wealth increased substantially, particularly in the 2000s. Other themes were far less frequent: Social/political issues, religion/God, race/ethnicity, personal identity, family, friends showed a modest occurrence in top-40 music throughout the studied period and showed no dramatic changes. Violence and death occurred in a small number of songs, and both increased, particularly since the 1990s. References to hate/hostility, suicide, and occult matters were very rare. Results are examined in the context of cultural changes in the social position of adolescents, and more specifically in light of the increased popularity of rap/hip-hop music, which may explain the increases in references to sex, partying, dancing, drug use, and wealth.

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Kids and Media in America

January 2015

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249 Reads

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165 Citations

Examining the full array of media available to children and adolescents, this book describes not only the amount of time they spend with each medium, but the kinds of content they choose, and the physical, social, and psychological context of much of their exposure. This national sample study provides a comprehensive picture of young people's media behavior.


The Effects of Violent and Antisocial Music on Children and Adolescents

January 2014

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22 Reads

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7 Citations

Stripping away the hype, this book describes how, when, and why media violence can influence children of different ages, giving parents and teachers the power to maximize the media's benefits and minimize its harm. There are many opinions about media violence and children, but not all are supported by science. In this book, the top experts gather the latest results from 50 years of scientific study as the basis for a comprehensive, in-depth examination of the complex issues surrounding the effects of media violence of different types. Each chapter focuses on a particular issue of concern, including "hot" topics such as brain development, cyber-bullying, video games, and verbal aggression. Articles take into account factors such as economics, differences based on the ages of children, and differences between types of media violence. This book provides the information parents and those who work with families need to make the best choices. It includes chapters specifically relevant to the types of bullying schools have the most trouble identifying and controlling. Most importantly, the writing is both intelligent and accessible so that parents, educators, pediatricians, and policymakers can understand and apply the findings presented.


Booze, Drugs, and Pop Music: Trends in Substance Portrayals in the Billboard Top 100—1968–2008

January 2012

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535 Reads

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44 Citations

This paper presents the results of a content analysis of alcohol and drug portrayals in the top 100 Billboard songs from each of the years 1968, 1978, 1988, 1998, and 2008, thus allowing both a characterization of substance portrayals in music generally and an analysis of changes over time. Of the final sample of 496 songs, 10.3% contained a reference to alcohol and 5.7% contained a reference to drugs. A substantial increase was found over the decades, and in particular over the last two: in 1988, 12% of songs referred to either or both classes of substance, compared to 30% in 2008. Marijuana was by far the most frequently mentioned drug. Both alcohol and drugs were much more likely to be portrayed positively than negatively, especially in recent decades. The results are discussed in terms of relevant theories of media processing and impact.


Generation M[superscript 2]: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-Year-Olds

January 2010

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4,918 Reads

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649 Citations

This study is one of the largest and most comprehensive publicly available sources of information on the amount and nature of media use among American youth: (1) It includes a large national sample of more than 2,000 young people from across the country; (2) It covers children from ages 8 to 18, to track changes from childhood through the transitional "tween" period, and on into the teenage years; (3) It explores a comprehensive array of media, including TV, computers, video games, music, print, cell phones, and movies; (4) It is one of the only studies to measure and account for media multitasking--the time young people spend using more than one medium concurrently; and (5) It gathers highly detailed information about young people's media behavior, including responses to an extensive written questionnaire completed by the entire sample, plus results from a subsample of approximately 700 respondents who also maintained week-long diaries recording their media use in half-hour increments. Finally, because this is the third wave of the Kaiser Family Foundation's studies of children's media use, it not only provides a detailed look at current media use patterns among young people, but also documents changes in children's media habits since the first two waves of the study, in 1999 and 2004. It is hoped that the data provided here will offer a reliable foundation for policymakers trying to craft national media policies, parents trying to do their best to stay on top of their children's media habits, and educators, advocates and public health groups that are concerned with the impact of media on youth, and want to leverage the educational and informational potential of media in young people's lives. Appended are: (1) Tables; (2) Changes in Question Wording and Structure Over Time; (3) Toplines; and (4) Sample of Media Use Diary.




Children and Commercials

October 2008

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38 Reads

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9 Citations

Prevention in Human Services

The paper examines the issues underlying the debate over television commercials directed at children from the perspectives of both the proponents and opponents of regulation, drawing a distinction between what research can tell us about the consequences of children's exposure to commercials and value judgments about those consequences inherent in making policy decisions. Following a brief review of empirical studies concerned with the general impact of commercials on children, the paper turns to a closer examination of research concerned with developmental changes in children's processing of and responses to commercials. It argues that the persuasive nature of the commercial renders it a special case which children do not fully understand until the age of about seven years. Strategies that might increase children's understanding of the nature of commercials, hence might moderate the impact of commercials, and that can be employed in the school, in the home, or via television itself, are suggested.


Trends in Media Use

March 2008

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1,694 Reads

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334 Citations

The Future of Children

American youth are awash in media. They have television sets in their bedrooms, personal computers in their family rooms, and digital music players and cell phones in their backpacks. They spend more time with media than any single activity other than sleeping, with the average American eight- to eighteen-year-old reporting more than six hours of daily media use. The growing phenomenon of "media multitasking"--using several media concurrently--multiplies that figure to eight and a half hours of media exposure daily. Donald Roberts and Ulla Foehr examine how both media use and media exposure vary with demographic factors such as age, race and ethnicity, and household socioeconomic status, and with psychosocial variables such as academic performance and personal adjustment. They note that media exposure begins early, increases until children begin school, drops off briefly, then climbs again to peak at almost eight hours daily among eleven- and twelve-year-olds. Television and video exposure is particularly high among African American youth. Media exposure is negatively related to indicators of socioeconomic status, but that relationship may be diminishing. Media exposure is positively related to risk-taking behaviors and is negatively related to personal adjustment and school performance. Roberts and Foehr also review evidence pointing to the existence of a digital divide--variations in access to personal computers and allied technologies by socioeconomic status and by race and ethnicity. The authors also examine how the recent emergence of digital media such as personal computers, video game consoles, and portable music players, as well as the media multitasking phenomenon they facilitate, has increased young people's exposure to media messages while leaving media use time largely unchanged. Newer media, they point out, are not displacing older media but are being used in concert with them. The authors note which young people are more or less likely to use several media concurrently and which media are more or less likely to be paired with various other media. They argue that one implication of such media multitasking is the need to reconceptualize "media exposure."


ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS—SOMETIMES

March 2006

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26 Reads

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4 Citations

Human Communication Research

Three telephone surveys conducted during different phases of the Vietnam War (N=401, 199, and 299, respectively) were conducted to determine how changes in events and in sources’ actions relevant to those events affect the perceived credibility of various information sources. Data linking four sources (students, the Stanford University News Service, CBS News, and the White House) to three issues (air pollution, unemployment, the war) indicate that ascribed credibility: (a) increased with the purported objectivity of the source, (b) decreased as the issue became more controversial, and (c) varied overtime as a function of the actions of the various sources and changes in events related to the issues. Results are discussed in terms of how changes in the environment located by major news events are related to changes in the ascribed credibility of various information sources.


Citations (11)


... In recent decades music featuring violent lyrics and/or which has an aggressive musical tone has become more accessible, more popular, and, in some cases, more mainstream (Christenson et al., 2019;Warburton et al., 2014;Warburton, 2012Warburton, , 2014Whelan, 2010). ...

Reference:

Violent and prosocial music: Evidence for the impact of lyrics and musical tone on aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behaviors
The Effects of Violent and Antisocial Music on Children and Adolescents
  • Citing Chapter
  • January 2014

... Partying and the use of alcohol and other drugs, often illicit, are other important themes. Social, political and religious ideals and ideas can be addressed in pop music, but to a far lesser degree than (heterosexual) romance, sex, identify, partying and peer culture (Christenson et al., 2019). ...

What has America been singing about? Trends in themes in the U.S. top-40 songs: 1960–2010

Psychology of Music

... Some parents discuss media use often with their children, talking about content viewed in particular (Coyne et al., 2017;Hefner et al., 2019;Lee, 2013), termed active mediation, while other parents take a more hands-off approach. They may feel overwhelmed or are incredibly busy (Roberts & Foehr, 2004), and as a result may not have the time to create or enforce rules or expectations around children's media usage (Hefner et al., 2019). Other parents take an approach to media that includes placing rules and expectations of media usage and content on their children, termed restrictive mediation (Coyne et al., 2017;Hefner et al., 2019). ...

Kids and Media in America
  • Citing Book
  • January 2015

... Young people's proximity to technology and their intensity in recreational use support this attitude differentiation (Jones & Shao, 2011). At the same time, the use of media and digital technologies for daily entertainment contributes to reinforcing attitudes toward technology (Rideout et al., 2010;Livingstone, 2008). As a result, recreational use of digital technology increases individuals' digital skills and positive attitudes towards technology, supporting young people's affinity for technology and attitude differentiation. ...

Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8–18 Year-Olds
  • Citing Technical Report
  • January 2010

... Children's media literacy and persuasion knowledge is often regarded as key for preventing undesired advertising effects (Brown 2001;Wright et al. 2005). Several researchers argue that a number of skills are needed to successfully control advertising effects and that children do not possess all of these skills (e.g., Austin and Johnson 1997;Brucks et al. 1988;Roberts 1983). For example, these researchers put forth the idea that children should be able to detect an advertisement and distinguish its content from the normal TV programme to control advertising effects. ...

Children and Commercials
  • Citing Article
  • October 2008

Prevention in Human Services

... Ngoài ra, các nghiên cứu nói trên cũng cho thấy, có sự khác biệt giữa giới tính về đa nhiệm truyền thông và chất lượng giấc ngủ. Nữ thanh thiếu niên thường tham gia đa nhiệm truyền thông hơn nam và cũng có chất lượng giấc ngủ kém hơn [14,53,54]. Van der Schuur và cộng sự [15] tìm thấy ảnh hưởng của đa nhiệm truyền thông đến chất lượng giấc ngủ là cao hơn đối với nữ thanh thiếu niên. ...

Generation M[superscript 2]: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-Year-Olds
  • Citing Article
  • January 2010

... Social identity (SI) is the awareness that an individual belongs to a certain social group, sharing emotions and values with other group members (Tajfel & Turner, 1979, p. 292). Music is an important part of one's personal and social identity as music listening can generate social affiliation and evoke memories of social contexts (Ho, 2015;Roberts et al., 2004). Scholars have also identified the positive relationship between social identity and information sharing online, including music sharing and knowledge sharing Shen et al., 2010). ...

Adolescents and Media
  • Citing Article
  • June 2005

Adolescent Medicine Clinics

... Beyond demographics, Westley and Severin (1964) demonstrated that people did not always feel that their most preferred medium was the most credible. Studies have suggested that situational factors such as issue importance, the controversial nature of the issue, reader bias, stereotyped ideas (Roberts & Leifer, 1975;Gunther & Lasorsa, 1986) are closely related to media credibility. Contextual factors may also be significant. ...

ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS—SOMETIMES
  • Citing Article
  • March 2006

Human Communication Research

... Music is a communicative activity which conveys moods, emotions, thoughts, impressions, philosophical or political concepts to the listener, because of its ability to communicate. According to Roberts et al. (2009) the music industry is fully aware of the relevant amount of time and money young people spend on music, as it is an activity easily accessible and highly entertaining. On average, over 10,000 hours of active music is being listened to in adolescence years alone (Roberts et al., 2009 Christenson and Roberts (1998), themes mentioned in song lyrics do, in fact, have an impact on how thoughts and emotions are expressed, among other things. ...

Adolescence, Adolescents, and Media
  • Citing Chapter
  • October 2009

... Other content analyses have found similar results, concluding that alcohol is common in popular music and increased since 1960 (Herd 2005, Hall et al. 2013, Herd 2014, Pettigrew et al. 2018) and alcohol-related brands are mentioned often in popular music (Primack et al. 2012). Additionally, research has also focused on the emotional context of alcohol (also referred to in the literature as sentiment or valence), finding that most references to alcohol are positive (Christenson et al. 2012, Hall et al. 2013. Understanding the emotional context of alcohol references (e.g. ...

Booze, Drugs, and Pop Music: Trends in Substance Portrayals in the Billboard Top 100—1968–2008
  • Citing Article
  • January 2012