Do TV Watching and Gaming Affect Adolescents’ Social Acceptance Among Classmates?

Social acceptance among peers is an important predictor of adolescents’ academic and social outcomes. This study investigates how social acceptance depends on adolescents’ engagement in watching TV and gaming. Based on Contact Theory, we expected that TV watching and gaming are linked to digital contact with peers, which in turn predicts acceptance among classmates. Data were drawn from a longitudinal study with two measurement points among 826 7th graders (M = 13.32 years; 47.6% girls). Multilevel analyses revealed that more TV watching and gaming were related to higher social acceptance cross-sectionally. This effect was mediated by greater digital contact with peers. However, no associations were found between contact via media and changes in acceptance over time. These results suggest that media use and related peer contact may be more relevant in short-term interactions when explaining adolescents’ acceptance among classmates. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.