Media Depictions of Minority Groups: A Meta-Analytic Review Examining the Effects of Positive and Negative Portrayals on Outgroup Evaluations

After more than five decades of research on media depictions and outgroup evaluations, there remains a need for a comprehensive analysis that includes both positive and negative portrayals across a wide range of racial, ethnic, and religious groups. This meta-analysis of 60 studies from 49 articles fills this gap, revealing that negative media depictions of racial and ethnic minorities (<i>k</i> = 56, <i>n</i> = 16,476) lead to unfavorable evaluations of these groups, while positive portrayals (<i>k</i> = 24, <i>n</i> = 7,899) produced the opposite effect. Both positive and negative portrayals yield similar effect sizes, highlighting media’s dual potential to shape intergroup attitudes. Importantly, these findings remain consistent, with no significant moderating influences detected based on the target outgroup (Black, Latinx, Immigrant/Refugee, MENA), outcome type (cognitive, affective, behavioral, policy), media type (text or film/TV), genre (entertainment or news), or study design (cross-sectional or experimental). These results highlight the robustness of the observed effects in the context of media portrayals and their impact on intergroup outcomes.