Superheroes and Children’s Moral Understanding (2023)

Martin, J. (2023). Superhero media as a potential context for investigating children’s understanding of 

morally relevant events. Libri & Liberi: Journal of Research on Children’s Literature, 12(1), 11-35. https://doi.org/10.21066/carcl.libri.12.1.1

• If (grand)parents and their (grand)children consume the same superhero media, what exactly do they talk about? What features of the content are enjoyed by both children and adults? And do children and adults enjoy these features for the same reason(s) or for different reason(s)?

• Findings in three areas (fantasy-reality distinctions, moral-nonmoral concept distinctions, and understanding others as psychological beings) suggest that older children bring to bear important competencies when viewing superhero media, and that these competencies (and their similarities to those of adults) may help partially explain the cultural relevance of superhero media.

“The potential benefits of using superhero media as a context to study older children’s more interpretive or constructivist view of the mind may include familiar characters, the consistency of morally relevant considerations, and the frequent comparison of superheroes and supervillains across contexts that parallel those within children’s social worlds.”