The MIME suggests that narrative media content which highlights a specific altruistic or egoistic intuition can increase the accessibility of that intuition in audiences. The present study attempted to replicate research which measured the accessibility of altruistic intuitions in children and extend this to measure the accessibility of egoistic intuitions in children as well. Participants (Mage = 12.12 range = 9-13) read one of five comic books designed to highlight an altruistic intuition (care, fairness, loyalty, authority) or an egoistic intuition (hedonism/power). After exposure, participants completed measures of intuition accessibility, one developed previously to measure the accessibility of altruistic intuitions, and two new measures designed to gauge the accessibility of egoistic intuitions. Findings partially replicated previous research showing that exposure to comic books emphasizing care, loyalty, and authority intuitions increased the accessibility of those intuitions in audiences. However, no differences in the accessibility of fairness or hedonism/power were observed.
Read
