The study of media effects on prosocial thought and behavior has a long history. In this chapter, I review this literature, paying particular attention to age and development in order to understand how facets of human development shape child, adolescent, and young adult responses to prosocial media. The research evidence shows that exposure to prosocial media elicits prosocial responses in viewers across the lifespan, and these findings come from experimental, correlational, and longitudinal designs. Further, these effects come as a function of viewing television and movies, playing with interactive apps and video games, and listening to music lyrics. Finally, these findings are generally robust across different cultural contexts and gender. Overall, the research reviewed in this chapter demonstrates the potential for media to be leveraged to support prosocial thought and behavior across the lifespan and around the world.

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