Can kindness promote media literacy skills, self-esteem, and social self-efficacy among selected female secondary school students? An intervention study

Abstract There is a growing traction about the educational and psychological benefits of fostering media literacy competencies. However, despite the increasing evidence about the social aspects of media literacy, limited research has been conducted on how socially oriented media literacy interventions affect media literacy and psychological outcomes. The present study investigated the effects of a two-session kindness intervention on perceived media literacy skills (i.e., functional consumption, critical consumption, functional prosumption, and critical prosumption) and psychological outcomes (i.e., self-esteem and social self-efficacy) in a sample of 300 female junior secondary school students from a private secondary school in Hong Kong. This kindness intervention involved teaching the benefits of performing acts of kindness and facilitating experiential learning activities to promote kindness. Results of dependent sample t-tests demonstrated that participants had significantly higher scores on critical prosumption and psychological outcomes (i.e., self-esteem and social self-efficacy). The findings offered preliminary evidence for the beneficial impact of kindness curriculum in increasing advance media literacy skill, confidence about one’s self, and perceived capacity in maintaining smooth interpersonal relationships.