ADOLESCENTS' PREFERENCES FOR MEDIA CONTENT AND THEIR PERCEPTIONS OF DOMINANT VALUE ORIENTATIONS IN THE MEDIA

Abstract

Today, the media represent one of the main factors in the upbringing and education of adolescents due to the growing representation, availability of diverse content and more frequent use. In adolescence, the media have a special significance, because they greatly influence the preferences, attitudes, emotions, behavior, value orientations and the formation of adolescents' identities. Starting from such an attitude, the preferences of upper-secondary school students for monitoring media content and their perceptions of value orientations that are promoted through the media were examined through the aim of the research. The media habits of adolescents and their perceptions of the value system in the media were determined through the survey technique. The study included 433 students from the Republic of Serbia. The results showed that there are significant differences in the preferences of adolescents in the choice of media content in relation to gender and type of school. A positive correlation was found in the monitoring of certain television content and values in the media, as well as in relation to musical affinities and values that are promoted through music videos. The results of research point out potential proposals for improving the media culture of adolescents and reducing the negative effects of the media. It is recognized as a potential solution in the development of media literacy of adolescents, i.e., the affirmation of their critical opinion about the messages and values that are promoted through the media. Keywords: media literacy, media values, students' media preferences, students' perception, value orientations