The effects of stereotypes which are imposed through media on the creativity of children during the early puberty: the concept of goodness and badness

The aim of this thesis is to understand how much children in early puberty get affected by the stereotypes that are presented through media. Also, it aims to elaborate how much these children manage to get out of these stereotypical patterns in situations that require them to use their own creativity. To understand how much they can cross the stereotypical borders as they think during a creative process, students are asked to illustrate goodness and badness in human forms in focus group sessions held in different types of schools located in Istanbul and Mardin. The illustrations are then statistically analyzed via semiological and categorical analysis methods to understand at what level they choose to recreate angel and demon stereotypes. In conclusion, this study shows that students are aware of the iconological qualities of these stereotypes, and they mostly choose to recreate these stereotypes they see in media, in their own unique illustrations. It is also noted that the student’s perceptions of goodness and badness symbols are not influenced, neither with respect to cities they live in, nor the school types they attend, at any statistically significant level.