Portrayal of Gifted Stereotypes in Disney Channel Media: Harmony or Disharmony?

The harmony hypothesis and the disharmony hypothesis are two opposing theories about gifted youth and their future potential for success. Evidence of these hypotheses can appear in media content and potentially impact impressionable viewers. This research paper aims to investigate the prevalence of these hypotheses in the programming of Disney Channel, a popular children’s television network. Through content analysis of a sample of Disney Channel shows, the study explores the degree to which the programming promotes harmony and positive social values versus disharmony
and negative behavior. The results of the analysis show that Disney Channel overall have a higher prevalence of the harmony hypothesis, demonstrating that giftedness is displayed in a positive attitude. However, the differences between the prevalences are slim, suggesting that the frequency of positive gifted portrayals in the media are not significantly different compared to negative ones. Due to this negligible difference, future research should look into the implications of these portrayals in children’s media.