Octonauts: National Identity and Attribution Theory in Children Learning About Nations

Dr Alex Barraclough-Brady Independent Researcher Email: [email protected] Twitter: @AlexBrady DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/xgmzk Abstract

Children develop a sense of their own national identities, and knowledge of and attitudes towards other nations, around five to seven years old, with the media facilitating such learning. Though multiple psychological studies in this area exist, they must continue given the growing accessibility of media content and its potential impact upon children’s attitudes towards people from other nations, and to better relate culture to attribution theory. To address this, content and discourse analyses, and an adapted version of Kelley’s covariation model of attribution theory were applied to the children’s television series Octonauts to determine how character behaviors were explained to children, how these behaviors relate to character national identities, and the potential representational impact of these relationships. Findings show the majority of behaviors were explained through internal attributions, fitting the series’ educational focus, with some national identities being assigned to explain character behaviors or relationships between characters whilst also propagating negative representations of some nations. Findings also discuss missed opportunities for the series to enhance the geographic knowledge of child audiences, and how efforts to change character behaviors within episodes potentially influence the moral development of children. Introduction

We have long known that people seek causal explanations for human and non-human behaviors to understand, predict and control our own worlds (Heider and Simmel, 1944; Michotte, 1963) with the ability to attribute behaviors to a cause developing during childhood (Fincham et al., 1998; Folmer et al., 2008). However, despite being one of the most important social psychological theories (Fletcher and Fincham, 1991; Fosterling, 2002), room remains for further research into attribution, including better connecting culture to attribution theory (Gonzales, 2015). This study accomplished this by examining information communicated to children about other nations through television, a core route through which cultures are made visible and learned (Bondebjerg and Madsen, 2008; Gudykynst, 2001). It is important such studies continue given contemporary media coverage of national and international issues, especially when we consider that children start seeing nations as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ before they have really learned anything substantial about them (Barrett et al., 2004; de Franca, 2016).

To better understand how television informs children learning about nations and national identities, this study examined how Octonauts explained animal behaviors and characteristics within episodes and how these explanations related to the national identities animals held. This study’s findings form the basis of future work exploring how the series actually influenced child audiences, if at all, addressing calls for more study into how actual media impacts audiences as opposed to materials produced for laboratory-based experiments (Gauntlett, 2005; Giles, 2003). Through content and discourse analyses, and an adapted version of Kelley’s covariation model of attribution theory, this study found that, whilst the majority of behaviors are given internal attributions, it was not possible to identify an overarching practice explaining the assignation of animal national identities. It was possible to determine that some national identities were assigned to explain behaviors and relationships, propagating negative stereotypes of differing nations whilst missing opportunities to develop the geographic knowledge of children. Findings also raised questions about how the series contributes to the moral development of children given the methods characters use in encouraging prosocial behavioral change and the dominance of white, Western national identities within the series. Attribution, the Media and National Identities

Children begin developing a sense of their own national identities around the ages of five to seven (Barrett and Oppenheimer, 2011; Mertan, 2011). During this period of enculturation, children identify with the national ingroup and internalise associated beliefs, attitudes and perceptions (Barrett, 2005; 2012; Barrett et al., 2004). As such psychological qualities pervade the everyday lives of nations (Billig, 2008), such enculturation is almost invisible (Gerrig et al., 2012). It is, therefore, understandable that some view national identities as inherited and natural (Billig, 2008; Safran, 1999) though we know they are learned social identities, which includes learning about other nations through domains such as travel, family life, school and the media (Barrett, 2005; 2012; Barrett and Oppenheimer, 2011). This study focuses on the media for three reasons.

First, media coverage of issues including BREXIT, UK devolution, BLM and COVID-19 inevitably feed into how nations are represented to and perceived by others. This, in itself, warrants further study into what children are learning about nations and how different information and sources are negotiated, especially given the media’s power, particularly television’s, to influence how people see and interact with the world (Barrett, 2012; Bondebjerg and Madsen, 2008; Dill- Shackleford et al., 2016). Secondly, the accessibility of media content further emphasises the need for such investigations. This accessibility may increase childhood exposure to people from different nations, in turn influencing cognitive processes such as the availability and representativeness heuristics which develop around the age of seven (Krawczyk, 2018), just as children’s knowledge of nations begins to stabilise (Barrett, 2012). Yet we cannot assume that increased exposure always has a positive impact upon how children perceive their own and other nations (Barrett, 2012), as this depends on what content children consume. Thirdly, we must continue questioning the suitability and impact of media upon children, highlighting unintended or unimagined consequences of media exposure, as Coyne et al. (2017) did through their findings that exposing children to superhero media, even with prosocial behavioral intentions, resulted in increased physical and relational aggression.

To better understand how children’s media could influence perceptions of nations, this study followed the view in media psychology that media texts be examined first (Giles, 2003; Pajares et al., 2009) before examining individuals. In doing so, this study used attribution theory, a key theory in exploring how people explain their own behaviors and those of others in relation to internal, dispositional characteristics and external, situational or environmental forces (Baumeister and Bushman, 2011; Fosterling, 2011; Heider, 1958; Howard and Renfrow, 2006; Kelley, 1967). Attribution theory was used to evaluate how character behaviors and characteristics were explained and, in turn, how those with dispositional attributions related to character national identities. Two questions were asked about fictional characters given the need to deliberately construct their identities and performances. RQ1: How are the behaviors and characteristics of characters explained to child audiences in relation to internal, dispositional characteristics and external, situational or environmental forces? RQ2: On what basis does it appear that national identities are assigned to characters?

Whilst questioning media producers could answer these questions, such answers are not readily available to children whose understandings of assignations and explanations, if any, would start with the media they consume. Such questioning would also assume producers know how they explain behaviors and national identity assignation, and may also encourage them to mediate their answers to maintain positive representations of their work, compromising the validity of their contributions.

The few psychological studies that explore attribution and fictional characters focus on adults and how they explain on-screen behaviors (Keen et al., 2012; Tal-Or and Papirman, 2007), making them unsuitable for developing a hypothesis around children’s media given their differing understandings of the world and approaches to explaining behaviors (Hala, 2010; Sigleman and Rider, 2016). Instead, the hypothesis for RQ1 drew on how children’s media plays a significant role in educating children about the behaviors of other peoples (Hesse and Mack, 1991; Manusoy and Jaworski, 2006; Wiens and Collins, 1983). H1: Character behaviors are explained in terms of internal, dispositional characteristics.

The hypothesis for RQ2 drew on previous studies exploring how national identities, as part of an individual’s psychology, inform attitudes and behaviors (Billig, 2008; Yogeeswaran and Dasgupta, 2014) and how, broadly, stereotypes are often present within much of children’s media (Over and McCall, 2018) whilst fictional character national identities often draw on stereotypes and other distinguishing characteristics as behavioral explanations (Hallissy, 2006; Mills, 2009). H2: National identities are assigned on the basis of similarities between the dispositional behaviors and characteristics of characters, and the stereotypes and characteristics of their national identities. Octonauts

Octonauts (2010-present), a British children’s animated television series broadcast on CBeebies in the UK and available through BBC iPlayer and Netflix, was examined for four reasons. First, it is one of the few examples of UK children’s television that has characters from a diversity of nations. Second is its popularity. Shortly after its premiere, Octonauts became the top-rated pre- school programme on CBeebies (Brown Bag Films, 2021), seeing the series being picked up across multiple countries, and being nominated for and winning multiple awards (AWN, 2017; Brown Bag Films, 2018; Silvergate, 2018). Thirdly, Octonauts has no human characters, instead following seven anthropomorphised animals and one fictional creature alongside feature and supporting animals that change between episodes. Animal behaviors and characteristics, and the problems and situations they face, provide opportunities to educate children on different animals, ecosystems and environmental concerns.

Feature animals are individuals or collectives that are the focus of an episode or who provide a significant contribution to the narrative. Supporting animals are individuals or collectives who, whilst not the focus of episodes, still contribute to the narratives in some way. The anthropomorphisation of feature and supporting animals includes the assignation of national identities meaning such animals represent diverse peoples, potentially informing what children learn about those nations. Fourth, Octonauts targets children between the ages of three and seven, as they develop their knowledge of and attitudes towards their own and other nations (Barrett, 2005), potentially influencing such development. Additionally, whilst series like Hey Duggee (2014- present) and Go Jetters (2015-2020), also broadcast on CBeebies, have characters from other nations, they tend to focus on problem solving and achievement, rather than learning about others and their behaviors.

The Octonauts team was not examined as their job roles meant they engaged in behaviors not found in nature and, in being assigned English, Scottish, American and New Zealand national identities, they formed an ingroup representing white, Western, English-speaking cultures that did not allow for the same depth of examination compared to the diverse nations represented by feature and supporting animals. It was not possible to examine the team, and feature and supporting animals, through intergroup attribution theory given the shifting national identities of feature and supporting animals, and how episodes would use differing team members or have animals temporarily or permanently join the team, thus becoming ingroup members.

Kelley’s Covariation Model of Attribution

Kelley’s (1967) model was chosen as, unlike Jones and Davis’s (1965) correspondence inference theory, it does not overlook situational factors which are essential in understanding external behavioral forces. Nor does Kelley’s model focus on achievement and self-concept, as Weiner (1974) did (Shaffer, 2009; Shaffer and Kipp, 2010), an important consideration given how Octonauts explores animal behaviors. However, three issues arose in applying Kelley’s model. First, criticisms that Kelley’s model oversimplifies the number of factors people consider when explaining behaviors (Pennington et al., 2016; Singh, 2015). Previous viewing of Octonauts found that the factors considered - consensus, consistency and distinctiveness - fit well with how the series explained behaviors. Additionally, shifting norms between different species mean Octonauts lacked stable social references essential for assessing factors like hedonic relevance and social desirability in Jones and Davis’s (1965) approach.

Second, Kelley’s model works best with multiple behavioral observations (Moskowitz and Gill, 2013; Vaughan and Hogg, 2014). Yet few feature or supporting animals appeared in more than one episode, limiting observations across time and situations. This was balanced by episodes feature multiple species members, allowing for repeated observations within groups, and characters discussing behaviors as normal or abnormal based on established knowledge. Third, Kelley’s model focuses on individual human behaviors. Normally, internal dispositional attributions are made for behaviors with low consensus and distinctiveness, and high in consistency (Fosterling, 2001; Hesketh, 1984; Kelley, 1967). That is, they are behaviors not everyone engages in, they are not limited to specific situations or directed at few targets, and they are a consistent part of someone’s character. External attributions, based on stimulus or environment, arise under high consensus, high consistency and high distinctiveness, or high consensus, low consistency and low distinctiveness respectively (Hesketh, 1984). Yet Octonauts deals with individuals and collectives representing species, necessitating an adaptation to Kelley’s original model. Therefore, internal attributions were made for behaviors high in consistency and low in distinctiveness - as in the original model - but high in consensus, accounting for behaviors that are part of the distinctive dispositions that define and distinguish species. Methodology

Sample

Octonauts instalments come in five forms - main series episodes, special episodes, Creature Reports, and three films. Only main series episodes and specials were examined (n = 125). Creature Reports were not included as these short instalments summarised key facts from main series episodes. The films were not included given their significantly increased runtime and changes in narrative content and delivery. Each standard episode ran for eleven minutes whilst specials ran for 23 minutes, meaning a total of 24 hours and 43 minutes were examined.

Content Analysis

Content analysis was used to code and quantify information about feature and supporting animals in five categories - i) Character Details, ii) Characteristics and Behaviors, iii) National Identities and their Markers, iv) Geographic Relationships and v) Relationships to a Problem or Situation. One coding sheet was used per episode, distinguished by episode name, series and episode number and core problem or situation. If information sought in any category of the coding sheet was not available or ambiguous, ‘Unknown’ was entered.

Character details included name, species, whether they were a feature or supporting animal, and binary biological sex. Animals were given identifying numbers based on the order in which they appeared. Animals without names were identified through physical markers, characteristics or hierarchical positions. National Identities and their Markers recorded animal national identities and how they were communicated, such as through language or physical markers. Regional identities were also recorded, accounting for differences across a nation’s constituent communities. This category, and Characteristics and Behaviors, addressed RQ2 by providing a basis for examining similarities between animal behaviors and characteristics, and stereotypes and characteristics associated with their national identities. Animal details were recorded whether or not they held national identities to explore the absence of this social identity as well. Geographic Relationships detailed where in the real world and in an episode animals are found, whether or not animals were geographically displaced, and whether or not national and regional identities matched where they were found in episodes or in the real world. This information helped determine the diversity of nations represented and aided in answering RQ1 by answering whether or not animals were geographically displaced as an external behavioral influence. It also helped uncover evidence against RQ2 in the form of geographic explanations for national identity assignations, such as animals holding Russian national identities as they are actually found in Russia. To facilitate this, when episodes did not state where in the world species are normally found, this information was sought from other sources and recorded in coding sheets. These points of origin were then compared to the national identities animals held to see if geographic explanations applied.

Relationship to Problems or Situations documented whether or not animals were the source or victim of a problem or situation, if they contribute to or hindered resolutions, and whether these contributions were related to their dispositions. This helped determine whether the origins, persistence of and solutions to problems and situations related to the stereotypes and characteristics associated with the national identities animals held.

Discourse Analysis

Not all information sought in coding was communicated through quantifiable instances of communication, such as ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers to questions or key words like ‘parasitic’. It also existed in more complex uses of language, such as conversations about animal behaviors. This necessitated the application of discourse analysis, an important method in both media and social psychological research (Giles, 2003; Goodman, 2017) for its use in uncovering attitudes, meanings, values, beliefs and perceptions behind language (Alonso and Hyde, 2002; Fairclough, 2003; Giles, 2003; Goodman, 2017). This method aided in answering RQ1 by determine whether information and explanations led to internal or external attributions for behaviors and characteristics. Findings

All episodes were examined as a single sample due to differing numbers of episodes per series, a lack of consensus online around how many episodes each series had, stand-alone specials and because Series 3 appears to have broadcast straight after Series 2, potentially offering a different consumption experience than if there had been the usual gap between series.

Overall, 1348 behaviors were recorded for 532 animal units over 125 episodes, animal units being individual or collectives of animals across four categories - individual feature animals (IFAs), collectives of feature animals (CFAs), individual supporting animals (ISAs) and collectives of supporting animals (CSAs). Collectives concerned groups of two or more animals within an episode, or references to groups or entire species.

Animal Units and National Identities

Of the 532 animal units, there were 168 CFAs (31.58%, Mper episode = 1.32, SD = 1.33), 151

IFAs (28.38%, Mper episode = 1.21, SD = 0.82), 116 ISAs (21.8%, Mper episode = 0.93, SD = 1.39) and

97 CSAs (18.23%, Mper episode = 0.78, SD = 1.28). Of these 532 units, 317 (59.59%) had national identities representing 24 national groups, whilst 168 (31.58%) units had no national identity. If was not possible to determine what, if any, national identities were assigned 47 (8.83%) units because of minimal dialogue, vocal effects or an inability to identify specific accents. Of those units with national identities, 136 (25.5% of all animal units, 90.1% of all IFAs) were IFAs representing nineteen nations, 78 (14.66% of all animal units, 67.24% of all ISAs) were ISAs representing thirteen nations, 67 (12.59% of all animal units, 39.88% of all CFAs) were CFAs representing twelve nations, and 36 (6.77% of all animal units, 37.11% of all CSAs) were CSAs representing eleven nations.

American, English, French, Russian and Scottish national identities appeared across all four unit types. Of those units with national identities, English was the most common national identity overall, appearing 138 (43.53%) times - 59 IFAs (39.07% of all IFAs), 26 CFAs (15.48% of all CFAs), 33 ISAs (28.45% of all ISAs) and 20 CSAs (20.62% of all CSAs). American was the next most common with 91 (28.71%) units - 38 IFAs (25.17% of all IFAs), 27 CFAs (16.07% of all CFAs), 18 ISAs (15.52% of all ISAs) and 7 CSAs (7.22% of all CSAs). Four national identities appeared once - German, generic Scandinavian, Persian and generic Asian. All other national identities appeared as follows - Scottish (14), French (13), Australian (12), Welsh (10), Russian (9), South African (7), Colombian (6), Romanian and Austrian (4), generic South American, Irish, Brazilian, Canadian and Eastern European (3), Jamaican, Swedish, Norwegian and Greenland (2).

National Identity Assignation

Of the 317 animal units with national identities, 125 (39.43%) exhibited behaviors and characteristics that aligned with at least one stereotype or characteristic associated with their national identities, whilst 192 (60.58%) did not. English animal units had the most alignments, 47 (14.83%) units, referencing 20 specific characteristics and stereotypes. Americans followed with 34 (10.73%) units alignments referencing 19 specific characteristics and stereotypes.

Swedish, Asian, South American, Jamaican and Russian units all had one (0.32% each) alignment, each referencing one species characteristic or stereotype. Irish and South African units both had three alignments (0.95% each), with Irish units referencing three stereotypes or characteristics whilst South African units referenced one. Colombian, Romanian, Welsh and French animal units all had four alignments (1.26% each), with French units referencing two stereotypes or characteristics, the others referencing one. Australian units had eight (2.52% each) alignments, with four references, and Scottish units had eleven (3.47%) alignments with two references. Though we see a strong correlation (r = .98, p < .0001) between number of animal units aligning with national identity stereotypes and characteristics, and the number of specific stereotypes and characteristics referenced, this correlation has been skewed by American and English animal units and their greater number of animal units in comparison to those with other national identities.

Of the 317 animal units with national identities, 141 (44.48%) had identities that did not match where in the real world those species are found. Against this, 90 (28.39%) did have national identities that matched where in the real world those species are found, whilst in 86 (27.13%) cases it was not possible to determine whether or not their national identities matched real world locations as specific species or sub-species were not identified.

As Table One shows, instances where national identities did not match real world locations where species are found exceeded instances where they did match. A chi-square test identified a significant relationship between animal unit types and an ability to match national identities to real world locations, χ2 (6, N = 317) = 28.78, p < .0001. A post hoc test indicated that this relationship existed primarily with CFAs being slightly less frequent when not being able to determine if their national identities did or did not match real world locations (standardised residual of -2.43), and IFAs being more frequent under the same condition (standardised residual of 3.09).

As 99 (79.2%) episodes did not state where in the world they were set, it was not possible to determine whether animal unit national identities matched where they were found in the world in an episode for 239 (75.39%) units of the 317 with national identities. Only 26 (20.8%) episodes stated where in the world they were set - seven in the Antarctic, six in the Arctic, three in Australia, two in the Atlantic Ocean, and one each in the Mediterranean, Galapagos Islands, Africa, Chile, Brazil, the Florida Everglades and in the Roaring 40s. One episode was split between the Arctic and the Amazon. In these episodes, 25 (7.89%) animal units had national identities matching an episode’s location, whilst the national identities of 53 (16.72%) units did not.

Table Two shows that it was not possible to determine whether or not national identities matched episode locations in the majority of cases across all unit types. A chi-square test identified a significant relationship between animal unit types and an ability to match national identities to episode locations, χ2 (6, N = 317) = 16.546, p = .01. Post hoc testing indicated this relationship existed primarily in CFAs appearing slightly more frequently than expected when there was not a match to an episode’s location (standardised residual of 2.56).

Of the 317 animal units with national identities, 24 (7.57%) had national identities matching both where episodes were set and where in the real world species are found. Conversely, 32 (10.09%) units had national identities that matched neither were episodes were set or where species are actually found. It was not possible to determine whether or not national identities matched episode locations and where in the real world species are found for 72 (22.71%) units. Of the 532 animal units documented, 16 (3.01%) were geographically displaced, 13 having national identities, none of which matched episode locations, with only five having national identities matching where in the real world species are found. Attributional Explanations for Behaviors and Characteristics

Of the 1348 behaviors recorded, 681 (50.52%, Mper episode = 5.45, SD = 3.52) had internal attributions, 209 (15.5%, Mper episode = 1.67, SD = 1.64) had external attributions, 447 (33.16%, Mper episode = 3.58, SD = 4.34) had unknown attributions, and 11 (0.82%, Mper episode = 0.09, SD = 0.38) and individual internal attributions. IFAs exhibited 524 (38.87%, Mper episode = 4.19, SDper episode =

3.53) behaviors, whilst CFAs exhibited 485 (35.98%, Mper episode = 3.88, SDper episode = 3.92) with the most with internal attributions, 376 (27.89%, Mper episode = 3.01, SDper episode = 3.15). ISAs exhibited 198 (14.69%) behaviors, whilst CSAs displayed 141 (10.46%). Only weak correlations were seen between unknown and external attributions (r = .181, p = .043), and internal and known attributions (r = .314, p < .001), indicating that unknown attributions are more likely as more internal and external attributions are made.

Four point biserial correlations were sought between the possession or lack of national identity, across all unit types together, and different attributions. Weak correlations were seen between external attributions and the possession of national identity (rpb = .299, p < .0001), and unknown attributions and the possession of national identity (rpb = .207, p < .0001). A weak negative correlation was seen between internal attributions and the possession of national identity

(rpb = -.145, p = .001).

Chi-square tests of independence suggest animal unit types and attributions are likely to be related across all three national identity conditions - national identity assigned (χ2 (6, N = 918) = 79.045, p < .0001), no national identity (χ2 (6, N = 335) = 172.38, p < .0001), unclear national identity assignation (χ2 (6, N = 95) = 16.147, p = .013). Post hoc testing for standardised residuals in Table Three showed that, for unclear national identity assignations, animal unit types appeared within expected levels across attribution types. CFAs, with external attributions, appeared less often than expected both with and without national identities, but more often with internal attributions with national identities reflecting how CFAs had more internal attributions than IFAs despite IFAs exhibiting the most behaviors of all units. Conversely, with national identities assigned, ISAs appeared more often than expected with external attributions and less with internal attributions. With national identities, IFAs appeared more often than expected with external attributions, as did ISAs and CSAs with unknown attributions indicating more ambiguous explanations for animal behaviors than expected from those unit types. National Identity, and Episode Problems and Situations

Animal units could be the cause of a problem, a victim of it, hinder or contribute to its resolution, or hold some combination of positions or none. Phi correlations were sought between the roles animal units held and national identity assignations, and between different roles themselves. Correlations were sought for 392 animal units, 47 units not being included due to an inability to determine what, if any, national identity they held. An additional 93 units were excluded as they concerned collectives within books or conversations, meaning there was no actual unit to hold a relationship to a problem or situation. In some instances, animal units were counted more than once as they held more than one national identity. Two weak correlations were found between whether or not units hindered the resolution of a problem and if they were the cause (ϕ = .26, p < .0001), and whether they were a victim and a hinderance (ϕ = .23, p <.0001). All other correlations between positions were equal or close to 0 with p > .05.

Table Four shows that IFAs contributed the most to the four position - being the cause of a problem or situation, a victim of it, a hinderance or help to its resolution. No relationship was found between the possession of national identity and whether or not animal units caused a problem or situation (ϕ = .01, p = .82), with 248 units with national identities not being the cause. Of the 67 (17.09%) units with national identities who were the cause, 32 were English whilst 14 were American. Of these 67, 37 (9.44%) units caused a problem or situation related to dispositional species behaviors, with English units accounting for 20 (5.1%) of those dispositional causes.

A weak correlation was found between national identity possession and whether or not animal units were victims (ϕ = .22, p <.0001) - 167 (42.6%) animal units with a national identity being a victim, 148 (37.76%) units with a national identity not being the victim. Only 20 (5.1%) units that had no national identity were a victim, whilst 57 (14.54%) without a national identity were not the victim. Of those units with national identities that were victims, the majority were English, 65 (16.58%), with American units following with 38 (9.69%).

There was a weak correlation between national identity possession and whether or not animal units hindered resolutions (ϕ = .39, p <.0001) - 238 (60.71%) units with national identities and 54 (13.78%) without national identities hindering resolutions. In contrast, 79 (20.15%) units with and 21 (5.36%) without national identities hindered resolutions. Of those 79, 48 (12.24%) hindered resolutions because of dispositional species characteristics, whilst 10 (2.55%) hindered but not because other dispositions. It was not possible to determine the attributional situation in 21 (5.36%) cases. English units most often hindered resolutions with 42 (10.71%) units, 27 (6.89%) doing so because of their dispositions. Of the 21 units without national identities who were a hinderance, thirteen (3.32%) were a hinderance because of dispositional species characteristics. CFAs brought the fewest hinderances with eleven (2.81%) units five (1.28%) doing so through dispositional characteristics. IFAs were most often a hinderance with 35 (8.93%) units, 24 (6.12%) doing so because of dispositional characteristics.

A weak correlation was seen between national identity possession and whether or not animals helped resolve problems or situations (ϕ = .23, p <.0001) - 218 (55.61%) units with national identities did not help in resolutions, whilst no unit without national identities helped in resolutions. English units most often offered no assistance, 98 (25%), followed by American units, 52 (13.27%). There were 99 (25.26%) units with national identities that helped in resolutions, 43 (10.97%) doing so through dispositional characteristics. English animals also provided the most assistance, 39 (9.95%), 20 (5.1%) through dispositional characteristics. American units followed with 34 (8.67%) offering aid, 12 (3.06%) doing so because of dispositional characteristics.

Discussion

This study explored how the television series Octonauts communicated information about different nations to children through feature and supporting animals, asking how animal behaviors were explained to children in terms of internal, dispositional and external, situational or environmental forces, and on what basis it appeared that national identities are assigned to animals and what relationship exist between dispositional behaviors and national identities.

Explanations for Animal Behaviors

RQ1 sought to quantify how animal unit behaviors were explained, with the hypothesis that this would be done through internal, dispositional attributions being partially supported, with just over half of behaviors being explained as part of how species normally behave, fitting the series’ educational focus. The dominance of internal attributions is counter to how children usually explain the behaviors of others, favouring external attributions until around the ages of seven and eight, learning to make more internal attributions as their theory of mind develops and they recognise that others can be motivated and influenced by diverse internal factors (Erwin, 1995; Pennington, 2000). Octonauts may then contribute to children learning how to make internal attributions, an important step in cognitive development that also contributes to the development of the fundamental attribution error in adults (Pennington, 2000) where too much emphasis is placed on dispositional factors when explaining the behaviors of others. Future studies can explore how children’s television series contribute to the development of this bias, if at all.

The second most common attribution was ‘Unknown’, meaning there was no clear behavioral explanation. Such ambiguity may be concerning for Octonauts’s producers given the series’ educational focus, particularly given the weak correlation between national identity possession and unknown attributions, meaning we see a marginal increase in unknown attributions when animals were assigned national identities. Producers may have intended for these behaviors to have internal or external attributions, however, such ambiguity may result in varying interpretations between children and, in turn, differences in how these interpretations influence representations of nations. This ambiguity may be resolved between episodes, such as when specific species are encountered more than once. Yet, though children can use additional information to resolve ambiguity, it remains something they struggle with (Beck and Robinson, 2001; Beck et al., 2008; Girbau, 2001; Reid, 1990). For children watching Octonauts, such resolutions would require the identification of ambiguity, the recognition that they can seek out additional information from other episodes or sources, the ability to recall information about ambiguous behaviors to apply additional information to them, and an ability to recall previous explanations to apply to later ambiguous behaviors.

External attributions, the approach children usually use in explaining behaviors (Erwin, 1995; Pennington, 2000), was the third most common attribution type. External forces created situations and drew out behaviors that might otherwise not be seen, including illness or injury, outcomes of anthropomorphisation such as complaining about loud arguments (The Octonauts and the Crab and Urchin, 2010), and geographic displacements leading to encounters with animals and environments that would otherwise not happen (The Octonauts and the Great Swamp Search, 2016). The few behaviors with individual internal attributions - behaviors specific to individual characters - also served narrative functions, including competing against a celebrated athletic penguin (The Octonauts and the Great Penguin Race, 2010) and a sperm whale who had to overcome numerous fears to help others (The Octonauts and the Scared Sperm Whale, 2013). A weak positive correlation was found between the possession of national identities and the number of behaviors with external attributions, which could be explained through a need for characters to explain the impact of external forces through dialogue, dialogue which results in national identity assignation.

CFAs were the most common unit type, also holding the greatest number of behaviors with internal attributions, with residuals from post hoc testing indicating internal attributions arose more often than expected when CFAs held national identities. CFAs, therefore, communicate the most information about actual animal behaviors. Furthermore, given that repeated observations of examples help children develop understandings of the world (Huesmann, 2017), CFAs could reinforce to children that observed behaviors are dispositional to species, but they could also have the greatest representational power - groups of animals, within the most common unit type, with the same national identities behaving the same way. However, this does not necessarily mean that children learn the most through CFAs as factors including liking, similarity, interest, clarity of communication and screen time may results in more learning about nations and species through other unit types. Additionally, IFAs exhibited the most behaviors, had the most animals assigned national identities representing the most national groups, and contributed most to the four positions in relation to problems and situations. Therefore, despite being the second most common animal unit type with the second highest number of internal attributions, IFAs may have the greatest representational power for nations, something that can be explored in future studies.

National Identities, Location, Stereotypes and Characteristics

In exploring the possible basis on which animal national identities seemed to be assigned, geographic information - where episodes were set, where in the real world species are found - was sought as an alternative explanation to the hypothesis that assignations followed similarities between animal behaviors and characteristics, and stereotypes and characteristics of those national identities. This would, for example, see animals found in Canada holding Canadian accents. However, there was a lack of geographic connection between animal unit national identities, and where episodes were set and where in the real world species are found. Through a lack of information about where episodes were set and a minority of national identities matching real world locations where species are found, Octonauts missed opportunities to reduce the geographic knowledge gap between British children and those from other nations (Axia and Bremner, 1992; Axia et al., 1998; Barrett and Farroni, 1996; Barrett et al., 2006; Barrett, 2012). This gap could be reduced by naming specific locations, showing children where species are found and, by matching animal national identities to where episodes are set and where animals come from, where national identities can be encountered.

The hypothesis that national identities were assigned based on similarities between animal characteristics and behaviors, and stereotypes and characteristics associated with those national identities was partially upheld, with just under 40% of animal units holding national identities that aligned with one or more stereotypes or characteristics of their national identity, not all of which shaped positive representations of people from those nations and their constituent communities. When animal characteristics and behaviors aligned with stereotypes and characteristics associated with their national identities, these alignments appeared to serve one of two functions - i) to reflect the general character and dispositional behaviors of animal units, ii) to reflect the nature of relationships between animal units and related dispositional behaviors. Both functions build upon findings that children’s media often contains a variety of stereotypes (Over and McCall, 2018) by connecting such cultural concerns to attribution theory and identifying specific applications of national identity within televised narratives.

Character and Behaviors

The use of national identities to reflect the character and behaviors of on-screen fictional entities has been documented before, such as in the use of Welshness to mark characters as good natured but simplistic or a technologically inferior people (Mills, 2009; Williams, 2011). However, such studies have not applied attribution theory to behaviors and characteristics to see how, if at all, they are explained to audiences in relation to internal, dispositional characteristics or external, situational or environmental factors.

Examples of animal units whose national identities reflected their character and behaviors include Californian units, such as the slow moving, relaxed manatees (The Octonauts and the Manatees, 2013), or the surfing snails (The Octonauts and the Surfings Snails, 2016), with each of these units aligning with the corresponding stereotypes for Californians (Eckert, 2014; Smith, 2016; Wotton, 2021). As well as intelligent animals who spoke with received pronunciation (The Octonauts and the Dolphin Reef Rescue, 2011; The Octonauts and the Giant Squid, 2010; The Octonauts and the Harbor Seal, 2014), this also included pirate animals, such as Parrotfish Pete (The Octonauts and the Parrotfish, 2011) and Calico Jack (The Octonauts and the Amazon Adventure, 2013), being assigned Bristolian/West Country accents associated with pirates through Robert Newton’s performance in Treasure Island (1950). Whilst these examples performed neutral or prosocial behaviors, other animal units reinforced negative stereotypes through their characters and behaviors.

Across multiple episodes, fiddler crabs (The Octonauts and the Fiddler Crabs, 2013; The Octonauts and the Orcas, 2010) and swordfish (The Octonauts and the Baby Gator, 2016; The Octonauts and the Pelicans, 2014; The Octonauts and the Swashbuckling Swordfish, 2013; The Octonauts and the Triggerfish, 2013) reproduced the outdated stereotype of the French as a duelling people (Lopez, 2020; Moore, 2016), with this confrontational and combative attitude being coupled with demeanours drawing on the stereotype of the French a rude (Henley, 2011; Salzberg, 2021), representing the French as antagonistic and antisocial. There were also multiple instances of aggressive animals holding Scottish national identities, specifically Glaswegian accents, propagating the stereotype that Scottish people are aggressive (Drummond, 2018; Rose, 2019; The Scotsman, 2018). This was primarily communicated through individuals and collectives of sharks of differing species (The Octonauts and the Baby Gator, 2016; The Octonauts and the Great White Shark, 2012; The Octonauts and the Hammerhead Sharks, 2014; The Octonauts and the Tiger Shark, 2016). This dispositionally explained aggression included attacks on and damage to vehicles, and actual and described efforts to eat other animals, including other sharks.

Similarly, all walruses held English, Liverpudlian accents with negative stereotypes being reproduced across multiple episodes (The Octonauts and the Great Arctic Adventure, 2014; The Octonauts and the Walrus Chief, 2010; The Octonauts and the Walrus Pups, 2015). Through dispositional behaviors, attitudes and characteristics such as being threatening towards, dismissive of and aggressive towards outsiders, in-fighting and challenging, and taking things that don't belong to them, these walruses reproduce the stereotypes of Liverpudlians as rough, uncouth and unrefined (Grant, 2019; Murphy and Rees-Jones, 2007; Platt, 2016), inward-looking and parochial (Murphy and Rees-Jones, 2007), and thieving (Grant, 2019). These stereotypes (Bona, 2019; Lee, 2011) also went as far as to have walrus pups calling to their mothers by shouting 'eh eh eh' (The Octonauts and the Walrus Pups, 2015). Such stereotypes were also reinforced through instances such as Liverpudlian lionfish (The Octonauts and the Lionfish, 2013) who were also aggressive, threatening and took what food they wanted (Grant, 2019; Murphy and Rees-Jones, 2007; Platt, 2016).

Whether or not the intention was to draw upon such stereotypes, the repeated assignation of national identities and behaviors to such animals suggests a deliberate production practice. Perhaps, more importantly, despite changes in shark species and contexts of animal encounters, the ability for children to develop associations between accents and social information (Jeffries, 2016), and to recognise accents as characteristics of larger communities rather than individuals in the development of perceptual schemas (Bradlow and Bent, 2008; Sidaras et al., 2009; Xie and Myers, 2017), means there is potential for children to associate negative behaviors with Scottish and Liverpudlian people, feeding generalisations around other people and characters with such accents.

Additionally, though this potentially applies to any animals assigned national identities, despite physical differences with audience members, sharks and walruses offer multiple opportunities for identification with characters through shared accents. Such identification can encourage observational learning (Huesmann and Eron, 2013; Woolfolk and Margetts, 2013) where observed behaviors could be reproduced or adapted in interpersonal relations (Calvert, 2015) or in play (Gaskins and Paradise, 2010) - Octonauts has already been examined for how children adapt programme content for personal meaning-making in play (Edwards et al., 2019). There is also potential for children, who identify with characters with shared national identities, to internalise negative representations carried by those characters, potentially to the detriment of their individual and social identities (Clark and Clark, 1947; Howes, 2010).

Relationships, Associated Behaviors and Narrative Devices

Some animal unit national identities reflected the nature of their relationships with other animals, relationships that also, perhaps inadvertently, drew upon psychological theories as narrative devices. This included social exchange theory (SET), exemplified through the relationship between a crab and urchin (The Octonauts and the Crab and Urchin, 2010). SET holds that interactions and relationships are based on negotiations and the exchange of anything that can be given that is valued by another (Sullivan and Feltz, 2005). This may include money, goods, labour or affection. Within their dispositionally explained symbiotic relationship, which models restricted exchange between two individuals, the crab provided food and transport for the urchin, whilst the urchin provided protection. Under certain conditions, negative attitudes may arise and relationships end should evaluations suggest too large a discrepancy between costs and benefits of relationships (Delaney, 2015; Sullivan and Feltz, 2005).

For the crab and urchin, their separation derived from a perceived lack of contribution to and appreciation for the relationship from both animals. Both animals held American, New York accents, specifically a Queens accent for the crab and a Brooklyn one for the urchin. Their argument and the disruption it caused drew on the stereotype of Americans as loud (Abadi, 2018), whilst the strained nature of their relationship mirrored the supposed conflict between New York's five boroughs (Kramer and Flanagann, 2012; Quora, 2019; Stack Exchange, 2016). Through their separation and subsequent struggles, and the support of the Octonauts, the benefits of their symbiotic relationship were highlighted to the crab, urchin and, potentially, children, causing the animals to show a renewed appreciation for their relationship. Therefore, as well as teaching children about symbiosis, through the lens of SET, their supportive relationship and the downside of their separation also promotes prosocial, cooperative behaviors to children. Further study would be needed to determine the degree to which children can draw out such deeper messages beyond the immediate symbiosis lesson.

Octonauts also explored intergroup conflict through realistic conflict theory (RCT) as a narrative device. RCT holds that hostility and conflict arise when two groups compete for limited and desired resources (Sherif et al., 1988; Smith et al., 2015), such as two groups of anemones competing over living space on a rock, which threatens two crabs and injures another (The Octonauts and the Enemy Anemones, 2010), and a group of damselfish protecting a patch of coral on which algae is growing, with excess algae making the coral sick (The Octonauts and the Damselfish, 2012), this episode mirroring a heist film where the specialist skills of different animals help them steal some algae. In these episodes, the damselfish and one group of anemones hold London accents, reproducing behaviors and stereotypes associated with London gangs including the protection of and combat around territory and resources (Covey, 2010; Densley, 2012; Krahe, 2013; Marr, 2018). These stereotypes appeared across other episodes, but in the absence of realistic conflict and with external attributions, including a trio of iguanas who stole food and broke into the Octopod (The Octonauts and the Marine Iguanas, 2011; The Octonauts and the Red Rock Crabs, 2015), and grouper fish and eels (The Octonauts and Operation Cooperation, 2016) whose specialist skills see this episode also mirroring a heist film. Examinations of intergroup conflict in media, such as between anemones, and damselfish and other fish, can address calls to develop our understanding of how intergroup conflict influences the development of prosocial behaviors in children (Toppe et al., 2021; Zhu et al., 2015). Within these specific episodes, intergroup conflict is represented in a negative manner, highlighting the disadvantages to crabs, fish and the coral reef, and how conflict prevents the realisation of goals such as obtaining food and guaranteeing living space. In line with RCT, superordinate goals - shared goals that require the cooperation of groups who are in conflict (Sherif et al., 1988) - are used to highlight the benefits of cooperation and compromise, potentially reinforcing the helping skills children begin to exhibit at around twelve to fourteen months old (Slocombe and Seed, 2019), but also draws attention to how the Octonauts team addresses conflict and encourage prosocial behavioral change.

Moral Development

Efforts to change animal behaviors across episodes do not draw on external, authority-based, reward-punishments approaches discussed in perspectives on early moral development (Jambon and Smetana, 2015; Kohlberg, 1958; 1963; Piaget, 1932) that would relate to Octonauts’s target audience. Such authoritarian approaches could be problematic as they would risk representing the Octonauts team asa an overarching authority that imposes its own expectations upon animals of different species and national identities. Within the contexts of national identity, this could be reminiscent of colonialist histories given the white, English-speaking nations represented by the Octonauts team who intervene in the problems of animals with diverse national identities. Instead, efforts to change behaviors and, in turn, promote prosocial behaviors to children, align with Stage 2, Instrumental Orientation, and Stage 3, Good Boy Nice Girl, of the Preconventional and Conventional levels respectively of Kolhberg’s (1958) perspective on moral development. As such, animals comply with the Octonauts’s requests because of incentives, such as food or a means of returning home (The Octonauts and the Great Swamp Search, 2016; The Octonauts and the Lionfish, 2013; The Octonauts and the Red Rock Crabs, 2015).

The Octonauts’s altruism - giving assistance with no expectation and often no possibility of reward - also encouraged reciprocal altruism in animals who rendered assistance in return for earlier aid, with all parties benefitting from and being praised for such support (The Octonauts and the Lost Lemon Shark, 2011; The Octonauts and the Manta Rays, 2013; The Octonauts and the Sardine School, 2011; The Octonauts and the Scared Sperm Whale, 2013). As well as promoting altruism to children, which has been observed from around the age of fourteen months (Jambon and Smetana, 2015), the absence of tangible rewards could promote the internalisation of such prosocial behaviors, and its intrinsic motivations, as rewards can lessen the likelihood that children will engage in future helping without extrinsic motivation (ibid).

A key example of altruism was seen in an Irish Sea sponge who provided a home for multiple, smaller creatures (The Octonauts and the Sea Sponge, 2014). This was explained as commensalism - a relationship between organisms which benefits one whilst the other derives no benefit or harm. However, the anthropomorphisation of the sponge frames it as an altruistic act, something they opted to perform and are happy to continue with the Octonauts’s help. The sponge is also another example of how national identities are used to explain relationships between animals, drawing on the stereotypes of Irish mothers as gentle, caring, self-sacrificing and Ireland being formed of tight-knit communities (Gray, 2005; Power, 2019; Purvis, 2006).

In examining morality and prosocial behaviors within the contexts of national identity, we must consider that the Octonauts team represents the Anglosphere - an international community of English-speaking white nations with the USA, the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand at its traditional core (University of Huddersfield, 2020; Mycock and Wellings, 2017). Specifically, the team consists of four English animals, one Scottish, one American and one New Zealander. Of the 317 animal units with national identities, 267 held Anglosphere national identities whilst 67 did not - the sum of these national identities is 330 as some units contained animals with different national identities, the siphonophore (The Octonauts and the Siphonophore, 2014) or the bomber worms (The Octonauts and the Bomber Worms, 2016), or were counted as individuals and as parts of collectives (The Octonauts and the Gulper Eels, 2013; The Octonauts and the Mariana Trench Adventure, 2013). Anglosphere units were also responsible for the most problems or situations - 54 versus 13 - helped resolve the most problems or situations - 79 versus 20 - provided the most hinderances to resolutions - 67 versus 12 - and were most often the victim - 133 versus 34. This means that, despite representing a diversity of nations, the series focuses on Anglosphere ingroup relations. Any contact non-Anglosphere animals had with the Octonauts sees them being treated the same as those with Anglosphere national identities, therefore providing vicarious contact for child audiences, where observations of positive intergroup relations serve as a modal for people within their own interactions (Aron et al., 2018; Christ and Kauff, 2019), potentially promoting equal treatment of diverse peoples. However, whilst vicarious contact can reduce prejudice and discrimination towards outgroup members (Aron et al., 2018; Christ and Kauff, 2019; Schieferdecker and Wessler, 2017), the actual impact of such contact through Octonauts is currently unknown.

Despite the positive of vicarious contact and the diversity of media available, audiences exhibit preferences for ingroup-rich content, particularly when they identify strongly with the ingroup (Abrahms and Giles, 2009; Appiah et al., 2013; Harwood, 1997; Schieferdecker and Wessler, 2017). Children will, potentially, begin watching Octonauts before they develop such preferences. However, this ingroup bias may influence parent and guardian decisions around what they selected for and allow their children to watch. Additionally, the dominance of Anglosphere animals means Octonauts maintains the white, Anglo-centric perspective on the world that has long dominated Western media (Avraham, 2003; Gencarelli, 2019; Husband, 1975) so may contribute to ingroup preferences that arise around the ages of seven to ten (Barrett, 2005; de Franca, 2016) through exposure to national identities children identify with and that pervade much of the media they consume.

Conclusion

This study connected culture to attribution theory through television and national identity, progressing studies into what children are learning about other nations by exploring how the behaviors of fictional animals in Octonauts were explained, on what basis it appeared national identities were assigned to animals, and what connections existed between these identities and dispositional behaviors. This study’s findings can be used in future work exploring the actual impact of Octonauts upon how children perceive and interact with people from differing nations, and as a framework to be applied to or adapted for similar studies seeking connections between character behaviors and their national identities. Octonauts explains animal behaviors primarily through internal attributions, fitting the series’ educational focus, teaching children about behaviors that distinguish and define species. This raises the possibility that the series contribute to the development of internal attribution skills by exploring diverse motivations alongside situational and environmental forces. In developing production practices, as well as psychological studies, it was surprising to see so many episodes not stating where in the world they were set, and for so few animal national identities to match where animals came from in reality or where they were encounter in the few episodes that gave locations. This represents missed opportunities to improve the geographic knowledge of British children who tend to be behind children from other nations. Also, as their knowledge about other nations develops, there is potential for children to mistakenly believe species are found in parts of the world based on the mismatch between their national identities and where they are actually found.

Questions also remain around which animal unit type children learn the most about animals and differing nations from. Most units were collective feature animals, who also carried the most internal attributions, meaning their behaviors are explained as part of a species’ disposition. However, though they communicate the most about the nature of animals and were more visible than other units, individual feature animals exhibited the most behaviors and characteristics, with the most animals with national identities representing the greatest number of nations. Future studies can explore how such factors impact what children learn about animals and people of differing nations.

There was no clear overarching explanation for the assignations of animal national identities though some species, like Liverpudlian walruses or French swordfish, held the same national identities between episodes. Such animals exemplified two apparent functions of national identities which became evidence when their behaviors and characteristics aligned with stereotypes and characteristics of those national identities. The first function was to explain the general characters and behaviors of animals, which included the reproduction of negative stereotypes. This is concerning as children may draw upon them during interactions with people with those or similar national identities, and there is potential for children with national identities shared with animals to reproduce behaviors through observational learning or to internalise negative representations.

The second function of national identities was to explain relationships between animals, with such relationships also drawing on psychological theories as narrative devices, promoting prosocial behavioral changes to animals and, potentially, children. Examining such positive efforts highlighted how both the Octonauts and the majority of animals they interact with represented the Anglosphere. Whilst Octonauts serves as a source of vicarious contact, through positive interactions with non-Anglosphere animals, this could be overshadowed by the maintenance of the white, Anglo-centric perspective that dominates Western media, instead potentially feeding national preferences through exposure to national identities children identify with and consume repeatedly through the media. References

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IFAs CFAs ISAs CSAs

NI matched real 42 21 18 9 world locations

NI did not match 66 39 24 12 real world locations

Not possible to 28 8 35 15 determine

Table One: Breakdown of Animal Unit Type National Identities and Matches to Where in the Real World Animals are Found IFAs CFAs ISAs CSAs

NI matches 7 6 8 4 episode location

Ni did not match 24 20 6 3 episode location

Not possible to 105 42 63 29 determine match

Table Two: Breakdown of Animal Unit Type National Identities and Matches to Where Animals are Found in Episodes NIs Assigned χ2 (6, N = 918) = 79.045, p < .0001

Internal External Unknown

IFAs -0.17 0.49 -0.16

CFAs 4.33 -3.44 -2.05

ISAs -4.81 3.79 2.3

CSAs -0.32 -0.67 0.79

No NIs Assigned χ2 (6, N = 335) = 172.38, p < .0001

Internal External Unknown

IFAs -1.92 5.77 1.5

CFAs 2.65 -2.15 -5.29

ISAs -3.52 1.17 7.95

CSAs -1.64 0.56 3.69

Unclear NI Assignation χ2 (6, N = 95) = 16.147, p = .013

Internal External Unknown

IFAs 0.45 0.01 0.42

CFAs 1.1 1.1 -1.73

ISAs -2.02 -0.59 2.23

CSAs -0.07 -0.8 0.59

Table Three: Chi-Square Tests of Independence Between Unit Types and Attributions with Standardised Residuals (individual internal attributions included with internal attributions) Cause Victim Hinderance Help

1. IFA 48 (32) 84 34 (15) 48 (25)

2. CFA 12 (10) 49 18 (14) 20 (10)

3. ISA 7 (1) 32 18 (5) 19 (4)

4. CSA 2 (0) 10 11 (5) 11 (3)

Table Four: Quantities of Animal Units that Held Positions in Relation to Problems and Situations (dispositional attributions in brackets)