How can the film industry ensure that movie ratings effectively guide parents in making viewing choices for their children? The Motion Picture Association’s (MPA) Classification and Rating Administration (CARA) partnered with PSB Insights to develop a quantitative view of U.S. parents’ perceptions, attitudes, and expectations regarding movie content and the film rating system in 2026. This research aims to ensure that the ratings framework accurately reflects parental concerns about content such as violence, language, and other sensitive subjects.
Our Approach
We conducted an online survey of over 1,500 parents of children aged 5-16 in the United States, which included an interactive rating scenario. The nationally representative sample consisted of households where both the parent and child had watched a movie in the last six months, and allowed for a natural distribution of household sizes, child age and gender, and movie consumption platforms.
To delve further into parents’ specific content concerns, we used advanced analytics to assign a precise statistical ‘weight’ to each instance of a particular type of concerning content across a range of genres.
Key Findings
- Parents are familiar with and trust the rating system. A strong majority of American parents are well-acquainted with the ratings (85% familiarity) and their descriptors (75% familiarity). An overwhelming 91% find the ratings helpful and 83% believe they are accurate. Regarding the rating descriptors, 89% say they are helpful and 85% find them to be accurate.
- Most parents feel movies are rated appropriately. Our research found that 85% of parents feel that the movies they had viewed in the past year carried the appropriate rating, showing that the rating system met their expectations.
- The rating system is an essential tool for parents. Parental engagement with the rating system is nearly universal. A staggering 96% of American parents report that they actively look up rating information when considering a movie for their child to see, highlighting the system’s critical role in their decision-making process.
- Parents are united in concern about certain types of graphic content. The advanced analysis found that parents are most concerned with male and female nudity, graphic sex scenes, sexual assault, use of hard drugs, depictions of suicide, and use of the “N-word” appearing in movies their children might see. These content types are the most likely to be considered inappropriate for PG-13 movies.
- Parents are more divided over their concerns about on–screen violence. While a strong majority (71%) of parents are concerned about depictions of sexual assault, their opinions split on other types, such as graphic violence (49%) and horror violence (44%). The quantity and frequency of the violence also play an important role in their level of concern.
Read the full report.
Your Partner for Understanding Complex Audiences
Looking for a partner to illuminate insights from an array of opinions, across complex audiences? Get in touch—we’re here to help.
For more information, please contact Dean Seales at dseales@psbinsights.com.