Media Violence

Return to Fall 2010 Critical Thinking Research Topics

Please post your research below, using the "Finding" template from the Research Topics main page. Just copy and paste it for each finding and fill in the information from your finding. Try to organize findings so that you can add headings later as things accumulate.

The Desensitization of Violence Due to The Media

Fanti, Kostas A., et al. "Desensitization to media violence over a short period of time." Aggressive Behavior 35.2 (2009): 179-187. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 26 Oct. 2010.[1]

This is a study that showed the desensitization to violence through media. Participants watched nine violent movie scenes and nine comedy scenes, reporting whether they enjoyed the violent or comedy scenes and if they felt sympathetic towards the victim of violence. The results of this study show when a person is exposed to media violence, the person is likely to become sensitized towards the violent acts reducing the psychological impact of the violence over short periods of time. Viewers tended to feel less sympathetic toward the victims of violence and actually enjoy more the violence portrayed in the media.

Gordon Warlaumont

Linking Media Violence to Sexual Assaults in New York

Marks, Alexandra. "Central Park attacks on women--is MTV to blame?." Christian Science Monitor 19 June 2000: 2. MAS Ultra - School Edition. EBSCO. Web. 26 Oct. 2010.[2]

In this news article, Alexandra Marks believes certain types of media presentations (music videos and motion pictures) shows evidence that suggests violence, especially against women, is extremely relevant in media. It relates real life scenarios, like columbine, to movies that came out before and directly after the fatal shooting. Children and Teenagers today are able to watch and play violent video games regardless of their rating. However, it is not just the video games that make a violent culture-- it's how the mass media objectifies certain groups of people (specifically to this article-women).

Gordon Warlaumont

The mind-altering effect of media

Phillips, Helen. "Mind-altering media. (Cover story)." New Scientist 194.2600 (2007): 33-37. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 26 Oct. 2010. [3]

The article discusses research on electronic media use and its possible effect on human behavior. It notes murderer Devin Moore and comments he made relating life to a video game after he killed 3 policemen. Surveys and studies are said to show a link between electronic-media use and violence, depression, and attention-deficit disorders among youth. Researchers are said to believe that the use of electronic media products will change brain function and thought. Researchers Steven Johnson, Shawn Green, and Daphne Bavelier are noted in regard to studies of brain-function changes associated with exposure to electronic media. Bobo doll studies of researcher Albert Bandura are noted for having linked violent behavior in children to viewing of violent images.(Abstract from Author)

Gordon Warlaumont

"IMITATION OF FILM-MEDIATED AGGRESSIVE MODELS"

Bandura, Albert. "IMITATION OF FILM-MEDIATED AGGRESSIVE MODELS. "Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 1963, Vol. 66, No. 1, 3-11 [4]

Abstract: In a test of the hypothesis that exposure of children to film-mediated aggressive models would increase the probability of Ss'(children involved in the study) aggression to subsequent frustration, 1 group of experimental Ss observed real-life aggressive models, a 2nd observed these same models portraying aggression on film, while a 3rd group viewed a film depicting an aggressive cartoon character. Following the exposure treatment, Ss were mildly frustrated and tested for the amount of imitative and non-imitative aggression in a different experimental setting. The overall results provide evidence for both the facilitating and the modeling influence of film-mediated aggressive stimulation. In addition, the findings reveal that the effects of such exposure are to some extent a function of the sex of the model, sex of the child, and the reality cues of the model.

Cody Allen

Short-term and Long-term Effects of Violent Media on Aggression in Children and Adults

Brad J. Bushman and L. Rowell Huesmann. "Short-term and Long-term Effects of Violent Media on Aggression in Children and Adults. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med, Apr 2006; 160: 348 - 352. [5]

Abstract: Objectives To test whether the results of the accumulated studies on media violence and aggressive behavior are consistent with the theories that have evolved to explain the effects. We tested for the existence of both short-term and long-term effects for aggressive behavior. We also tested the theory-driven hypothesis that short-term effects should be greater for adults and long-term effects should be greater for children.

Design Meta-analysis.

Participants Children younger than 18 years and adults.

Main Exposures Violent media, including TV, movies, video games, music, and comic books.

Main Outcome Measures Measures of aggressive behavior, aggressive thoughts, angry feelings, physiological arousal (eg, heart rate, blood pressure), and helping behavior.

Results Effect size estimates were combined using meta-analytic procedures. As expected, the short-term effects of violent media were greater for adults than for children whereas the long-term effects were greater for children than for adults. The results also showed that there were overall modest but significant effect sizes for exposure to media violence on aggressive behaviors, aggressive thoughts, angry feelings, arousal levels, and helping behavior.

Conclusion The results are consistent with the theory that short-term effects are mostly due to the priming of existing well-encoded scripts, schemas, or beliefs, which adults have had more time to encode. In contrast, long-term effects require the learning (encoding) of scripts, schemas, or beliefs. Children can encode new scripts, schemas, and beliefs via observational learning with less interference and effort than adults.