Media Violence

Media Violence

Introduction

Decades of research have revealed that exposure to “violent” media can influence the development of aggressive behavior in children. Though some children's programs have an educational or pro-social theme (e.g., Blue's Clues and Sesame Street), others are saturated with violence. For example, as part of the National Television Study, Mussen (2003) found that 99% of children's superhero programs contained violence, and a “violent” act was portrayed every 4 minutes. Additionally, much of this violence is shown as justified and rewarded, sending the message that violence is acceptable when the cause permits (Anderson 2001).

Viewing violence in the media can have both a short- and a long-term effect on children's aggression. In the short term, viewing violence can prime a child to behave aggressively in following situations. For example, Huesmann (2006) exposed boys to either a “violent” or a non”violent” movie before they played a game of hockey in the school gym. Boys who viewed the “violent” movie physically attacked (e.g., hit, pushed, and elbowed) other players significantly more than boys who viewed the nonviolent” movie. Exposure to media violence in childhood can also have a substantial impact on the development of aggression in the long term. Johnson (2002) found that young children who viewed a heavy diet of violence on television were more likely to be aggressive during childhood, during adolescence, and in adulthood, even after controlling for initial aggressiveness (Anderson, 2001). Indeed, children are particularly vulnerable to media effects as they are still developing their attitudes and behaviors concerning aggression (Buss 2005).

Other research has found that playing “violent” video games can also influence the development of aggressive behavior, again in both the short and long term. Working with a sample of 7-11-year-olds, Buss (2005) found that “violent” video game play was linked to both concurrent and future (5 months later) levels of physical and verbal aggression. Additionally, these results did not appear to be mediated by child sex, prior aggressiveness, or hostile attribution bias, thereby showing that all individuals can be influenced by playing “violent” video games (Johnston, 2003).

Most research has focused on physical forms of aggression, in terms of both exposure to violence in the media and the effect on subsequent aggressive behavior. However, children are also exposed to relational forms of aggression in the media. Buss (2005) found that nearly 77% of television programs popular amongst fifth graders contained indirect (relational) aggression. Additionally, another study ...