Unit 10

Does violent media cause antisocial behavior?

There are lot of people with strong opinions about this on both sides of the fence, but what does the science say about whether exposure to violence in movies, music, and games can cause an increase in aggressive behavior?  What psychological processes can help explain why it might?

10-A: Why Should We Be Worried About Violent Media?

• What is relational aggression? How is it different from other forms of aggression typically studied?

• Why is even a small effect size in the relationship between media and violence worth considering?

10-B: How Many People Died on Television This Week?

• What are some examples of study designs from the meta-analysis you read that relate to the various study designs that we learned about early in the course?  Give examples of:

  • • Controlled designs

    • Cross-sectional designs

    • Longitudinal designs

• How did each of the following studies explore a causal link between exposure and aggression?  Be prepared to summarize the methodology and results of some example research, such as...

  • • Bjorkqvist's (1985) and Josephson's (1987) studies showing the effect of exposure and a specific cue (prime) on aggressive behavior (note the limitation of context in these studies) and explain how this relates to accessibility.

    • Donnerstein and Berkowitz's (1981) study on the effect of sexually aggressive films.

    • Malamuth and Check's (1981) evidence that the effect is long-term.

10-D: How Harmful Can A Game Really Be?

• What were some of the approaches that researchers have used to detect causal links between playing violent games and antisocial thoughts, feelings, and behavior?  What were some of the key findings?

• What is the nature of the longitudinal correlations between exposure and aggressiveness?  Although the study does not establish a causal link, in what way does the pattern of correlations support findings from experimental studies that do?

• What did Anderson & Bushman's (2001) meta-analysis of experimental evidence find about the claim that some studies have not found strong causal effects between games and aggression?

10-E: How Do We Explain the Link?

• How can you explain why exposure to violent media would cause increases in aggressive affect, behavior, and cognition?  For each, be clear about whether the theoretical mediator explains short-term effects, long-term effects, or both.

  • • Observational learning and imitation

      • • What determines if short-term imitation turns into long-term learning?

        • Describe the role of scripts.

        • Does it have to be a conscious process?

    • Priming and automatization

      • • How does this relate to what you already know about primes, schema, and accessibility?

        • How do short-term priming effects lead to long-term changes in cognition?

    • Arousal and excitation transfer

      • • What does it mean to say that arousal strengthens the "dominant response" in someone?

        • Why might a misattribution of the arousal caused by violent media lead to even greater aggression?

    • Affective desensitization

      • • Why is habituation generally a helpful psychological process?

        • How might you relate desensitization to what you learned about the opponent process theory? 

READ: Continuing in Anderson et al's paper, read the section on the Theoretical Explanations (pgs. 94-96) and pause when you get to Research on Moderator Effects.

10-F: Who is Most Influenced by Exposure?

• What have researchers found to moderate the effect that exposure has on aggressive behavior?  Be clear about whether each of these influences the relationship, and if so, how.

  • • Viewer variables

      • • Age and gender

        • Dispositional aggressiveness

          • • How might "reciprocal determinism" be involved?

        • Characteristics of perpetrators (e.g., status, attractiveness)

        • Intelligence

        • Realism

        • Identification with perpetrators

    • Media variables

      • • Status and attractiveness of the perpetrator

        • Justification

        • Positive and negative consequences

    • Social factors

      • • Culture

        • Socioeconomic status (SES)

        • Parents 

READ: Continuing in Anderson et al's paper, read about the Research on Moderator Effects (pgs. 96-100).  Stop when you get to Research on Media Use and Content.

Closing Thoughts...

It is easy to dismiss all of this, because so many people say "hey, I watch action movies and play violent games, and I've never killed anyone!"  Sure, but the key point is that exposure is neither necessary nor sufficient for evil... but that does not mean that it is not playing a significant role in the broader way people think about and treat each other.  And, for some, it may be having a very powerful effect that leads to real harm.  The answer does not have to be banning depictions of violence entirely, but at the very least we have to have evidence-based conversations about how to moderate the risk they present.

If you're interested in learning more...

More coming soon.  Have suggestions?  Email evil@umd.edu