Today, there is a wide range of consumable media, and because of this wide choice available to consumers, psychologists have turned their eyes to media influences on aggression. Is there a link between media violence and aggression? Do violent video games cause children and adults to be more aggressive?
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Jetzt kostenlos anmeldenToday, there is a wide range of consumable media, and because of this wide choice available to consumers, psychologists have turned their eyes to media influences on aggression. Is there a link between media violence and aggression? Do violent video games cause children and adults to be more aggressive?
Fig. 1 - Violent media may influence children's behaviour.
Violence, physical force or words intended to cause hurt or damage to someone or something - is shown in many forms of media, from movies, TV shows, video games, books and even music or podcasts that can contain violent descriptions.
There is a general belief that consuming violent media can cause people to feel angry, think and behave more aggressively, and even tolerate aggression from others more.
Aggression is any feeling of anger resulting in behaviour that can cause physical or psychological harm to others or yourself.
People worry that seeing violent behaviour in media gives children the opportunity to glamorise and mimic it, leading to increased feelings of aggression and hostile or violent behaviour in their everyday life.
Aggression can be categorised into one of three types:
Aggression can manifest itself in many ways. It is, therefore, fair to assume that numerous factors influence and even encourage it. Research needs to be carried out to determine what affects people's levels of aggression and how violent media may influence this.
There are three primary methodologies that psychologists examining media influences on aggression use for their research:
There are a few explanations psychologists have about how violent media influences aggression;
As already mentioned, it is suggested that people can learn behaviour through observation. This is known as social learning theory, which we will discuss more below.
There are critical theories explaining media influences on aggression. According to Social learning theory, those who see an attractive character are more likely to imitate this character’s actions through identification, including a violent hero.
Justification influences moral reasoning. If those who identify with a violent hero or feel that their actions are justified, they may alter their moral judgement to allow violent or aggressive actions.
When playing video games, aggression is sometimes encouraged through play, and you directly control the game character, which is a form of operant conditioning. The general model of affective aggression assumes that exposure to violent video games reinforces aggressive behaviour in the short and long term.
In examining the effects of video games on aggression-related variables, in study one, Anderson and Dill (2000) found that playing violent video games in real life was positively associated with aggressive behaviour and delinquency. This association was stronger among males and characteristically aggressive individuals.
Similarly, in study two, exposure to graphically violent video games in the laboratory increased aggressive thoughts and behaviours. Both studies showed that men had more hostile attitudes than women.
Other research has found that adolescents exposed to more video game violence are more hostile, often argumentative with teachers, likely to be involved in fighting physically and had worse performance in school than students who had less exposure (Gentille et al., 2004).
Some studies have shown a correlative relationship between aggression and violent video games, but this is not causal. Consider the following studies and an evaluation of media influences on aggression.
Bartholow and Anderson (2002) conducted a laboratory study to determine the effects of violent video games on aggression.
For this study, students played either a violent video game (Mortal Kombat) or a nonviolent game (PGA Tournament Golf) for 10 minutes. They then performed the Taylor Competitive Reaction Time Task (TCRTT), a standard measure of aggression that required participants to shoot white noise at a (nonexistent) opponent as punishment.
They found that those who played the violent game chose significantly higher noise levels (5.97 decibels) than the nonviolent players (4.60 decibels). A game multiplied by sex interaction showed a more significant effect for men than for women.
DeLisi et al. (2013) studied 227 juvenile offenders with severe aggressive behaviour histories. They used structured interviews to collect data on aggression and video games.
They found a significant relationship between offenders’ aggressive behaviour, frequency of playing video games, and the extent to which they enjoyed them. Researchers also considered the effects of other constructs, such as psychopathy.
The researchers argued that this relationship was so well-established that aggression should be considered a public health problem and video game violence a significant risk factor for aggressive behaviour.
Fig. 2 - Video games are suggested to be a risk factor for aggressive behaviour.
Robertson et al. (2013) attempted to find an association between ‘excessive’ television viewing in childhood and aggressive behaviour in adulthood. They studied 1037 individuals born in New Zealand between 1972 and 1973 and measured their television viewing hours up to the age of 26.
They found that time spent watching TV was a reliable predictor of aggressive behaviour in adulthood (measured in terms of offending).
Young adults who had spent more time watching TV during childhood and adolescence were more likely to be delinquent.
The extremes (those who had watched the most TV) were more likely to be diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder and to exhibit aggressive traits. Simply put, this could mean that watching TV is a more significant factor in aggression than video games.
The study suggests that excessive TV watching is associated with increased antisocial behaviour.
Anderson and Bushman (2001) conducted a meta-analysis of research showing that exposure to TV and violence in movies increases aggressive behaviour. Their review found that violent video games increase aggressive behaviour in young adults and children.
Experimental/non-experimental studies with men and women in field and laboratory settings support this. It also increases physiological arousal and aggression-related thoughts and feelings.
Let’s study the strengths and weaknesses of the theory of media influences on aggression.
Some studies on the influence of media on aggression are correlational. We cannot draw causal conclusions from correlational studies. There are no manipulated or controlled variables and no random assignment of participants.
Imagine a positive correlation between violent video games and aggressive behaviour. We could not determine if this was due to the socialisation hypothesis (aggressive media causes people to become more aggressive) or the selection hypothesis (aggressive people choose to consume aggressive media). So we do not know what the cause is.
Many studies compare the effects of playing a nonviolent game with a violent game to examine aggression. However, because the games may not be similar in content, this could affect the outcome of the studies and result in an invalid study. There is a tendency in scientific research only to publish statistically significant results, which is a problem because we do not have access to all the non-statistically vital research that could tell us just as much.
Real-world aggression has decreased over the years. Since the 1980s, violent behaviours such as assault have decreased significantly, while computer games and graphics have increased quantitatively and qualitatively. There is a lack of face validity. What is the reason for this? Some believe it is because more people spend time indoors and use video games as catharsis for their aggression.
Associations with playing video games, aggressive behaviour and delinquency are stronger among males and characteristically aggressive individuals (Anderson and Dill, 2000).
Many different factors influence aggression: for instance, someone’s biology, environment, and psychological history.
Research still needs to be conducted to thoroughly understand the impact of media violence as a factor in aggression. Bartholow and Anderson (2002) demonstrated that media violence could cause increased levels of aggression. DeLisi et al. (2013) showed a significant correlation between violent media and aggression, to the extent that they thought aggression should be considered a public health issue, and video game violence a considerable risk factor. Issues with confounding variables still exist, however.
Many factors cause aggression and violence. Berkowitz argues negative feelings (e.g., fear, jealousy, anxiety, frustration) cause aggression. Many different things could trigger these negative feelings, for example, bullying and media violence.
Feeling angry and acting aggressively can result in violent behaviour that hurts people or damages things. Media and violent video games are suggested to be a risk factor for aggressive behaviour.
What type of correlation did Fulker et al. (1986) find between twins and aggressiveness?
Strong positive correlation.
What is a criticism of Fulker et al. (1986)?
The researchers used questionnaires to measure aggression. As this is a sensitive topic, individuals may lie to appear socially desirable, which would reduce the study's findings.
What did Dabbs et al. (1987) find?
Dabbs et al. (1987) found 9 out of 11 inmates incarcerated for non-violent crimes had lower levels of testosterone. However, 10 out of 11 incarcerated for violent crimes had higher levels of testosterone.
How did Dabbs et al. (1987) measure testosterone?
The researchers measured testosterone in the saliva.
How does the diathesis-stress model explain aggression?
The diathesis-stress model assumes that people have a biological predisposition that makes them more prone to aggression. When environmental triggers, such as the media (cognitive priming), influence them, they may exhibit aggressive tendencies.
What is the issue of blaming the media for individuals aggression levels?
This blames the media for aggressive behaviour and takes away the responsibility from individuals.
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