Media Influences on Aggression Flashcards
what are media influences?
1
changes in behaviour that are attributed to exposure to media such as TV or computer games
what has research into media influence on aggression typically focused on?
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Edgar (1977) notes that in every country where television exists, it has generated social concern surrounding the media influences on aggression
he also points out that public opinion, in spite of the uncertain nature of any research findings, tends to unequivocally blame the media for any rise in levels of aggressive behaviour in young people
research into media influences have focused on the dangers of playing violent computer games
such games have raised concerns in the media and among regulatory bodies about the possible link between excessive gameplay and violent behaviour in real life
outline media influences on aggression
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VIOLENT FILMS AND TV
• laboratory and field experiments
• longitudinal studies
• meta analyses
VIOLENT COMPUTER GAMES
• experimental studies
• longitudinal studies
VIOLENT FILMS AND TV: laboratory and field experiments
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in a typical experimental study of media influences on aggression, researchers randomly assign participants to either an experimental condition where they view violent film scenes or a control condition where they watch non-violent scenes
they are then observed to see how they interact with other people after viewing the film
a consistent finding from both laboratory and field experiments is that those who watch violent scenes subsequently display more aggressive behaviour and have more aggressive thoughts or aggressive emotions than those who do not
for example, Bjorkqvist (1985) exposed 5 to 6 year-old Finnish children to either violent or non-violent films
compared with the children who had viewed the non-violent film, those who had watched the violent film were subsequently rated much higher on measures of physical aggression (such as hitting other children)
VIOLENT FILMS AND TV: longitudinal studies
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longitudinal studies allow researchers to track individuals overtime in order to assess the impact of early experiences on behaviour later in life
Husemann et al (2003) studied 557 children aged between 6 and 10, growing up in Chicago in 1977
they then studied 329 of these 15 years later in 1992
they found that habitual early exposure to TV violence in childhood was predictive of adult aggression later in life and that this applied to both boys and girls
this relationship persisted even when the possible effects of socio economic status, intelligence and any differences in parenting styles were controlled
VIOLENT FILMS AND TV: meta analyses
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meta analyses allow researchers to aggregate the findings of many different individual studies of the effects of media violence
Bushman et al (2006) carried out a meta analysis of 431 studies involving over 68,000 participants
of these, 264 studies involved children and 167 involved adults
most of the studies looked at the impact of violent TV, but others had also looked at the effect of videogames, music and comic books
overall, they found modest but significant effect sizes for exposure to media violence on aggressive behaviours, aggressive thoughts, angry feelings and arousal levels
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
VIOLENT COMPUTER GAMES: how might violent computer games impact behaviour?
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Porter et al (2007) suggest that interactive violence in videogames has the potential to be even more influential than TV violence (where the viewer plays a more passive role)
during violent gameplay, aggression is rewarded and portrayed as being both appropriate and effective
VIOLENT COMPUTER GAMES: experimental studies
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lab experiments such as Gentile and Stone (2005) have found short-term increases in levels of physiological arousal, hostile feelings and aggressive behaviour following violent gameplay compared to non-violent gameplay
aggressive behaviour cannot be studied directly as this is not permitted on ethical grounds, so other forms of behaviour must be used instead
for example, Anderson et al (2000) found that participants who played Wolfenstein 3D (a violent first person shooter game) blasted their opponents with white noise for longer and rated themselves higher on the State Hostility Scale compared to those who played Myst (a slow-paced puzzle game)
VIOLENT COMPUTER GAMES: longitudinal studies
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Anderson et al (2007) surveyed 430 children aged between 7 and 9 at two points during the school year
children who had exposure to violent video games became more verbally and physically aggressive and less prosocial (this was rated by themselves, their peers and their teachers)
Adachi and Willoughby (2013) suggest that the longitudinal link found between violent video games and aggression may be due to the competitive nature of the games rather than the violent content, as violent video games tend to be more competitive than non-violent games
key study: procedure
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Greitemeyer and Mugge (2014) conducted a metanalysis of 98 studies carried out since 2009, involving a total of nearly 37,000 participants
they were testing the effects of violent video games in which the goal is to harm another game character and also prosocial games in which the goal is to benefit another character
the researchers were interested in how playing these games influenced aggressive and prosocial behaviour (e.g. aggression and helping) as well as aggressive and prosocial cognitions and emotions (e.g. anger and empathy)
key study: findings
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the researchers found a small average effect size (i.e. the difference between groups exposed to violent media and control groups who were not)
violent video game use was linked to an increase in aggressive outcomes and a decrease in prosocial outcomes
prosocial games showed the opposite effect — they were linked to a reduction in aggressive behaviour and an increase in prosocial, cooperative behaviour
these effects were evident regardless of the type of study (i.e. experimental, correlational or longitudinal)
x4 evaluation points
failure to consider other causal variables
game difficulty rather than content may lead to aggression
overstating the link between media violence and aggression
problems with research on the effects of video games
EVALUATION
failure to consider other causal variables
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many studies in this area fail to account for other variables that may explain why some people display aggressive behaviour and why those same people may choose to play violent computer games
for example, Ferguson et al (2009) claim that much of the research on the effects of computer game violence has failed to control other variables known to influence aggressive behaviour
their meta analysis showed that the effects of violent media content on aggressive behaviour disappears when other potential influences such as trait aggression, family violence and mental health are taken into consideration
the researchers suggest that these other risk factors, as opposed to exposure to media violence, are the primary cause of aggressive and violent behaviour
this challenges the idea that it is the content of violent computer games, tv and film that causes aggression
EVALUATION
game difficulty rather than content may lead to aggression
5
it is frequently claimed that the violent content of games creates feelings of aggression in players, which then spills over into aggressive behaviour in their own life
however, a study Przybylski et al (2014) suggests that aggressive behaviour may be linked to a player’s experience of failure and frustration during a game rather than the game’s violent storyline
they found that it was not the storyline or imagery, but the lack of mastering and difficulty players had in completing the game, that led to frustration and aggression
this was evident across both violent and non-violent games
this suggests that we tend to have a fairly simplistic view when it comes to link between video games and aggression, as even non-violent games can leave players feeling aggressive if they are poorly designed or too difficult
EVALUATION
overstating the link between media violence and aggression
3
some critics point out that although many studies claim a statistically significant relationship between media violence and violent behaviour, this is an overstatement of the case
studies that have found an effect attributable to violent media have typically reported only small to medium effect sizes and very few of these have actually measured aggression against another person
Ferguson et al (2009) noted that when aggression towards another person or violent crime is the measure of aggression used in research, the relationship between exposure to media violent and aggressive behaviour is actually closer to zero
