SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY FINAL PAPER

EFFECT OF MEDIA VIOLENCE ON CHILDREN

INTRODUCTION
Of the many critical modifications resulting in our social environment in the 20 th century one
that strikes out the most is that of the introduction and saturation of mass media. Today our
environment is flooded with instruments of mass media such as the television, movies, video
games and networks of computers. They occupy a significant and central role in our daily
routines and for better or for worse, the impact that mass media has on our lives today is huge
considering how it modifies and effects our values, beliefs, behaviours and attitudes.
However, the costs of one specific element of the mass media exposure has particularly had a
unfavourable effect on viewers and others health. Due to the presence of a significant amount
of research that has been done over a period of many years it is seen that an exposure to the
violence that has far reaching negative consequences is that of television and indulging in
video games; with the significant increases in the violent behaviour of the viewer by being a
part of an environment that is flooded with risky and aggressive behaviour simply through
massive media exposure.
BACKGROUND
Before moving on to take a look at the research literature, there are certain factors that need
to be stressed upon and highlighted. Firstly, it is the fact that evidence denotes that violent
actions rarely result from a single cause; but that there are multiple forces at work which
converge over a period of time and add on to such behaviour. Similarly, the effect of violent
mass media is best looked upon as one of the many adding factors which influence an
individuals risk for violence. It cannot simply be stated that media violence is simply the sole
cause of the violent behaviour. Secondly, to gain a basic developmental perspective on the

SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY FINAL PAPER

situation is imperative to gain an appropriate understanding of how media violence has an

impact on youthful conduct and how a coherent public health response can be formulated
regarding this problem. In certain cases it is seen that youth who tend to be aggressive and
indulge in antisocial behaviour do not grow up to be violent teenagers and adults (Moftt et
al, 2002). However then there is also the presence of other research in which aggressive
children are more likely to become adults who are violent (Huesmann, Lagerspetz & Eron,
1984). Also there is presence of indicators that are highly reliable that state that in order to
predict violent behaviour in older individuals as well as young and middle aged adults what
should be looked at is the occurrence of aggressive behaviour in the individual as a child
(Huesmann, Eron & Dubow, 2003). This influences our working hypothesis and the
methodology of the experiment that works on the predication that influences like the
exposure to violent media, that encourages aggressive behaviour in children can lead to them
acting out and behaving aggressively. This can be a contributing factor which can ultimately
increase their ability to be violent many years later.
Lastly it is important to mention here the case that goes against media violence can only be
made by assimilating the confirmation from a number of approaches to research. There are
cross sectional survey studies in which an individuals ability to behave aggressively is highly
dependent on the amount of media violence to which the person is exposed hence these have
a high external validity as far as determining a relationship between violence and violent
behaviour are concerned. However they still lack mentioning in detail how a casual process is
involved. True experiments on the other hand which incorporate randomly assigning
participants to a number of situations that vary in doses of violence injected, result in
providing the finest proof for causation, but they generally fall short as far as generalizability
is concerned. Lastly, longitudinal studies aim to examine keeping in mind considerable regard
for external validity whether a long term exposure to violence starting from ones childhood

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exposure is in any way related to aggression depicted by an individual as an adult and

whether it is more practical to believe that exposure to violence results in violent behaviour
or is it simply that violent behaviour attracts individuals towards their increased exposure to
violence.

LITERATURE REVIEW
A substantial mass of existing literature on the subject of the behavioural impacts of exposure
to media violence builds on the statistic that on average, children in the US spend three to
four hours a day watching television (Comstock, 1991). The popularity of fictional television
and the existence of a prominent theme of violence in it make it the obvious locus of
research. The results are overwhelmingly consistent: there is a statistically significant
correlation between the two variables under study.
Josephsons study, for example, divided a group of randomly selected seven to nine year olds
into two groups: one shown a short, violent film and the control group shown a non-violent
clip. Both groups subsequently played a game of floor hockey and the incidence of physical
attacks was recorded across them. A parallel study was conducted with young adults who
were subsequently involved in an activity involving confrontation too. The conclusion for
both of these was that exposure to violent media content increased the probability of violent
behaviour immediately after exposure. The result was especially amplified in individuals who
had a reported inclination to aggressive behaviour to begin with.
The longer-term psychological impact of media violence is even more worrying: a study
(reference needed) revealed that African American men who watched violent music videos

SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY FINAL PAPER

displayed greater inclination towards and acceptance of violence in case of conflict while
adolescent girls were less likely to object to dysfunctional and abusive relationships.
Studies have even established causal relationship in laboratory experiments that hold true
across age groups (children and adults), genders (male and female) and types of subjects
(aggressive and non-aggressive).

These have been extrapolated with the help of non-

experimental studies and one-shot surveys of children in their natural environments. On

average, daily exposure to violent media translates into higher likelihood of aggressive
behaviour (Paik, 1994). Rosenthals quantitative study reveals a socially significant change in
the probability of violent, especially when confronted with what he describes as lifethreatening behaviour. These correlations are observed across all studies, though there is
some disagreement about the causal nature of the relationship (Huesmann et al, 1984).
More definitive longitudinal studies have shown strong association between habitual
childhood exposure to media violence and adult hostile behaviour. Huesmann & Erons
interviews over three years and a 15-year follow up study and Slater et al.s analysis of selfreports on both exposure to media violence and aggressive thoughts are especially revealing.
These are further supported by the lack of clear relationship between aggressive childhood
behaviour and subsequent belligerence.
An increasing volume of research is being dedicated to the behavioural impacts of violence in
video games which is pertinent given the increasing amounts of time children dedicate to
them (Anderson and Bushman, 2001). These are played in 83% of US houses with children
and as per official figures, 94% of games designed for teenagers contain violence (Haninger
& Thompson, 2004) in which they are active participants, not passive observers. Studies have
shown results comparable to those found after viewing violent films. Irwin & Gross show a
higher incidence of aggressive behaviour right after exposure.

Bartholow & Anderson

repeated this for college students and others have reached similar results using various

SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY FINAL PAPER

indicators of aggressive behaviour. This too has been extended with the help of various crosssectional and longitudinal surveys, showing violent behaviour in the medium-term and longterm.

METHODOLOGY
The study will focus on the effects of media violence on the behaviour of teenagers. In order
to study this phenomenon the aspect of media that I will focus my research on is that of
violent video games. This is primarily because violent video games have surpassed the effect
on teenagers when compared to other forms of media, such as violent music videos. Another
reason to concentrate my study on violent video games is that children now days spent an
increased amount of time playing video games and a majority of these contain violent
content. Also the children playing these games are active participants in the acts of violence
and not just observers, which increase the risk of them, become aggressive themselves.
Furthermore my research suggests that violent video games have not been concentrated on
enough when compared to other impacts of exposure to TV or movie violence (Anderson &
Bushman, 2001).
My research will focus on randomized experiments in which children in their early teens will
be assigned to play violent and non-violent video games after which the experimental design
will require that they be observed when presented with an opportunity to be aggressive. After
which based on their behaviour their ability to be violent as a result of the exposure to violent
video games will be observed.
The experimental design is such that it is based on randomized experiments in which
children, both boys and girls, in their early teens, will randomly be assigned to play violent or

SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY FINAL PAPER

nonviolent video games. After this they will be observed when placed in a situation in which
they have an opportunity to behave aggressively. It will be observed whether these youths
display aggressive behaviour which will be categorized by looking at physical violence, that
is hitting, pinching, pushing, kicking etc, and verbal aggression, such as, shouting, abusing,
yelling etc. This behaviour will be observed between boys and girls who had a while ago
played either a violent or nonviolent video game. The hypothesis would be based on the plain
assumption that boys and girls who had just played a violent video game will be more likely
to act physically aggressive towards their peers. Another randomized experiment that can be
conducted is by targeting a slightly older teenage group of boys and girls by checking their
ability to be physically or verbally aggressive when someone comes and yells in their ear or
makes a loud noise to provoke them, right after they had played a violent video game
(Bartholow and Anderson, 2002).

DISCUSSION
With the ever increasing popularity of Play station 2, Xbox and Game Cube one must give a
huge amount of blame for increasing violence in children and teenagers. Games such as
doom, Golden eye and numerous other action games have become increasingly graphic as
time has progressed and thus can be associated with the increased level of crimes which have
been occurring recently.
Incidences such as On April 20, 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold 13 lives being lost
because of these boys wanting to have a real life experience of their favourite game. Though
there may not be any anecdotal evidence one must realize that some sort of correlation
between the increasing number of violent crimes and popularity of these cars should be kept
in mind.

SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY FINAL PAPER

The effects of violent games is not singular , but it also causes video game addiction ,
increased amount of frustrations and stress , increase in the crime and abuse rate and other
detrimental effects on society . A number of studies have resulted in the same results Karen E.
Dill, Ph.D. & Craig A. Anderson, Irwin and Gross being a few of them . The evidence is too
strong and there is enough proof in recent incidences to show that these video games are one
of the main causes of such events.
THEORETICAL EXPLANATIONS FOR MEDIA VIOLENCE EFFECTS

It is detrimental to realize that the data provided has ample evidence to show that media
violence transfer into the observer and thus also making him more prone to aggressiveness
and anger. These situations can be observed in different scenarios let it be family gatherings,
among peers or within the community as well (Guerra et al, 1995).
The time displacement effects show that these activities such as video games are the root
cause of causing such traits in children and not only do they change the personality of
children for the worse they also prevent them from pursuing more helpful activities such as
athletics , reading etc . The can now further divide these effects into short and long term.

SHORT TERMS EFFECTS

Three main situations arise in the short terms due to exposure to violence. The first is
known as priming, which is the journey of the brain's neural network from the locus
(Berkovitz, 1993). The second is the excitation process; in this situation the intensity of
violence is usually increased depending on certain situations. This may have more intense
effects than what would have been expected from a person (Bryant & Zillmann, 1979). The
third and the last effect is the imitation process, in which violence portrayed by the media is

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copied by the observer in his surrounding and thus leading them to face the same
consequences as portrayed by the media (Bushman & Huesmann, 2001).

LONG TERM EFFECTS

The first long term effect is that once a person has increased exposure to such situations it
gets embedded in their personalities (Huesmann, 1988). Violence becomes more complex,
abstracted, and automatic in their invocation. These may be eradicated through proper
socialization but none the less have a more lasting effect on a child and violence becomes an
innate characteristic in some children.
The second process is known as activation and desensitization of emotional processes .This
is when a person does not realize when violence is being committed by him Increased heart
rates, perspiration, and self-reports of discomfort often accompany such exposure and lead to
the detrimental effects of violence (Cline et al, 1973).

STUDY SAMPLE

As far as the sample of the study is concerned empirical reports on the subject at hand were
reviewed and game effects that were relevant to the study will be incorporated. These
relevant studies can be defined as those which incorporate data testing as a possible link
between a childs exposure to violent video games that result in one of the possible outcomes:
aggressive behaviour, one in which the individual intends to harm others, Aggressive
cognition, aggressive affect and helpful behaviour. These are the variables that will be looked
at during the carrying out of the study. The sample will comprise of a 100 school going
children and teenage male and female participants who comes from diverse backgrounds.

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They will be randomly selected and divided into groups of four and then subjected to varying
doses of aggressive video games after which they will be observed in a social setting and
their behaviours noted and monitored.

MATERIALS
The materials required for the study will be a play station, a television screen, a number of
video games, two role models whose behaviour the children can freely observe and perhaps
imitate if they want. These role models will be one male and one female. Each group will
have one either one male or one female role model which will be randomly assigned to each
group. The childs ability to be violent will be judged solely on observation by the
experimenters.

PROCEDURE
The design of the study will be very simple. The sample will be randomly divided into groups
of 25. Each group will be assigned a role model; this will randomly be selected and can be
either a male role model or female role model. Group 1 will be exposed to a role model who
will act out violently, that is, behave aggressively or yell loudly at the screen, depending on
how well or badly he is doing at the game. The children in group 1 will be taken to a room
where the role model will already be playing a violent video game and he will act out
violently making gestures and angry expressions as he plays the game. The children will be
told that they are to wait for their turn while he finishes. After a while the children will be
allowed to have their turn in playing the violent video games. This will take as much as an
hour or two.

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The second group of 25 will be given a non-aggressive role model, either male or female, and
the same procedure will follow. Only the children will be exposed to non-violent video games
which they will play for the same duration as group one. Their role model will be polite even
as she loses in the video game.
Group 3 will be exposed to violent video games only the role model will be non-aggressive.
Similarly group 4 will be exposed to non violent video games only the role model will be
aggressive.
After this phase of the experiment is done the children will be lead into a room with several
toys; Guns, blocks, dolls, toy hammers, puzzles, coloring books, play swords etc. Their
behaviour then will be observed regarding what toys they chose and how they decide to play
with them and treat each other.

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