CORRELATION EXISTS BETWEEN MEDIA VIOLENCE AND

AGGRESSION

Sara K. Senkbeil

CONSTRUCTS What is a Correlation?

Magnitude of linear relation between 2 variables measured by correlation coefficient r; range from -1 to 1 with 0 indicating no relationshipSmall correlation + .1; Medium + .3; Large + .5 (Cohen, 1988)

What is Media Violence ? Depictions of “acts of physical aggression by one human or human-like character against another”(Huesmann, 2007, p.2)Includes violence in film, TV, video games, radio(lyrics), internet, etc.

What is Aggression?Acts intended to harm or irritate another person

E.g. Physical and Verbal AggressionHostile or destructive mental attitude

E.g. Aggressive Affect, Aggressive Thoughts

RELATIONSHIP OF MEDIA VIOLENCE WITH AGGRESSION

Small to moderate positive correlation across different methodologies, media types, and cultures.

Experiments Exposing people to violent media in the laboratory increases

likelihood of aggressive behavior and aggressive cognition/affect immediately afterwards.

Bushman (1995)-college students DVs:

Aggressive Behavior (intensity of noise blasts set for opponent in reaction time task)

Aggressive Affect (rating of hostile adjectives) Findings Participants who watched violent video gave “opponent”

significantly more intense noise blasts on first reaction time trial (unprovoked aggression)and all remaining trials (provoked aggression)and reported higher levels of aggressive affect than participants who viewed the non-violent video.

Significant positive correlation (p<.004; r=.20)between amount of time participants reported watching violent TV programs and intensity of noise blasts given to “opponent”.

Study Population Media DVs Findings

Bjorkqvist (1985) 5-6 yr old Finnish children Film Physical Aggression

Children watched violent film were significantly more physically assaultive

Josephson (1987) 7-9yr old boys TV Physical Aggression

Boys watched violent TV had significantly more assaultive behavior during group play

Irwin & Gross (1995)

7-8 yr old boys Video Game Object Aggression

Boys played violent game were significantly more aggressive towards objects in free play

Physical Aggression

""greater interpersonal aggression towards peers during frustrating situation

Anderson et al. (2003)

College studentsMusic (Lyrics)

Aggressive Affect (State Hostility)

Violent song produced significantly higher levels of state hostility

Aggressive Cognition (Word Ratings)

Violent song led to significantly higher aggressiveness ratings for ambiguous words

Fischer et al. (2010)

18-47 yr old German students

Video GameAggression (Dose of Hot Sauce)

Ss played violent game administered significantly more hot sauce for next participantSs played violent game with personalized character administered highest doses

NOTABLE EXPERIMENTBartholow et al. (2006)

Collected event-related brain potential data (ERPs) while violent and non-violent video game users rated the valence of violent, non-violent negative, and neutral pictures.

Participants then completed competitive reaction time task (aggression defined as intensity and duration of noise blasts)

Findings: P300 amplitudes to violent images decreased as a

function of VVGE Smaller P300 amplitudes were significantly associated

with higher levels of aggression Greater VVGE, more aggressed against “opponent”

LONGITUDINAL DESIGNS Eron et al. (1972) [N=427; 8yrs to 19yrs age]

Significant relation (r=.31) b/t boys initial TVVL and peer-rated aggression later

Initial TVVL best predictor of later aggression (r=0.29 standardized)

Huesmann et al. (2003) [N=329; 6-10yrs to adult] Greater childhood exposure to TVV, greater identification with

same-sex aggressive TV characters, and stronger belief that violent shows reflect norms predicted greater adult aggression for both males and females regardless of how aggressive participants were as children. (0.15 < r < 0.21)

Möller & Krahé (2009) [N=149 German adolescents; 30 month period]

META-ANALYSESStudy Studies; Participants Media Violence Effect Size FindingsAnderson & Bushman (2001)

K=33; N=3033 Video Games r=0.19r=0.27r=0.18

VVGE positively correlated with aggressive behavior, aggressive cognition, and aggressive affect

Ferguson (2007) K=25; N=4205 Video Games r+=0.15 Corrected for "publication bias", positive correlation between VGVE and aggressive behavior

Savage & Yancey (2008)

K=20; 17,094 Media Violence (general)

r=0.164r=0.118r=0.102 (overall)

MVE positively correlated with criminal aggression in correlational, longitudinal studies, and overall studies

Anderson et al. (2010) K=136; N=130,296 Video Games 0.140 < r < .168 0.098 < r <0.1430.106< r < 0.141

sig. positive correlations between VVGE and aggressive behavior, aggressive affect, and aggressive cognition

'0.150< r < '0.102'0.113 < r < 0.066

significant negative correlations between VVGE and empathy and prosocial behavior

HOW/WHY DO EFFECTS OCCUR? GENERAL AGGRESSION MODEL (ANDERSON & BUSHMAN,

2002)

MAIN CRITICISMS Freedman (1984; 1986)

Admits positive correlation exists, but denies that media violence causes aggression

“It seems clear that children and adolescents who watch more violent programs on television or who prefer violent programs tend to be more aggressive. The bulk of the correlations fall between .10 and .20. Despite, considerable variability, it seems accurate to conclude that the evidence indicates a positive correlation between viewing television violence and aggression” (Freedman, 1984, p. 237).

Publication Bias (Ferguson, 2007) “File Drawer Phenomenon” –only positive results included in meta-analyses Anderson et al. (2010) applied “trim and fill” procedure advocated by Ferguson

and still found highly significant correlation (.140 < r < .168) mirroring Ferguson’s own findings (r=0.15) between VME and aggressive behavior.

Moderating Third Variables Vast majority of methodologies reviewed (especially recent) have

controlled for/ partialed out a variety of sources of moderating variables (e.g. arousal, content, gender, trait aggressiveness, etc.) and still found significant positive correlation between media violence and aggression.

CONCLUSION Despite media violence being an important factor

leading to aggression, it is not the only factor (Bushman & Anderson, 2001)

Overall, research suggests positive correlation between media violence and aggression across methodologies, media types, and cultures.

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