SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES OF AGGRESSION

AGGRESSION IN THE MEDIA

DEBATE OF LINKS BETWEEN VIOLENCE AND MEDIA

EVALUATION OF RESEARCH INTO THIS FIELD

EXAMPLE EXAM QUESTIONS

REVISION TECHNIQUES

KEEP THE CONVERSATION GOING…!

• SLT• Behaviour• Direct• Vicarious• Koala Bear• Repeat

• 1963• Adult• Doll• Frustrated• Water pistol• Boys

• 1965• Custard Creams• Punish• Media• Lab• Ethical Guidelines

YES… VIOLENT MEDIA DOES CAUSE INCREASED AGGRESSION

Eron (1972)

Aim: To see the effects of watching violence in the media on aggressive behaviour

ERON (1972)Procedure: • Sampled 427 male and female 8 – 9 year olds (3rd grade)• Established a baseline for each child so they asked how aggressive the

child was to the participant, their peers, their mother and their father• Discovered which 3 TV programmes were the participant’s favourite and

rated these programmes for violence

• A follow up study when the child was in 13th grade was completed and each participant was asked to rate their own level of aggression and their peer group was also questioned

ERON (1972)

• Results: They found a positive correlation between amount of violent media watched and levels of aggressive behaviour

ERON (1972) EVALUATION…

ERON (1972) EVALUATION…

ERON (1972) EVALUATION…

ERON (1972) EVALUATION…

NO…VIOLENT MEDIA DOES NOT CAUSE INCREASED AGGRESSION

Charlton et al (2000)

EP – Pg. 77

CHARLTON ET AL (2000) QUIZ…

• 1. Which year did Charlton and colleagues begin collecting data for this study?

• 2. What experimental design did Charlton use in their study?

• 3. What was their independent variable (IV)?

• 4. What was their dependent variable (DV)?

• 5. How was child behaviour monitored in the study?

• 6. What results did Charlton et al obtain?

• 7. What was the conclusion drawn from Charlton’s study?

• 8. What are 3 evaluative points (positive or negative) for this study? (3 marks)

CHARLTON ET AL (2000) EVALUATION

• “It’s difficult to behave antisocially because everybody watches you, everybody knows you, you just got to behave”

• Quote from a child observed in Charlton’s study

EXAM PREP…

• Outline and Evaluate one social psychological explanation of aggression.

(4+8 marks)