StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

The Connection Between Media Violence and Aggressive Behavior - Coursework Example

Cite this document
Summary
This coursework "The Connection Between Media Violence and Aggressive Behavior" focuses on people who have been concerned about the effect that media violence can have on children’s behavior and whether there is a connection between the media violence and aggressive behavior…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER98.3% of users find it useful
The Connection Between Media Violence and Aggressive Behavior
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "The Connection Between Media Violence and Aggressive Behavior"

Media Violence and Aggressive Behavior People have been concerned for many years about the effect that media violence can have on children’s behavior. The increasing violence in the media has led many parents especially to wonder whether there is a connection between the media violence and aggressive behavior in children. According to Felson (1996) watching violence has been a common form of entertainment. Activities such as wrestling, cock fights and bull fights have been used as entertainment for many years. More and more local news shows include violent crimes in their coverage as a way to increase their ratings. More significantly is the increase in technological advances which now greatly increases the availability of violent entertainment. Television, cable, videocassettes, video games, hand-held cameras and video monitors all contribute to the availability. In 1989 there was a reported dramatic increase in violent crimes after the introduction of television in American households (Felson, 1996). As media technology has increased the amount of time that children and adolescents spent with the technology is also increasing. Carnagey et al (2007) estimate that on an average American children now spend more than five hours a day with media such as television, films, video games. They have also reported similar increases in media consumption in other countries in Europe and Asia. More recently violent video games have been linked to school killings for example the Columbine High School incident and other violent crime sprees that have happened in some schools. In trying to understand the relationship between violent media and aggressive behavior in children Savage (2004) looks to the perspective put forward by Huesmann in 1986 who argues that “ the most plausible hypothesis is that habitual exposure to violent television programs teachers children aggressive habits which are maintained well into adulthood” (Savage, 2004. p.1010). This theory is based on the belief that social behavior is guided by beliefs or cognitive scripts that the person stores in memory. These scripts can then be retrieved later on when triggered and can direct the person into aggressive acts and reactions. The theory believes that children learn these scripts from many sources, one of which is television. Since it is believed that troubled and aggressive children watch more television and identify with the characters on television than other children, they are more prone to storing violent scripts. Watching so much violent television also reinforces these violent scripts. However, in order to analyze and understand the effect of media violence on children’s aggressive behavior we must first define aggression to understand what are the possible factors that can affect it and how it is affected. Psychologist define aggression as “any behavior that is intended to harm another person Anderson et al (2003. p.82). However the authors go on to describe the different types of aggression. Verbal aggression is hurtful things that are said to the victim. Relational or indirect aggression is behavior that is intended to harm the person but is done outside of the person’s view, or behind the person’s back, for example telling lies on the person to get him in trouble or hurt his relationship with others. In addition there is physical aggression which can be a simple push or shove to more serious acts of fighting and physical assault. These all describe aggressive behavior. Aggression can also include aggressive thinking and aggressive emotions both of which can lead to aggressive behavior. Felson (1996) point out that in defining aggression there is yet no single definition of the word intent, thus it is subject to interpretation. However, the effect that violent media have on all these – aggressive behavior, thinking and emotions- are important in understanding the relationship between the violent media and children’s behavior. Another consideration in the effect of violent media on children is the fact that violent action seldom results from a single cause. Media violence can be only one potential factor therefore. As Anderson et al (2003) point out it cannot be seen as “necessary or sufficient to help shape aggressive behavior”. There must be other factors involved and it takes a period of time for the effect of the factors to be evident. The developmental aspect of the relationship must also be considered. Most research shows that children who exhibit aggression early are more likely to exhibit aggressive behavior as older youths or as adults. Therefore the effect of media violence on children is important to study. The General Affective Aggressive Model (GAAM) and the General Aggressive Model (GAM) have been suggested to understand how aggressive behavior results from media violence. The GAM state that “using violent media, especially video games, over other media leads individuals to rehearse aggressive patterns, reinforcing the attribution of hostility toward others and positive attitudes to the use of violence as a means of conflict resolution”, (Clemente et al , 2008. p. 2396). Felson (1996) reviewed the research on the relationship between exposure to media violence and aggression. He first looked at the laboratory studies that were done. Most of these studies showed that the subjects in lab experiments who observe media violence tend to behave more aggressively. It was pointed out though that the analysis of these studies showed some inconsistencies in the results and that the laboratory situation is not always comparable to the outside situation thus affecting the behavior of the subject. In the field studies that the author examined that were carried out in institutions, sixteen studies showed more aggression in the subjects, seven studies showed more aggression in the control group and in five studies there were no significant differences between subjects and controls. Natural experiments looked at the rate of violence after television was introduced into the community. There was an assumption that people exposed to television were also exposed to higher doses of television violence. The results of the studies varied. In 1982 there was no relationship between introduction of television and increase in violence in the US. Some communities in Canada and South Africa also showed no conclusive evidence of a relationship between introduction of television into the communities and increase in violence. These studies showed that it is very difficult to determine that television viewing alone is the factor affecting violent behavior. In longitudinal studies there was a correlation of between .10 and .20. Some factors were identified. Children with more favorable attitudes to violence were more likely to be affected by television violence. Children whose television viewing was more closely supervised by adults were less likely to engage in violence. Other factors that seemed to have an effect on whether or not the children developed aggressive behavior included the level of intelligence of the child, the need for excitement, the level of fear and the commitment to school. The studies lead to the conclusion that exposure to television violence does have some effect but the effect is small and weak and only affects a small percentage of viewers. All these studies also did not offer an explanation for the differences in individual behavior and how individuals are affected by the media violence. In their analysis Clemente, Espinosa and Vidale (2008) set out to investigate the relationship between the amount of television, computer-gaming and Internet use and the antisocial aggressive behavior in teenagers. They had an additional factor- to see whether the relationship is different for males and females. They report studies that show that males who watched more television during their early adolescence were prone to being more violent towards others. Some studies found that television violence was related to direct aggression in males and indirect aggression in females. Violent video games were positively related to aggressive behavior and were stronger for males and individuals with aggressive tendencies. Their study included 51 female and 42 male students in a state school in Spain. All were between the ages of 13 – 18. The participants completed a questionnaire about the frequency and length of continued use of television, Internet, computer and computer gaming. They all completed an inventory of antisocial behavior. The study found that the higher the interactive media use, the higher the amount of global aggressive behavior reported by the participants. It also found that part of the effect of the media was a deficit in socialization. The more television and computer use the less the participants socialized with family and friends. The males reported higher frequency in aggressive behavior, but the television use, preference for violent media, computer games and interactive media use were not necessarily different for the females. This suggests that other factors may be at play in the aggressive behavior of the boys. The study also found that the interactive games were a significant predictor of antisocial aggressive behavior whereas the television was not. This latter conclusion is in agreement with the literature that suggests that the interactive video games have a greater influence on the aggressive behavior than the television. The exposure to violent computer or video games increases short-term aggressive thoughts and aggressive behavior. Video games are also thought to have a stronger effect on arousal of aggressive thoughts and violent behavior than movies or television. The reasons put forward for this are that the video games tend to be more violent, offer more reward for acting violently and are more addictive. In these games the player has more of an active role. References Anderson, C. A., Berkowitz, L., Donneistein, E., Huesmann, L.P., Johnson, J.D., Linz, D., Malamuth, N.M., Warletta, E. (2003). The influence of media violence on youth. Psychological Science in the Public Interest. 4 (3), 81-110. Carnagey, N. L., Anderson, C.A. & Bartholow, B.D. (2007). Media violence and social neuroscience: New questions and new opportunities. Current Directions in Psychological Science. 16 (4), 178-182. Clemente, M., Espinosa, P. & Vidal, M.A. (2008). The media and violent behavior in young people; effects of the media on antisocial aggressive behavior in a Spanish sample. Journal of Applied Social Psychology. 38 (10), 2395-2409. Felson, R. B. (1996). Mass media effects on violent behavior. Annual Reveiew of Sociology. 22, 103-128. Savage, J. (2004). Does viewing violent media really cause criminal violence? A methodological review. Aggression and Violent Behavior. 10 (1), 99-128 Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(The Connection Between Media Violence and Aggressive Behavior Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words, n.d.)
The Connection Between Media Violence and Aggressive Behavior Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words. https://studentshare.org/psychology/1729632-the-effects-of-the-media-on-children
(The Connection Between Media Violence and Aggressive Behavior Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 Words)
The Connection Between Media Violence and Aggressive Behavior Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 Words. https://studentshare.org/psychology/1729632-the-effects-of-the-media-on-children.
“The Connection Between Media Violence and Aggressive Behavior Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 Words”. https://studentshare.org/psychology/1729632-the-effects-of-the-media-on-children.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF The Connection Between Media Violence and Aggressive Behavior

Summaries of two articles

Surette (2002) found no connection between media consumption and copycat crime conduct and attitudes, and academic performance and copycat crime.... As for the cycle of violence, Scarpa (2003) offered biosocial explanations, wherein poststressor cortisol, when combined with anxiety and learning violence from aggressive environments, can instigate the psychological shift from victim status to perpetrator of violence (p.... Article Summaries Name Class number 25 March 2013 Summary of “Community violence Exposure in Young Adults” In the article “Community violence Exposure in Young Adults,” Scarpa (2003) aimed to understand the frequency and effects of exposure to community violence among young adults....
3 Pages (750 words) Essay

Environmental Psychology

Despite this seeming deep connection between aggression and media, dissenting views have been raised.... The present essay entitled "Environmental Psychology" concerns the impact of environment on human performance and behavior.... It is possible that this 21 percent who access video games through the internet are negatively influenced into acquiring aggressive behaviours.... It is possible that this 21 percent who access video games through the internet are negatively influenced into acquiring aggressive behaviors....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay

Athlete aggression on the rink and off the ice

All these social processes in grouping have offered the substantial settings for sports violence and aggressive actions to come up and to progress into the hypothesis that violence is the trend.... 5 former college hockey players were interrogated to find out their view on the kind of aggressive behavior and violent actions in sporting activities in addition to in social life.... Thereby, this establishes that there is a need to consider the fact that disappointment in sports plays a significant role in fanning violent and aggressive behaviors in both sportsmen and their supporters....
3 Pages (750 words) Assignment

Article Critique - Violence

Therefore, the proponents want to identify if children's exposure to these varying types of violence may have substantial impact on their actual aggressive behavior (Miller et al.... The focus therefore of this study is to contribute to the growing body of knowledge linked to violence by which there is a potential link to childhood's aggressive behavior.... For this reason, the proponents were able to include relevant points concerning Intimate Partner violence and sibling aggression, parent-child aggression and sibling aggression, community violence and sibling aggression, exposure to violence in the media and sibling aggression, and complex violence exposure....
3 Pages (750 words) Essay

What are the Psychological effects of the amount of violence portrayed in movies

However, when dealing with violence and the problem of violent films, it may be possible that the effect measured is less than the effect which actually takes place.... The researchers also note that “Research to date indicates that political films have a variety of discernible short-term effects on political beliefs and attitudes, behavior and behavioral intentions, emotions, and other psychological variables (Koopman and Butler, 2007, Pg.... In essence, if a violent person sees violent behavior being rewarded in a film, it may go to reinforce their ideas about violence in general whether it is sexual violence or physical violence (Malamuth and Briere, 1986)....
5 Pages (1250 words) Research Proposal

Criminal Justice relating to Media

According to Freedman (2006), “The belief that media violence is harmful is widespread.... The type of programming contained in news reports, soap operas, family sitcoms, even children's programs have demonstrated a level of media violence that needs immediate attention especially by the parents or guardians of the kids.... Cartoon programs were created to entertain young children, but research has shown that a significant value of media violence is attributable to cartoons....
4 Pages (1000 words) Research Paper

Watching Violent Movies and Teenagers Delinquent Behavior

The relationship between watching violent movies and aggressive behavior is also well established.... By doing so, the author has separated the usual aggressive behavior from criminal aggression that is specifically involved in spurring individuals to act criminally.... Dahl and DellaVigna (2009) have studied a similar relationship between movie violence and violent crimes.... While some individuals who display antisocial and violent behavior do not necessarily go on to become violent teens and adolescents, there is a high likelihood that aggressiveness in young individuals results in growth impairments and violent behavior (Huesmann and Taylor, 2006)....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Position paper #12: Do video games encourage violent behavior

They also have a hard time to solve any difficulties with the others without engaging in aggressive behavior.... The cognition of these children tends to be focused on violence and how to deal with every situation using violence.... All the results indicate that the level of aggression among the… dren and teenagers who frequently indulge in violent video games has been on the increase and continues to worsen with more involvement in these video games. Data reveals that these children tend to increase their rate of slapping, beating or even kicking other children whether Video games and violent behavior Do video games encourage violent behavior?...
2 Pages (500 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us