No Clear Link Between Television Violence and Aggression
There is a great deal of speculation on the role of television violence in
childhood aggression. Research demonstrates there may be other intervening
variables causing aggression. These variables include IQ, social class, parental
punishment, parental aggression, hereditary, environmental, and modeling. With
all of these factors to taken into consideration it is difficult to determine a
causal relationship between television violence and aggression. It is my
hypothesis this relationship is bi-directional - violent television
causes aggressive behavior and aggressive people tend to watch more violent
television.
Over the years there has been a large amount of research published, many with
conflicting results, to the question of a causal link existing between the
viewing of televised violence and childhood aggression. It is an important
question because if violent television is linked to childhood aggression we need
to adapt our television shows accordingly.
Early 1960's Research
There is earlier research, but the first association between violent television
and aggression was in the early 1960's when Albert Bandura began researching his
modeling theory. His series of experiments first set the precedent for a
relationship between violent television viewing and aggression. He felt
children would model or imitate adult behavior. In one study he subjected
children to both aggressive and non- aggressive adult models and then tested
them for imitative behavior in the presence of the model. His theory was
demonstrated when children readily imitated behavior exhibited by an adult model
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...al Psychology, 67, 601-607.
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gain the vote for over 30s in 1918. But I don't agree that it was the
According to the article, Violence in the Media, written by the APA, it provides information on how ferocious television episodes can affect a child’s senses, feelings, and attitude. To be more specific, it can make them become numb, frightened, and more pugnacious due to the amount of violent TV they watch. Furthermore, according to the same article, the APA also wrote, “By observing these participants into adulthood, Huesmann and Eron found that the ones who'd watched a lot of TV violence when they were 8 years old were more likely to be arrested and prosecuted for criminal acts as adults.” Psychologists L. Rowell Huesmann and Leonard Eron held a study that concluded that the result of watching violent television can lead to jail and criminal actions. This will also cause a child to become more aggressive and therefore will become a nefarious person. All in all, the American Psychological Association decided that violent television can shape a child’s disposition. In fact, it can also encourage a child to execute bad deeds and crimes when they become
There is a "general consensus among social scientists that television violence increases the propensity to real-life aggression among some viewers," and yet, paradoxically, "there is presently little evidence indicating that violence enhances program popularity" (Diener & DeFour, 1978). Top government studies insist, "violent material is popular" (Surgeon General's Scientific Advisory Committee on Television and Social Behavior, 1972). Differing conclusions may be viable. One leading social psychologist flatly states, "evidence suggests that violence on television is potentially dangerous, in that it serves as a model for behavior -- especially for children" ...
Johnson, J. G., Cohen, P., Smailes, E. M., Kasen, S., & Brook, J. S. (2002). Television Viewing and Aggressive Behavior During Adolescence and Adulthood. Science, 295(5564), 2468.
Centerwall, B. S. (1992). Television and violence: the scale of the problem and where to
The television has become such a common household appliance that it goes unnoticed and is often underestimated. A normal American household has the television on for more than 7 hours a day, and children ages two to eleven spend an average of twenty eight hours a week viewing (Murray, 1994). This means that during one year a child will spend over one thousand hours watching TV, which over half of children report is unsupervised and has no time restraints (Murray 1994). During these endless hours of watching TV, many programs, particularly children’s involve violence. Sixty percent of all TV shows shown during prime time viewing hours incorporate some from of violence (Tompkins, 2013). Over years of research there as been a large debate as to whether violence on television has impact on its viewers, especially children, and there is a proven correlation. Overall this research has concluded that children who have viewed thi...
Although previous research focused a lot on the effects of televised physical aggression on children, the effects of socially aggressive content received little attention. However, Martins and Wilson gave a new insight into this field in that they did a correlational study on TV watching in which they surveyed over 500 children and found that social aggression on TV has positive relations with socially aggressive behaviors in children. In addition, they also found that the relations are stronger for girls than boys.
The controversy over whether or not violence portrayed on television actually affects children or not has been playing itself out for nearly three decades. When some of the first results came out in the 60s and 70s that made the first connections between aggressive behavior and viewing televised violence, the TV and movie industries denied that there was a connection. When studies found the same thing in the 80s, the FCC opposed any regulation (Hepburn). A writer for Direct Ma...
Similarly, media violence is one that displays deliberate attempts to cause harm to others (Anderson & Bushman, 2001), and it includes dramatic television and movies, news, music videos and interactive media such as the Internet and video games (Anderson et al., 2003). The exhibition of media violence affects the individual’s internal state (Bushman & Anderson, 2002) and thereby presenting a significant and positive correlation, r = .19 (Anderson & Bushman, 2001). The undeniable claims that the media has the power to influence aggressive behaviours are supported by various theories, starting with the social learning
As early as 1958 investigations were being conducted of the effects of television on children. During this time, the researchers found that most of the television content was extremely violent. In almost half of the television hours monitored, the programs main focus contained violence. The common theme that was seen throughout the programs were crime, shooting, fighting, and murder. The universal definition of violence used was, "Any overt depiction of the use of physical force, or the credible threat of such force, to intend to physically harm an animated being or group of beings." In this investigation, Wilbur Schramm concluded that under some conditions, some violent television could effect some children. For the most part, most television is neither helpful or harmful to most kids under most circumstances. As you can see this conclusion is quiet vague, and does not give a lot of crucial information for us to correct and improve. Schramm and his colleagues came up with a solution for parents to provide a warm, loving, secure family environment for their children, and they would have little to worry about.
Television violence causes destructive behavior in children, however; television can be a powerful influence to young viewers in our society. Unfortunately, much of today's television programming are very violent. Many researchers like scientists, pediatricians, and child researchers in many countries have studied to find out what it is about television violence that makes it such a big affect on the way kids act and behave. Sometimes, children think that is a normal thing in our real life, by watching only a single violent program, which can increase aggressiveness on children and become violent, aggressive, and vicious.
Furthermore, television violence causes aggressive behavior in children. Many people believe that children who watch violent television programs exhibit more aggressive behavior than that exhibited by children who do not (Kinnear 23). According to the results of many studies and reports, violence on television can lead to aggressive behavior in children (Langone 50). Also, when television was introduced into a community of children for the first time, researchers observed a rise in the level of physical and verbal aggression among these children (Langone 51). The more television violence viewed by a child, the more aggressive the child is (“Children” 1).
Frazier, Stacy L., and Others And. “The Effects of Television Violence and Early Harsh Discipline on Children’s Social Cognitions and Peer-Directed Aggression.” (1997): ERIC. Web. 24 Sep. 2013. .
Fisher, Deborah A. "Television Violence Contributes to Aggressive Behavior in Young People." 2007. Opposing Viewpoints. .
American Psychological Association. "Violence on Television. What Do Children Learn? What Can Parents Do?" APA Online. www.apa.org/publicinfo/violence.html. Accessed October 23, 2001.