Media violence

Research findings

Paik & Comstock

• The effects of television violence on antisocial behavior: A meta-analysis

1963

• Two classic experiments• Bandura, Ross and Ross• Berkowitz and Rawlings

Bandura, Ross & Ross

• Subjects: Nursery school children• Manipulation: Exposed to portrayals of 1)

ordinary adults; and 2) person costumed as a cartoon character acting violently

• Outcome: Aggressive behavior when allowed to play freely with toys

Berkowitz & Rawlings

• Subjects: College students• Manipulation: Exposure to film portrayal of

a boxing match and perceived loser as deserving punishment for earlier antisocial behavior

• Outcome: Expressed greater hostility toward someone who had angered them

• Paik & Comstock looked at 217 empirical studies from 1957-1990. These studies yielded 1,142 hypothesis tests.

Overall effect size

N r r2

Male viewers All observations 595 .36 .13 Experimental designs 451 .41 .17 Surveys 144 .18 .03 Female viewers All observations 192 .26 .07 Experimental designs 72 .37 .14 Surveys 120 .19 .03

Overall effect size by age

N r r2

Preschool 1117 .46 .21

6-11 351 .31 .10

12-17 334 .22 .05

18-21 267 .37 .14

Adult 57 .18 .03

Experimental effect size by age

N r r2

Preschool 108 .47 .22

6-11 197 .38 .15

12-17 110 .33 .11

18-21 253 .38 .14

Adult 48 .17 .03

Survey effect size by age

N r r2

Preschool 9 .29 .09

6-11 154 .21 .04

12-17 224 .17 .03

18-21 14 .16 .02

Adult 9 .23 .05

Effect size by research method

N r r2

All observations 1,142 .31 .10

Experimental designs 732 .37 .14

Laboratory experiment 586 .40 .16

Field experiment 97 .30 .09

Time-series studies 49 .19 .04

Surveys 410 .19 .03

Effect sizes by program characteristics

N r r2

Violent program v. other 593 .36 .13

Violent-erotica v. other 30 .54 .29

Erotic program v. other 44 .43 .19

Program type

N r r2

Cartoon/fantasy program 41 .52 .28Excerpts/behavioral demo 159 .50 .25Pornography/erotica 70 .43 .18Sport show 43 .40 .16Action/adventure/crime 157 .32 .11News/public affairs 95 .25 .06Western 34 .19 .04

Treatment type

N r r2

Violent program—entire 161 .32 .10

Violent program—excerpts 372 .35 .12

Behavioral demonstration 126 .53 .28

Program portrayal condition: viewer left in state of unresolved excitement

N r r2

Yes 201 .40 .16

No 55 .28 .08

Viewer identifies with perpetrator, setting, and weapon

N r r2

Yes 124 .45 .20

No 129 .40 .16

Antisocial behavior rewarded

N r r2

Yes 146 .31 .09

No 30 .30 .09

Portrayal justifies antisocial behavior

N r r2

Yes 122 .35 .12

No 55 .28 .08

Television exposure measure

N r r2

Amount of tv viewing 85 .18 .03

Expressed preference 70 .16 .03

Violent program viewing 255 .20 .04

Types of aggressive behavior

N r r2

All simulated aggressive behavior

587 .33 .11

Intensity of using aggressive machines/self-report of intent

515 .31 .10

Plays with aggressive toys 7 .52 .28

Unclassified simulated aggressive behavior

65 .40 .16

Minor aggressive behavior

N r r2

All observations combined

406 .31 .10

Physical violence against an object

104 .52 .27

Verbal aggression 86 .27 .07

Physical violence against a person (not illegal)

271 .23 .05

Illegal activities

N r r2

All observations combined

94 .17 .03

Burglary 13 .28 .08

Grand theft 23 .28 .08

Physical violence against a person (homicide, suicide, stabbing, etc.)

58 .10 .01

UW study on race and violence

• The subjects in the studies, who were instructed to shoot only when the human targets in the game were armed, made more errors when confronted by images of black men carrying objects like cellphones or cameras than when faced with similarly unarmed white men. The participants, who in all but one study were primarily white, were also quicker to fire on black men with guns than on white men with guns.