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
…show more content…
Subjects in the aggression condition reproduced a good deal of physical and
verbal aggressive behavior resembling that of the models. The data clearly
confirmed the prediction that exposure of subjects to aggressive models
increases the probability of aggressive behavior (Bandura et al. 1961). Another
study sought to determine the extent to which film- mediated aggressive models
may serve as an important source of imitative behavior. Children were divided
and then exposed to four different aggression models. A real-life aggression
condition, a human film- aggression condition, a cartoon film-aggression
condition, and a control group. The results showed that exposure to humans on
film portraying aggression was the most influential in eliciting aggressive
behavior. Subjects in this condition, in comparison to the control subjects,
exhibited more aggression and more imitative aggression. Subjects who viewed
the aggressive human and cartoon models on film exhibited almost twice as much
aggression as subjects in the control group. These results provide strong
evidence that exposure to filmed aggression heightens aggressive reactions in
children (Bandura et al. 1963a). These results add to the conclusion that
viewing violent television produces aggressive behavior.
But,
Television has many shows with violence with it like Power ranger, Criminal Mind, and The Walking Dead. In the show The Walking Dead is a show where a group of people try to survive in a zombie apocalypse and have to use guns to shoot down the zombies. A child mind is easily molded easily, so when a child sees violence on a television show they can learn to do violent actions in the future. An example of this is when a child watches a show with a lot of fighting in it. Shows with a lot of fighting in it are Power rangers and The kids next store. Most children mimic what happens on television and start learning violent actions. This can lead to the child to think that violence is tolerable and start to do more violence actions in the future. Later when they become adult they are more likely to use violence to solve their problems. An example of this happening is when an adult is teased and start a fight with someone. Not all shows have violence in them, Dora the explora and Curious George are shows that are educational. In Dora the explora a girl with her monkey friend go on adventure and have to use problem solving to get to their destination. Scientists like Leonard Eron have tested that television does have a negative effect on society. The study of human behavior is Anthropologist and archeologist. The scientist tested if television had a negative effect on society. They tested this by having parent volunteer their child to watch several type of shows. The children were separated into two group, group A and group B. Group A were shown violent shows and group B was shown educational shows. Eight years after the test children from group A were more likely to be more aggressive and do
I found that this review examined just how aggression and aggressive behavior is depicted in the media and how this impacts society’s perspectives and thoughts when it comes to aggression behavior. There was a review of the literature by the authors, in which they analyzed the relational and physical aspects of aggression in many media aspects (film, broadcast television, music, books, and video games). Findings across media types, the evidence finds that both physical and relational aggression are portrayed often and in ways that may contribute to continued aggression. Also, although there are studies finding no impact of exposure to media aggression, the results discovered that watching relational and physical aggression in the media contributes to aggressive conduct. Important media aggression beliefs are assessed and some of those beliefs are administered to relational aggression media effects Coyne, S. M., Stockdale, L., & Nelson, D. A. (2012).
There has been far-reaching research on the link between televised violence and violent behavior amongst adolescents. Current studies have shown a direct correlation between aggressive conduct and watching violence depicted in many media services and suggest that media is a variable that put children at risk of aggressive behavior (Huesmann, Moise-Titus, Podolski, & Eron, 1992). According to the American Psychological Association, watching playing violent scenes them on games and television, can desensitize children to the suffering and pain of others and may be a greater risk of acting aggressively toward others and they're less bothered by violence in general and less likely to see anything wrong with it. Studies disclose that children
Literature Review: The article presents an issue with exposure to media violence. Children ages 2-18 watch an average of twenty-six hours a week of television. Sixty percent of programs being watched display violence. Children exposed to aggressive scenarios are likely to imitate those behaviors. Children
Violent behavior is something that is innate to the human brain. It has been an instinct of humans since the beginning of our creation or our evolution from a primal state in order to primarily survive and maintain our supremacy atop the hierarchy of all living organisms. We are naturally violent creatures, and this natural tendency for us to exhibit violent behavior isn’t helped by the extreme lack of shelter from and glorification of violent actions through mainstream or alternative news outlets as well as depictions of such actions through other forms of media such as: movies, entertainment television, cartoons, and video games. According to the professing of multiple studies the violence in today’s massive multimedia culture is to be blamed for much of the violence of which we witness on a daily basis within our country. The professing of these studies is reflective of the drastic increase in societal violence in the United States during 1965. A year that marked the first time a generation raised on television would come of the average age of committing violent crimes. (Bushman, 2001, Media Violence and the American Public, pg. 478) These copious amounts of violence that are depicted in our cultures mass media outlets have negative effects on both adults and children. While we exercise our naturally violent minds through seeing and hearing such acts of violence on a daily basis, not only do we
Countless other possibilities, which have been found to contribute to aggressive actions, can be discovered within genetics and a child’s environment. Among these potential contributors are inherited tendencies towards hostility (genetic predisposition), behavior learned from other children and parental abuse. Since impending factors, such as these, are potentially significant to violence issues, it would be premature to assume that one single source of input is ultimately responsible, such as media programming.
The researchers noticed real differences between the kids who watched the violent shows and those who watched nonviolent ones. According to Aletha Huston, Ph.D., ?children who watch the violent shows, even 'just funny' cartoons, were more likely to hit out at their playmates, argue, disobey class rules, leave tasks unfinished, and were less willing to wait for things than those who watched the nonviolent programs.? Findings from the laboratory are further supported by field studies, which have shown the long-range effects of televised violence. Leonard Eron, Ph.D., and his associates at the University of Illinois, found that children who watched many hours of TV violence when they were in elementary school tended to also show a ?higher level of aggressive behavior? when they became teenagers. By observing these youngsters until they were 30 years old, Dr. Eron found that the ones who ?had watched a lot of TV when they were eight years old were more likely to be arrested and prosecuted for criminal acts as adults?.
▪ Of over a thousand studies that have been done on the effects of violence in television and movies, majority of them conclude that individuals, especially children who spend significant time watching violence on TV and movies are more likely to display aggressive or violent behavior, attitudes and values. (Senate Committee; Congressional Public Health Summit qtd. from the National Institute on Media and the Family)
The accumulated evidence, however, does not warrant the conclusion that televised violence has a uniformly adverse effect nor the conclusion that it has an adverse effect on the majority of children. It cannot even be said that the majority of the children in the various studies we have reviewed showed an increase in aggressive behavior in response to the violent fare to which they were exposed. The evidence does indicate the televised violence may lead to increased aggressive behavior in certain subgroups of children who might constitute a small portion or substantial proportion of the total population of young television viewers. (109-110)
The Surgeon General's Report on Television and Social Behavior (1971) was a highly criticized study because of the vagueness of its implications but progress in the field of study were still made. The studies were based on content analysis of TV violence with particular attention to modeling and observational learning as evident in the subjects. The conclusions that were drawn from the five volumes of research were that television programming is heavily saturated with violence, there has been increased exposure to this violence by both adults and children, and that viewing of violence in the media increases the likelihood of aggressive behavior. This project is of particular interest due to the large size of the study and extent of federal funding that was used to support it.
Children who watched the violent shows were more likely to strike out at playmates, argue, go against authority and were less willing to wait for things than those children who watched nonviolent programs. Studies have also found that children who watched many hours of television violence when they were in elementary school were inclined to also show a higher level of aggressive behavior when they became teenagers.
Violence is one of the most primary and controversial issues in today’s society. And true that violence is on the rise. A major concern for many parents is the violence within television shows and movies, and the effect on children’s aggression. I particularly do not believe that violence in television affects children’s aggression, but who am I to say such a thing, for I am not a qualified psychologist. But I have many reasons for my accusation and references to back it up. Now television plays a major role in today’s society, and it occupies almost every home in the United States. Parents have such a big concern for the children watching television, but children throughout the U.S watch an average of twenty
Media violence impacts the physical aggression of human beings. It is one of the many potential factors that influence the risk for violence and aggression. Research has proven that aggression in children will cause the likelihood of aggression in their adulthood. Theories have evolved that the violence present in the media most likely teaches the viewer to be more violent. It is a risky behavior that is established from the childhood. Furthermore, media violence is a public health risk because it gives off a long term effect of aggressive behavior to a correlation of .20 to .30. Media Violence through television, video games, cyber bullying, and bad advertisements negatively influences adults and children.
Violent television shows lead to violence in children between the ages of two and five. A study conducted by Albert Bandura concludes that violence in the media can lead to aggressive behavior. In this study, the experimental group was shown a cartoon where the characters
For many years there have been links to how violence in media has been glorified as something harmless and normal especially dealing with music, video games, and social media. Often the disbelief of how violence in media cannot affect the brain is under looked but studies have shown otherwise. Indiana University School of medicine has linked visible alterations MRI brain scans for those who have played violent video games for about a week. In this case it has been shown that there has been an activation of the prefrontal portion of the brain otherwise know as the amygdala which activates the emotion center, but can also trigger, anger, aggression, and impulse behavior (Dale). Other interesting studies from Virginia Tech have shown several of their students violent and non-violent with an obvious increase in hostile behavior. The University of Alabama have conveyed coincidental results stating that the aggression did not just occur after but stayed with the students for quite sometime. Macquarie University for children’s health have researched that children who view violent movies were most likely going to view the world as unsympathetic or scary which could provoke aggression. Furthermore, the video game industry has collect around $66 billion dollars globally in 2012 with amongst 85% of those video games contributing to violence. Parental skills may have some effect on child behavior it ultimately depends on what you allow