Does Exposure to Media Violnce Increase an Individual's Likelihood of Engaging in Violent Behavior?

DOES EXPOSURE TO MEDIA VIOLNCE INCREASE AN INDIVIDUAL'S LIKELIHOOD OF ENGAGING IN VIOLENT BEHAVIOR?

PART I

Article 1 - (Douglas, Lindsay, & Nicki, 2011)

Self reports, peer nomination measures and surveys completed by the children's teachers were used to assess aggression. The results of the study show that Media violence exposure (MVE) and relational aggression are inversely proportional while MVE and proactive relational aggression and reactive physical aggression are directly proportional and that MVE had no effects on proactive physical aggression.

Article 2 - (Coyne, et al., 2008)

The participants were shown videos containing different types of aggressive behavior and their aggression was measured through the use of a competitive reaction time task. The results of the study show that the estimated marginal average values varied according to the type of video viewed. Specifically, for the physical aggression (PA), relational aggression (RA) and no-aggression (NA) videos, the estimated mean values of PA were 6.11, 5.82 and 3.97 respectively (where higher scores indicate heightened aggression). Similarly, the RA scores against the confederate were 3.50, 3.57 and 4.26 while the RA scores against the experimenter were 4.76, 4.58 and 4.77 for the PA video, RA video and NA video respectively (here lower scores indicate heightened aggression). The findings of this study conclude that exposure to physical violence in the media results in subsequent physically aggressive behavior (eg. (Bushman & Anderson, 2001))and that viewing physical violence in the media causes relational aggression. It was also observed that the participants in the physical violence condition displayed more relational aggression towards the confederate than those who viewed the no-aggression video. Likewise, it was observed that those who watched the relational aggression video showed more physical aggression against the confederate.

Article 3 - (Ferguson, Colwell, Mlacic, Milas, & Miklousic, 2011)

Participants were told to report their 3 favorite video games and their 3 favorite TV shows. They were told to report how often they watch or play these items and were asked to rate the violence content of these media. Scores were summed across the three video games and the three TV shows. Self reports were used to measure violent crime. MVE has an insignificant effect on the vast majority of individuals but may show behavioral changes in individuals that are already highly predisposed toward violence.

Article 4 - (Krahe & Moller, 2010)

The students completed measures of violent and non violent media usage twice in 12 months and the results were analyzed statistically. The findings showed links between MVE and aggressive behavior and reduced empathy.

Article 5 - (Lennings & Warburton, 2011)

Participants were allocated within gender in a 2 (violent lyrics vs. no violent lyrics) x 2 (violent video vs. no violent video) plus a control group that experienced no media. Then they were given the chance to aggress using the hot sauce paradigm. The results show that experimental groups on average were significantly more aggressive than controls. The strongest effect was brought out by exposure to violent lyrics.

Article 6 - (Engelhardt, Bartholow, Kerr, & Bushman, 2011)

Participants played a violent or nonviolent video game, viewed violent and nonviolent photos while their brain activity was measured, and then gave an ostensible opponent unpleasant noise blasts. Participants low in previous exposure to video game violence who played a violent game showed a reduction in the component of the event-related brain potential to violent images and this brain response mediated the effect of video game component on subsequent aggressive behavior.

PART II

There are quite a few themes that can be used to synthesize the six articles that have been used by the researcher to describe the relation between media violence exposure and the likelihood for an individual to engage in violent behavior. These themes help to compare and contrast the studies and arrive at common conclusions about the topic.

One such theme that can be used is the similar methods that most of the researchers used in their experiments. Specifically, in the articles by (Douglas, Lindsay, & Nicki, 2011), (Ferguson, Colwell, Mlacic, Milas, & Miklousic, 2011) and (Krahe & Moller, 2010) the experimenters used self reports by the participants' to judge the levels of aggression displayed after exposure to media violence. In contrast in the other three articles, the experimenters used different methods to assess aggressive behavior. Specifically, in the article by (Coyne, et al., 2008) the participants were shown videos' containing different types of aggressive behavior and their aggression was measured through the use of a competitive reaction time task. In the article by (Lennings & Warburton, 2011) participants were allocated within gender in a 2 (violent lyrics vs. no violent lyrics) x 2 (violent video vs. no violent video) plus a control group that experienced no media. Then they were given the chance to aggress using the hot sauce paradigm. Finally, in the article by (Engelhardt, Bartholow, Kerr, & Bushman, 2011), participants played a violent or nonviolent video game, viewed violent and nonviolent photos while their brain activity was measured, and then gave an ostensible opponent unpleasant noise blasts.

By analyzing the six research articles, the researcher found that other than for the articles by (Ferguson, Colwell, Mlacic, Milas,