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Measuring Attitudes toward Media Violence Using Item-response Theory

Masters Thesis
Colin Braman California State University, Fullerton
Kathleen S. J. Preston California State University, Fullerton
Christine D. Scher California State University, Fullerton
Pamella H. Oliver California State University, Fullerton
College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Department of Psychology
California State University, Fullerton
Mass communications
Behavioral psychology
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12680/r781wh28g
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Violence, media effects, and criminology.

Nickie D. Phillips Nickie D. Phillips Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, St. Francis College
https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264079.013.189
Published online: 27 July 2017

Debate surrounding the impact of media representations on violence and crime has raged for decades and shows no sign of abating. Over the years, the targets of concern have shifted from film to comic books to television to video games, but the central questions remain the same. What is the relationship between popular media and audience emotions, attitudes, and behaviors? While media effects research covers a vast range of topics—from the study of its persuasive effects in advertising to its positive impact on emotions and behaviors—of particular interest to criminologists is the relationship between violence in popular media and real-life aggression and violence. Does media violence cause aggression and/or violence?

The study of media effects is informed by a variety of theoretical perspectives and spans many disciplines including communications and media studies, psychology, medicine, sociology, and criminology. Decades of research have amassed on the topic, yet there is no clear agreement about the impact of media or about which methodologies are most appropriate. Instead, there continues to be disagreement about whether media portrayals of violence are a serious problem and, if so, how society should respond.

Conflicting interpretations of research findings inform and shape public debate around media effects. Although there seems to be a consensus among scholars that exposure to media violence impacts aggression, there is less agreement around its potential impact on violence and criminal behavior. While a few criminologists focus on the phenomenon of copycat crimes, most rarely engage with whether media directly causes violence. Instead, they explore broader considerations of the relationship between media, popular culture, and society.

media exposure
criminal behavior
popular culture
media violence
media and crime
copycat crimes

Media Exposure, Violence, and Aggression

On Friday July 22, 2016 , a gunman killed nine people at a mall in Munich, Germany. The 18-year-old shooter was subsequently characterized by the media as being under psychiatric care and harboring at least two obsessions. One, an obsession with mass shootings, including that of Anders Breivik who ultimately killed 77 people in Norway in 2011 , and the other an obsession with video games. A Los Angeles, California, news report stated that the gunman was “an avid player of first-person shooter video games, including ‘Counter-Strike,’” while another headline similarly declared, “Munich gunman, a fan of violent video games, rampage killers, had planned attack for a year”(CNN Wire, 2016 ; Reuters, 2016 ). This high-profile incident was hardly the first to link popular culture to violent crime. Notably, in the aftermath of the 1999 Columbine shooting massacre, for example, media sources implicated and later discredited music, video games, and a gothic aesthetic as causal factors of the crime (Cullen, 2009 ; Yamato, 2016 ). Other, more recent, incidents have echoed similar claims suggesting that popular culture has a nefarious influence on consumers.

Media violence and its impact on audiences are among the most researched and examined topics in communications studies (Hetsroni, 2007 ). Yet, debate over whether media violence causes aggression and violence persists, particularly in response to high-profile criminal incidents. Blaming video games, and other forms of media and popular culture, as contributing to violence is not a new phenomenon. However, interpreting media effects can be difficult because commenters often seem to indicate a grand consensus that understates more contradictory and nuanced interpretations of the data.

In fact, there is a consensus among many media researchers that media violence has an impact on aggression although its impact on violence is less clear. For example, in response to the shooting in Munich, Brad Bushman, professor of communication and psychology, avoided pinning the incident solely on video games, but in the process supported the assertion that video gameplay is linked to aggression. He stated,

While there isn’t complete consensus in any scientific field, a study we conducted showed more than 90% of pediatricians and about two-thirds of media researchers surveyed agreed that violent video games increase aggression in children. (Bushman, 2016 )

Others, too, have reached similar conclusions with regard to other media. In 2008 , psychologist John Murray summarized decades of research stating, “Fifty years of research on the effect of TV violence on children leads to the inescapable conclusion that viewing media violence is related to increases in aggressive attitudes, values, and behaviors” (Murray, 2008 , p. 1212). Scholars Glenn Sparks and Cheri Sparks similarly declared that,

Despite the fact that controversy still exists about the impact of media violence, the research results reveal a dominant and consistent pattern in favor of the notion that exposure to violent media images does increase the risk of aggressive behavior. (Sparks & Sparks, 2002 , p. 273)

In 2014 , psychologist Wayne Warburton more broadly concluded that the vast majority of studies have found “that exposure to violent media increases the likelihood of aggressive behavior in the short and longterm, increases hostile perceptions and attitudes, and desensitizes individuals to violent content” (Warburton, 2014 , p. 64).

Criminologists, too, are sensitive to the impact of media exposure. For example, Jacqueline Helfgott summarized the research:

There have been over 1000 studies on the effects of TV and film violence over the past 40 years. Research on the influence of TV violence on aggression has consistently shown that TV violence increases aggression and social anxiety, cultivates a “mean view” of the world, and negatively impacts real-world behavior. (Helfgott, 2015 , p. 50)

In his book, Media Coverage of Crime and Criminal Justice , criminologist Matthew Robinson stated, “Studies of the impact of media on violence are crystal clear in their findings and implications for society” (Robinson, 2011 , p. 135). He cited studies on childhood exposure to violent media leading to aggressive behavior as evidence. In his pioneering book Media, Crime, and Criminal Justice , criminologist Ray Surette concurred that media violence is linked to aggression, but offered a nuanced interpretation. He stated,

a small to modest but genuine causal role for media violence regarding viewer aggression has been established for most beyond a reasonable doubt . . . There is certainly a connection between violent media and social aggression, but its strength and configuration is simply not known at this time. (Surette, 2011 , p. 68)

The uncertainties about the strength of the relationship and the lack of evidence linking media violence to real-world violence is often lost in the news media accounts of high-profile violent crimes.

Media Exposure and Copycat Crimes

While many scholars do seem to agree that there is evidence that media violence—whether that of film, TV, or video games—increases aggression, they disagree about its impact on violent or criminal behavior (Ferguson, 2014 ; Gunter, 2008 ; Helfgott, 2015 ; Reiner, 2002 ; Savage, 2008 ). Nonetheless, it is violent incidents that most often prompt speculation that media causes violence. More specifically, violence that appears to mimic portrayals of violent media tends to ignite controversy. For example, the idea that films contribute to violent crime is not a new assertion. Films such as A Clockwork Orange , Menace II Society , Set it Off , and Child’s Play 3 , have been linked to crimes and at least eight murders have been linked to Oliver Stone’s 1994 film Natural Born Killers (Bracci, 2010 ; Brooks, 2002 ; PBS, n.d. ). Nonetheless, pinpointing a direct, causal relationship between media and violent crime remains elusive.

Criminologist Jacqueline Helfgott defined copycat crime as a “crime that is inspired by another crime” (Helfgott, 2015 , p. 51). The idea is that offenders model their behavior on media representations of violence whether real or fictional. One case, in particular, illustrated how popular culture, media, and criminal violence converge. On July 20, 2012 , James Holmes entered the midnight premiere of The Dark Knight Rises , the third film in the massively successful Batman trilogy, in a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado. He shot and killed 12 people and wounded 70 others. At the time, the New York Times described the incident,

Witnesses told the police that Mr. Holmes said something to the effect of “I am the Joker,” according to a federal law enforcement official, and that his hair had been dyed or he was wearing a wig. Then, as people began to rise from their seats in confusion or anxiety, he began to shoot. The gunman paused at least once, several witnesses said, perhaps to reload, and continued firing. (Frosch & Johnson, 2012 ).

The dyed hair, Holme’s alleged comment, and that the incident occurred at a popular screening led many to speculate that the shooter was influenced by the earlier film in the trilogy and reignited debate around the impact about media violence. The Daily Mail pointed out that Holmes may have been motivated by a 25-year-old Batman comic in which a gunman opens fire in a movie theater—thus further suggesting the iconic villain served as motivation for the attack (Graham & Gallagher, 2012 ). Perceptions of the “Joker connection” fed into the notion that popular media has a direct causal influence on violent behavior even as press reports later indicated that Holmes had not, in fact, made reference to the Joker (Meyer, 2015 ).

A week after the Aurora shooting, the New York Daily News published an article detailing a “possible copycat” crime. A suspect was arrested in his Maryland home after making threatening phone calls to his workplace. The article reported that the suspect stated, “I am a [sic] joker” and “I’m going to load my guns and blow everybody up.” In their search, police found “a lethal arsenal of 25 guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition” in the suspect’s home (McShane, 2012 ).

Though criminologists are generally skeptical that those who commit violent crimes are motivated solely by media violence, there does seem to be some evidence that media may be influential in shaping how some offenders commit crime. In his study of serious and violent juvenile offenders, criminologist Ray Surette found “about one out of three juveniles reports having considered a copycat crime and about one out of four reports actually having attempted one.” He concluded that “those juveniles who are self-reported copycats are significantly more likely to credit the media as both a general and personal influence.” Surette contended that though violent offenses garner the most media attention, copycat criminals are more likely to be career criminals and to commit property crimes rather than violent crimes (Surette, 2002 , pp. 56, 63; Surette 2011 ).

Discerning what crimes may be classified as copycat crimes is a challenge. Jacqueline Helfgott suggested they occur on a “continuum of influence.” On one end, she said, media plays a relatively minor role in being a “component of the modus operandi” of the offender, while on the other end, she said, “personality disordered media junkies” have difficulty distinguishing reality from violent fantasy. According to Helfgott, various factors such as individual characteristics, characteristics of media sources, relationship to media, demographic factors, and cultural factors are influential. Overall, scholars suggest that rather than pushing unsuspecting viewers to commit crimes, media more often influences how , rather than why, someone commits a crime (Helfgott, 2015 ; Marsh & Melville, 2014 ).

Given the public interest, there is relatively little research devoted to exactly what copycat crimes are and how they occur. Part of the problem of studying these types of crimes is the difficulty defining and measuring the concept. In an effort to clarify and empirically measure the phenomenon, Surette offered a scale that included seven indicators of copycat crimes. He used the following factors to identify copycat crimes: time order (media exposure must occur before the crime); time proximity (a five-year cut-off point of exposure); theme consistency (“a pattern of thought, feeling or behavior in the offender which closely parallels the media model”); scene specificity (mimicking a specific scene); repetitive viewing; self-editing (repeated viewing of single scene while “the balance of the film is ignored”); and offender statements and second-party statements indicating the influence of media. Findings demonstrated that cases are often prematurely, if not erroneously, labeled as “copycat.” Surette suggested that use of the scale offers a more precise way for researchers to objectively measure trends and frequency of copycat crimes (Surette, 2016 , p. 8).

Media Exposure and Violent Crimes

Overall, a causal link between media exposure and violent criminal behavior has yet to be validated, and most researchers steer clear of making such causal assumptions. Instead, many emphasize that media does not directly cause aggression and violence so much as operate as a risk factor among other variables (Bushman & Anderson, 2015 ; Warburton, 2014 ). In their review of media effects, Brad Bushman and psychologist Craig Anderson concluded,

In sum, extant research shows that media violence is a causal risk factor not only for mild forms of aggression but also for more serious forms of aggression, including violent criminal behavior. That does not mean that violent media exposure by itself will turn a normal child or adolescent who has few or no other risk factors into a violent criminal or a school shooter. Such extreme violence is rare, and tends to occur only when multiple risk factors converge in time, space, and within an individual. (Bushman & Anderson, 2015 , p. 1817)

Surette, however, argued that there is no clear linkage between media exposure and criminal behavior—violent or otherwise. In other words, a link between media violence and aggression does not necessarily mean that exposure to violent media causes violent (or nonviolent) criminal behavior. Though there are thousands of articles addressing media effects, many of these consist of reviews or commentary about prior research findings rather than original studies (Brown, 2007 ; Murray, 2008 ; Savage, 2008 ; Surette, 2011 ). Fewer, still, are studies that specifically measure media violence and criminal behavior (Gunter, 2008 ; Strasburger & Donnerstein, 2014 ). In their meta-analysis investigating the link between media violence and criminal aggression, scholars Joanne Savage and Christina Yancey did not find support for the assertion. Instead, they concluded,

The study of most consequence for violent crime policy actually found that exposure to media violence was significantly negatively related to violent crime rates at the aggregate level . . . It is plain to us that the relationship between exposure to violent media and serious violence has yet to be established. (Savage & Yancey, 2008 , p. 786)

Researchers continue to measure the impact of media violence among various forms of media and generally stop short of drawing a direct causal link in favor of more indirect effects. For example, one study examined the increase of gun violence in films over the years and concluded that violent scenes provide scripts for youth that justify gun violence that, in turn, may amplify aggression (Bushman, Jamieson, Weitz, & Romer, 2013 ). But others report contradictory findings. Patrick Markey and colleagues studied the relationship between rates of homicide and aggravated assault and gun violence in films from 1960–2012 and found that over the years, violent content in films increased while crime rates declined . After controlling for age shifts, poverty, education, incarceration rates, and economic inequality, the relationships remained statistically non-significant (Markey, French, & Markey, 2015 , p. 165). Psychologist Christopher Ferguson also failed to find a relationship between media violence in films and video games and violence (Ferguson, 2014 ).

Another study, by Gordon Dahl and Stefano DellaVigna, examined violent films from 1995–2004 and found decreases in violent crimes coincided with violent blockbuster movie attendance. Here, it was not the content that was alleged to impact crime rates, but instead what the authors called “voluntary incapacitation,” or the shifting of daily activities from that of potential criminal behavior to movie attendance. The authors concluded, “For each million people watching a strongly or mildly violent movie, respectively, violent crime decreases by 1.9% and 2.1%. Nonviolent movies have no statistically significant impact” (Dahl & DellaVigna, p. 39).

High-profile cases over the last several years have shifted public concern toward the perceived danger of video games, but research demonstrating a link between video games and criminal violence remains scant. The American Psychiatric Association declared that “research demonstrates a consistent relation between violent video game use and increases in aggressive behavior, aggressive cognitions and aggressive affect, and decreases in prosocial behavior, empathy and sensitivity to aggression . . .” but stopped short of claiming that video games impact criminal violence. According to Breuer and colleagues, “While all of the available meta-analyses . . . found a relationship between aggression and the use of (violent) video games, the size and interpretation of this connection differ largely between these studies . . .” (APA, 2015 ; Breuer et al., 2015 ; DeCamp, 2015 ). Further, psychologists Patrick Markey, Charlotte Markey, and Juliana French conducted four time-series analyses investigating the relationship between video game habits and assault and homicide rates. The studies measured rates of violent crime, the annual and monthly video game sales, Internet searches for video game walkthroughs, and rates of violent crime occurring after the release dates of popular games. The results showed that there was no relationship between video game habits and rates of aggravated assault and homicide. Instead, there was some indication of decreases in crime (Markey, Markey, & French, 2015 ).

Another longitudinal study failed to find video games as a predictor of aggression, instead finding support for the “selection hypothesis”—that physically aggressive individuals (aged 14–17) were more likely to choose media content that contained violence than those slightly older, aged 18–21. Additionally, the researchers concluded,

that violent media do not have a substantial impact on aggressive personality or behavior, at least in the phases of late adolescence and early adulthood that we focused on. (Breuer, Vogelgesang, Quandt, & Festl, 2015 , p. 324)

Overall, the lack of a consistent finding demonstrating that media exposure causes violent crime may not be particularly surprising given that studies linking media exposure, aggression, and violence suffer from a host of general criticisms. By way of explanation, social theorist David Gauntlett maintained that researchers frequently employ problematic definitions of aggression and violence, questionable methodologies, rely too much on fictional violence, neglect the social meaning of violence, and assume the third-person effect—that is, assume that other, vulnerable people are impacted by media, but “we” are not (Ferguson & Dyck, 2012 ; Gauntlett, 2001 ).

Others, such as scholars Martin Barker and Julian Petley, flatly reject the notion that violent media exposure is a causal factor for aggression and/or violence. In their book Ill Effects , the authors stated instead that it is simply “stupid” to query about “what are the effects of [media] violence” without taking context into account (p. 2). They counter what they describe as moral campaigners who advance the idea that media violence causes violence. Instead, Barker and Petley argue that audiences interpret media violence in a variety of ways based on their histories, experiences, and knowledge, and as such, it makes little sense to claim media “cause” violence (Barker & Petley, 2001 ).

Given the seemingly inconclusive and contradictory findings regarding media effects research, to say that the debate can, at times, be contentious is an understatement. One article published in European Psychologist queried “Does Doing Media Violence Research Make One Aggressive?” and lamented that the debate had devolved into an ideological one (Elson & Ferguson, 2013 ). Another academic journal published a special issue devoted to video games and youth and included a transcript of exchanges between two scholars to demonstrate that a “peaceful debate” was, in fact, possible (Ferguson & Konijn, 2015 ).

Nonetheless, in this debate, the stakes are high and the policy consequences profound. After examining over 900 published articles, publication patterns, prominent authors and coauthors, and disciplinary interest in the topic, scholar James Anderson argued that prominent media effects scholars, whom he deems the “causationists,” had developed a cottage industry dependent on funding by agencies focused primarily on the negative effects of media on children. Anderson argued that such a focus presents media as a threat to family values and ultimately operates as a zero-sum game. As a result, attention and resources are diverted toward media and away from other priorities that are essential to understanding aggression such as social disadvantage, substance abuse, and parental conflict (Anderson, 2008 , p. 1276).

Theoretical Perspectives on Media Effects

Understanding how media may impact attitudes and behavior has been the focus of media and communications studies for decades. Numerous theoretical perspectives offer insight into how and to what extent the media impacts the audience. As scholar Jenny Kitzinger documented in 2004 , there are generally two ways to approach the study of media effects. One is to foreground the power of media. That is, to suggest that the media holds powerful sway over viewers. Another perspective is to foreground the power and heterogeneity of the audience and to recognize that it is comprised of active agents (Kitzinger, 2004 ).

The notion of an all-powerful media can be traced to the influence of scholars affiliated with the Institute for Social Research, or Frankfurt School, in the 1930–1940s and proponents of the mass society theory. The institute was originally founded in Germany but later moved to the United States. Criminologist Yvonne Jewkes outlined how mass society theory assumed that members of the public were susceptible to media messages. This, theorists argued, was a result of rapidly changing social conditions and industrialization that produced isolated, impressionable individuals “cut adrift from kinship and organic ties and lacking moral cohesion” (Jewkes, 2015 , p. 13). In this historical context, in the era of World War II, the impact of Nazi propaganda was particularly resonant. Here, the media was believed to exhibit a unidirectional flow, operating as a powerful force influencing the masses. The most useful metaphor for this perspective described the media as a “hypodermic syringe” that could “‘inject’ values, ideas and information directly into the passive receiver producing direct and unmediated ‘effects’” (Jewkes, 2015 , pp. 16, 34). Though the hypodermic syringe model seems simplistic today, the idea that the media is all-powerful continues to inform contemporary public discourse around media and violence.

Concern of the power of media captured the attention of researchers interested in its purported negative impact on children. In one of the earliest series of studies in the United States during the late 1920s–1930s, researchers attempted to quantitatively measure media effects with the Payne Fund Studies. For example, they investigated how film, a relatively new medium, impacted children’s attitudes and behaviors, including antisocial and violent behavior. At the time, the Payne Fund Studies’ findings fueled the notion that children were indeed negatively influenced by films. This prompted the film industry to adopt a self-imposed code regulating content (Sparks & Sparks, 2002 ; Surette, 2011 ). Not everyone agreed with the approach. In fact, the methodologies employed in the studies received much criticism, and ultimately, the movement was branded as a moral crusade to regulate film content. Scholars Garth Jowett, Ian Jarvie, and Kathryn Fuller wrote about the significance of the studies,

We have seen this same policy battle fought and refought over radio, television, rock and roll, music videos and video games. Their researchers looked to see if intuitive concerns could be given concrete, measurable expression in research. While they had partial success, as have all subsequent efforts, they also ran into intractable problems . . . Since that day, no way has yet been found to resolve the dilemma of cause and effect: do crime movies create more crime, or do the criminally inclined enjoy and perhaps imitate crime movies? (Jowett, Jarvie, & Fuller, 1996 , p. 12)

As the debate continued, more sophisticated theoretical perspectives emerged. Efforts to empirically measure the impact of media on aggression and violence continued, albeit with equivocal results. In the 1950s and 1960s, psychological behaviorism, or understanding psychological motivations through observable behavior, became a prominent lens through which to view the causal impact of media violence. This type of research was exemplified by Albert Bandura’s Bobo Doll studies demonstrating that children exposed to aggressive behavior, either observed in real life or on film, behaved more aggressively than those in control groups who were not exposed to the behavior. The assumption derived was that children learn through exposure and imitate behavior (Bandura, Ross, & Ross, 1963 ). Though influential, the Bandura experiments were nevertheless heavily criticized. Some argued the laboratory conditions under which children were exposed to media were not generalizable to real-life conditions. Others challenged the assumption that children absorb media content in an unsophisticated manner without being able to distinguish between fantasy and reality. In fact, later studies did find children to be more discerning consumers of media than popularly believed (Gauntlett, 2001 ).

Hugely influential in our understandings of human behavior, the concept of social learning has been at the core of more contemporary understandings of media effects. For example, scholar Christopher Ferguson noted that the General Aggression Model (GAM), rooted in social learning and cognitive theory, has for decades been a dominant model for understanding how media impacts aggression and violence. GAM is described as the idea that “aggression is learned by the activation and repetition of cognitive scripts coupled with the desensitization of emotional responses due to repeated exposure.” However, Ferguson noted that its usefulness has been debated and advocated for a paradigm shift (Ferguson, 2013 , pp. 65, 27; Krahé, 2014 ).

Though the methodologies of the Payne Fund Studies and Bandura studies were heavily criticized, concern over media effects continued to be tied to larger moral debates including the fear of moral decline and concern over the welfare of children. Most notably, in the 1950s, psychiatrist Frederic Wertham warned of the dangers of comic books, a hugely popular medium at the time, and their impact on juveniles. Based on anecdotes and his clinical experience with children, Wertham argued that images of graphic violence and sexual debauchery in comic books were linked to juvenile delinquency. Though he was far from the only critic of comic book content, his criticisms reached the masses and gained further notoriety with the publication of his 1954 book, Seduction of the Innocent . Wertham described the comic book content thusly,

The stories have a lot of crime and gunplay and, in addition, alluring advertisements of guns, some of them full-page and in bright colors, with four guns of various sizes and descriptions on a page . . . Here is the repetition of violence and sexiness which no Freud, Krafft-Ebing or Havelock Ellis ever dreamed could be offered to children, and in such profusion . . . I have come to the conclusion that this chronic stimulation, temptation and seduction by comic books, both their content and their alluring advertisements of knives and guns, are contributing factors to many children’s maladjustment. (Wertham, 1954 , p. 39)

Wertham’s work was instrumental in shaping public opinion and policies about the dangers of comic books. Concern about the impact of comics reached its apex in 1954 with the United States Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency. Wertham testified before the committee, arguing that comics were a leading cause of juvenile delinquency. Ultimately, the protest of graphic content in comic books by various interest groups contributed to implementation of the publishers’ self-censorship code, the Comics Code Authority, which essentially designated select books that were deemed “safe” for children (Nyberg, 1998 ). The code remained in place for decades, though it was eventually relaxed and decades later phased out by the two most dominant publishers, DC and Marvel.

Wertham’s work, however influential in impacting the comic industry, was ultimately panned by academics. Although scholar Bart Beaty characterized Wertham’s position as more nuanced, if not progressive, than the mythology that followed him, Wertham was broadly dismissed as a moral reactionary (Beaty, 2005 ; Phillips & Strobl, 2013 ). The most damning criticism of Wertham’s work came decades later, from Carol Tilley’s examination of Wertham’s files. She concluded that in Seduction of the Innocent ,

Wertham manipulated, overstated, compromised, and fabricated evidence—especially that evidence he attributed to personal clinical research with young people—for rhetorical gain. (Tilley, 2012 , p. 386)

Tilley linked Wertham’s approach to that of the Frankfurt theorists who deemed popular culture a social threat and contended that Wertham was most interested in “cultural correction” rather than scientific inquiry (Tilley, 2012 , p. 404).

Over the decades, concern about the moral impact of media remained while theoretical and methodological approaches to media effects studies continued to evolve (Rich, Bickham, & Wartella, 2015 ). In what many consider a sophisticated development, theorists began to view the audience as more active and multifaceted than the mass society perspective allowed (Kitzinger, 2004 ). One perspective, based on a “uses and gratifications” model, assumes that rather than a passive audience being injected with values and information, a more active audience selects and “uses” media as a response to their needs and desires. Studies of uses and gratifications take into account how choice of media is influenced by one’s psychological and social circumstances. In this context, media provides a variety of functions for consumers who may engage with it for the purposes of gathering information, reducing boredom, seeking enjoyment, or facilitating communication (Katz, Blumler, & Gurevitch, 1973 ; Rubin, 2002 ). This approach differs from earlier views in that it privileges the perspective and agency of the audience.

Another approach, the cultivation theory, gained momentum among researchers in the 1970s and has been of particular interest to criminologists. It focuses on how television television viewing impacts viewers’ attitudes toward social reality. The theory was first introduced by communications scholar George Gerbner, who argued the importance of understanding messages that long-term viewers absorb. Rather than examine the effect of specific content within any given programming, cultivation theory,

looks at exposure to massive flows of messages over long periods of time. The cultivation process takes place in the interaction of the viewer with the message; neither the message nor the viewer are all-powerful. (Gerbner, Gross, Morgan, Singnorielli, & Shanahan, 2002 , p. 48)

In other words, he argued, television viewers are, over time, exposed to messages about the way the world works. As Gerbner and colleagues stated, “continued exposure to its messages is likely to reiterate, confirm, and nourish—that is, cultivate—its own values and perspectives” (p. 49).

One of the most well-known consequences of heavy media exposure is what Gerbner termed the “mean world” syndrome. He coined it based on studies that found that long-term exposure to media violence among heavy television viewers, “tends to cultivate the image of a relatively mean and dangerous world” (p. 52). Inherent in Gerbner’s view was that media representations are separate and distinct entities from “real life.” That is, it is the distorted representations of crime and violence that cultivate the notion that the world is a dangerous place. In this context, Gerbner found that heavy television viewers are more likely to be fearful of crime and to overestimate their chances of being a victim of violence (Gerbner, 1994 ).

Though there is evidence in support of cultivation theory, the strength of the relationship between media exposure and fear of crime is inconclusive. This is in part due to the recognition that audience members are not homogenous. Instead, researchers have found that there are many factors that impact the cultivating process. This includes, but is not limited to, “class, race, gender, place of residence, and actual experience of crime” (Reiner, 2002 ; Sparks, 1992 ). Or, as Ted Chiricos and colleagues remarked in their study of crime news and fear of crime, “The issue is not whether media accounts of crime increase fear, but which audiences, with which experiences and interests, construct which meanings from the messages received” (Chiricos, Eschholz, & Gertz, p. 354).

Other researchers found that exposure to media violence creates a desensitizing effect, that is, that as viewers consume more violent media, they become less empathetic as well as psychologically and emotionally numb when confronted with actual violence (Bartholow, Bushman, & Sestir, 2006 ; Carnagey, Anderson, & Bushman, 2007 ; Cline, Croft, & Courrier, 1973 ; Fanti, Vanman, Henrich, & Avraamides, 2009 ; Krahé et al., 2011 ). Other scholars such as Henry Giroux, however, point out that our contemporary culture is awash in violence and “everyone is infected.” From this perspective, the focus is not on certain individuals whose exposure to violent media leads to a desensitization of real-life violence, but rather on the notion that violence so permeates society that it has become normalized in ways that are divorced from ethical and moral implications. Giroux wrote,

While it would be wrong to suggest that the violence that saturates popular culture directly causes violence in the larger society, it is arguable that such violence serves not only to produce an insensitivity to real life violence but also functions to normalize violence as both a source of pleasure and as a practice for addressing social issues. When young people and others begin to believe that a world of extreme violence, vengeance, lawlessness, and revenge is the only world they inhabit, the culture and practice of real-life violence is more difficult to scrutinize, resist, and transform . . . (Giroux, 2015 )

For Giroux, the danger is that the normalization of violence has become a threat to democracy itself. In our culture of mass consumption shaped by neoliberal logics, depoliticized narratives of violence have become desired forms of entertainment and are presented in ways that express tolerance for some forms of violence while delegitimizing other forms of violence. In their book, Disposable Futures , Brad Evans and Henry Giroux argued that as the spectacle of violence perpetuates fear of inevitable catastrophe, it reinforces expansion of police powers, increased militarization and other forms of social control, and ultimately renders marginalized members of the populace disposable (Evans & Giroux, 2015 , p. 81).

Criminology and the “Media/Crime Nexus”

Most criminologists and sociologists who focus on media and crime are generally either dismissive of the notion that media violence directly causes violence or conclude that findings are more complex than traditional media effects models allow, preferring to focus attention on the impact of media violence on society rather than individual behavior (Carrabine, 2008 ; Ferrell, Hayward, & Young, 2015 ; Jewkes, 2015 ; Kitzinger, 2004 ; Marsh & Melville, 2014 ; Rafter, 2006 ; Sternheimer, 2003 ; Sternheimer 2013 ; Surette, 2011 ). Sociologist Karen Sternheimer forcefully declared “media culture is not the root cause of American social problems, not the Big Bad Wolf, as our ongoing public discussion would suggest” (Sternheimer, 2003 , p. 3). Sternheimer rejected the idea that media causes violence and argued that a false connection has been forged between media, popular culture, and violence. Like others critical of a singular focus on media, Sternheimer posited that overemphasis on the perceived dangers of media violence serves as a red herring that directs attention away from the actual causes of violence rooted in factors such as poverty, family violence, abuse, and economic inequalities (Sternheimer, 2003 , 2013 ). Similarly, in her Media and Crime text, Yvonne Jewkes stated that U.K. scholars tend to reject findings of a causal link because the studies are too reductionist; criminal behavior cannot be reduced to a single causal factor such as media consumption. Echoing Gauntlett’s critiques of media effects research, Jewkes stated that simplistic causal assumptions ignore “the wider context of a lifetime of meaning-making” (Jewkes, 2015 , p. 17).

Although they most often reject a “violent media cause violence” relationship, criminologists do not dismiss the notion of media as influential. To the contrary, over the decades much criminological interest has focused on the construction of social problems, the ideological implications of media, and media’s potential impact on crime policies and social control. Eamonn Carrabine noted that the focus of concern is not whether media directly causes violence but on “how the media promote damaging stereotypes of social groups, especially the young, to uphold the status quo” (Carrabine, 2008 , p. 34). Theoretically, these foci have been traced to the influence of cultural and Marxist studies. For example, criminologists frequently focus on how social anxieties and class inequalities impact our understandings of the relationship between media violence and attitudes, values, and behaviors. Influential works in the 1970s, such as Policing the Crisis: Mugging, the State, and Law and Order by Stuart Hall et al. and Stanley Cohen’s Folk Devils and Moral Panics , shifted criminological critique toward understanding media as a hegemonic force that reinforces state power and social control (Brown, 2011 ; Carrabine, 2008 ; Cohen, 2005 ; Garland, 2008 ; Hall et al., 2013 /1973, 2013/1973 ). Since that time, moral panic has become a common framework applied to public discourse around a variety of social issues including road rage, child abuse, popular music, sex panics, and drug abuse among others.

Into the 21st century , advances in technology, including increased use of social media, shifted the ways that criminologists approach the study of media effects. Scholar Sheila Brown traced how research in criminology evolved from a focus on “media and crime” to what she calls the “media/crime nexus” that recognizes that “media experience is real experience” (Brown, 2011 , p. 413). In other words, many criminologists began to reject as fallacy what social media theorist Nathan Jurgenson deemed “digital dualism,” or the notion that we have an “online” existence that is separate and distinct from our “off-line” existence. Instead, we exist simultaneously both online and offline, an

augmented reality that exists at the intersection of materiality and information, physicality and digitality, bodies and technology, atoms and bits, the off and the online. It is wrong to say “IRL” [in real life] to mean offline: Facebook is real life. (Jurgenson, 2012 )

The changing media landscape has been of particular interest to cultural criminologists. Michelle Brown recognized the omnipresence of media as significant in terms of methodological preferences and urged a move away from a focus on causality and predictability toward a more fluid approach that embraces the complex, contemporary media-saturated social reality characterized by uncertainty and instability (Brown, 2007 ).

Cultural criminologists have indeed rejected direct, causal relationships in favor of the recognition that social meanings of aggression and violence are constantly in transition, flowing through the media landscape, where “bits of information reverberate and bend back on themselves, creating a fluid porosity of meaning that defines late-modern life, and the nature of crime and media within it.” In other words, there is no linear relationship between crime and its representation. Instead, crime is viewed as inseparable from the culture in which our everyday lives are constantly re-created in loops and spirals that “amplify, distort, and define the experience of crime and criminality itself” (Ferrell, Hayward, & Young, 2015 , pp. 154–155). As an example of this shift in understanding media effects, criminologist Majid Yar proposed that we consider how the transition from being primarily consumers to primarily producers of content may serve as a motivating mechanism for criminal behavior. Here, Yar is suggesting that the proliferation of user-generated content via media technologies such as social media (i.e., the desire “to be seen” and to manage self-presentation) has a criminogenic component worthy of criminological inquiry (Yar, 2012 ). Shifting attention toward the media/crime nexus and away from traditional media effects analyses opens possibilities for a deeper understanding of the ways that media remains an integral part of our everyday lives and inseparable from our understandings of and engagement with crime and violence.

Over the years, from films to comic books to television to video games to social media, concerns over media effects have shifted along with changing technologies. While there seems to be some consensus that exposure to violent media impacts aggression, there is little evidence showing its impact on violent or criminal behavior. Nonetheless, high-profile violent crimes continue to reignite public interest in media effects, particularly with regard to copycat crimes.

At times, academic debate around media effects remains contentious and one’s academic discipline informs the study and interpretation of media effects. Criminologists and sociologists are generally reluctant to attribute violence and criminal behavior directly to exposure to violence media. They are, however, not dismissive of the impact of media on attitudes, social policies, and social control as evidenced by the myriad of studies on moral panics and other research that addresses the relationship between media, social anxieties, gender, race, and class inequalities. Scholars who study media effects are also sensitive to the historical context of the debates and ways that moral concerns shape public policies. The self-regulating codes of the film industry and the comic book industry have led scholars to be wary of hyperbole and policy overreach in response to claims of media effects. Future research will continue to explore ways that changing technologies, including increasing use of social media, will impact our understandings and perceptions of crime as well as criminal behavior.

How Violent Media Can Impact Your Mental Health

Cynthia Vinney, PhD is an expert in media psychology and a published scholar whose work has been published in peer-reviewed psychology journals.

Steven Gans, MD is board-certified in psychiatry and is an active supervisor, teacher, and mentor at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Carol Yepes / Getty Images

Violent Media & Aggresssion
Controversy
Violent Media & Mental Health
How to Help Your Child

When to Seek Therapy

One of the most studied—and most controversial—topics in media psychology is the impact of violent media on consumers, especially children. Violence in is movies, on television, in video games, and on the internet. It's also included in content aimed at kids, tweens, and teens, and therefore, it's no surprise that psychologists, parents, and media consumers, in general, are concerned about the impact it has on people.

As a result, ever since the advent of television decades ago, psychologists have investigated the possibility of a link between the consumption of violent media and increases in real-life aggression.

This article will explore the research on this topic including arguments for and against an association. In addition, this article will examine newer research that has found a relationship between exposure to violent content, especially via news media, and mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety .

Does Consuming Violent Content Lead to Increased Aggression?

Studies have consistently shown that media violence has an impact on real-life aggression . These studies use a diverse set of methods and participants, leading many experts on the impact of media violence to agree that aggression increases as a result of media violence consumption.

However, that doesn't mean exposure to media violence drives consumers to murder or other particularly violent acts. These studies explore different kinds of aggression, making the association the research has established between violent media and aggression more nuanced than it initially appears.

Evidence for a Link Between Violent Content and Aggression

Many experiments in labs have provided evidence that demonstrates that short-term exposure to violent media increases aggression in children, teenagers, and young adults. However, aggression doesn't always mean physical aggression. It can also mean verbal aggression , such as yelling insults, as well as thinking aggressive thoughts or having aggressive emotions.

There Varying Degrees of Aggression

Moreover, even physical aggression exists on a continuum from a light shove to something far more dangerous. As a result, people may become more aggressive immediately following exposure to media violence but that aggression manifests itself in a variety of different ways, a majority of which wouldn't be considered particularly dangerous.

Consuming Violent Media During Childhood May Result in Adult Aggression

More disturbing are the few longitudinal studies that have followed people over decades and have shown that frequent exposure to media violence in childhood results in adult aggression even if people no longer consume violent media as adults.

For example, one study found that frequent exposure to violent television at age 8 predicted aggressive behavior at ages 19 and 30 for male, but not female, participants. This effect held even after controlling for variables like social class, IQ , and initial aggressiveness.

Similarly, another study that surveyed 329 participants between the ages of 6 and 9 found that 15 years later the exposure of both males and females to television violence in childhood predicted increased aggression in adulthood. In particular, the 25% of study participants who viewed the most media violence in childhood were the most likely to be much more aggressive in adulthood.

These individuals exhibited a range of behaviors including:

Shoving their spouses
Beating people up
Committing crimes

This was especially true if they identified with aggressive characters and felt that television violence was realistic when they were children.

These findings suggest that frequent early exposure to television violence can have a powerful impact on individuals over time and well into their adult lives.

Why Is This Topic So Controversial?

So if there's so much research evidence for a link between media violence and real-world aggression, why is the debate over this topic ongoing? Part of the issue is one of definition.

Studies often define violence and aggression in very different ways and they use different measures to test the association, making it hard to replicate the results. Moreover, many researchers edit together media for lab experiments , creating a situation where participants must watch and react to media that bears minimal resemblance to anything they'd actually consume via TV, movies, or the internet.

As a result, even when these experiments find media violence causes aggression, the extent to which it can be generalized to the population as a whole is limited.

Of course, it would be naïve to think that consuming media violence has no impact on people, but it appears it may not be the most powerful influence. The effect of media violence is likely to vary based on other factors including personality traits, developmental stage, social and environmental influences, and the context in which the violence is presented.

It's also important to recognize that not all aggression is negative or socially unacceptable. One study found that a relationship between exposure to television violence and an increase in positive aggression, or aggression that isn't intended to cause harm, in the form of participation in extreme or contact sports.

Does Consuming Violent Media Lead to Mental Health Issues?

While psychologists have been studying the association between the consumption of violent media and increased aggression for well over 50 years, more recently, some have turned their attention to the impact of media violence on mental health concerns.

Consumption of Violent Media May Lead to Anxiety

Studies have demonstrated that there's a correlation between exposure to media violence and increased anxiety and the belief that the world is a scary place. For instance, an experimental investigation found that late adolescents who were exposed to a violent movie clip were more anxious than those who watched a nonviolent clip.

These findings suggest that the regular consumption of violent media could lead to anxiety in the long-term .

Constant Exposure to Violent Media Via Technology May Lead to Poorer Mental Health

Today, the violence shown on the news media may especially impact people's mental health. New technology means that violent events, including terrorist attacks, school shootings , and natural disasters, can be filmed and reported on immediately, and media consumers all over the world will be exposed to these events almost instantly via social media or news alerts on their smartphones and other devices.

Moreover, this exposure is likely to be intense and repeated due to the need to fill a 24-hour news cycle. Studies have shown that this kind of exposure, especially to acts of terrorism, has the potential to lead to depression , anxiety, stress reactions, substance use, and even post-traumatic stress (PTSD).

Plus, those who take in more images of a disaster tend to be more likely to experience negative mental health consequences. For example, in a study conducted shortly after the attacks of September 11, 2001, people who viewed more television news reports about what happened in the seven days after the event had more symptoms of PTSD than those who had viewed less television news coverage.

How to Cope With the Impact of Media Violence

Violence will continue to be depicted in the media and, for most adults, there's nothing wrong with watching a violent horror or action movie or playing a violent video game, as long as it doesn't impair your mental health or daily functioning.

However, if you feel you're being negatively impacted by the violence depicted in the media, especially after a disaster that's getting constant coverage on the news, the first solution is to stop engaging with devices that could lead to further exposure.

This means turning off the TV, and for anyone who frequently looks at the news on their computers or mobile devices, adjusting any settings that could lead you to see more images of a violent event.

How You Can Help Your Child

For parents concerned about children's exposure to violent media, the solution isn't to attempt to prevent children from consuming violence altogether, although limiting their exposure is valuable.

Instead, parents should co-view violent media with their children and then talk about what they see. This helps children become discerning media consumers who can think critically about the content they read, watch, and play.

Similarly, when a disturbing event like a school shooting happens it's valuable to discuss it with children so they can express their emotions and parents can put the incident in the context of its overall likelihood.

If a parent notices their child seems depressed or anxious after frequent exposure to media violence or an adult notices their mental health is suffering due to regular consumption of violent media, it may be valuable to seek the help of a mental health professional .

Anderson CA, Berkowitz L, Donnerstein E et al. The Influence of Media Violence on Youth . Psychological Science in the Public Interest . 2003;4(3):81-110. doi:10.1111/j.1529-1006.2003.pspi_1433.x

Huesmann LR, Eron LD. Television And The Aggressive Child: A Cross-National Comparison . Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.; 1986.

Huesmann LR, Moise-Titus J, Podolski C-L, Eron LD. Longitudinal relations between children's exposure to TV violence and their aggressive and violent behavior in young adulthood: 1977-1992 . Dev Psychol . 2003;39(2):201-221. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.39.2.201

Giles D. Psychology Of The Media . London: Palgrave Macmillan; 2010.

Giles D. Media Psychology . Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Publishers; 2003.

Slotsve T, del Carmen A, Sarver M, Villareal-Watkins RJ. Television Violence and Aggression: A Retrospective Study. Southwest Journal of Criminal Justice . 2008;5(1):22-49.

Madan A, Mrug S, Wright RA. The Effects of Media Violence on Anxiety in Late Adolescence . J Youth Adolesc . 2013;43(1):116-126. doi:10.1007/s10964-013-0017-3

Pfefferbaum B, Newman E, Nelson SD, Nitiéma P, Pfefferbaum RL, Rahman A. Disaster Media Coverage and Psychological Outcomes: Descriptive Findings in the Extant Research . Curr Psychiatry Rep . 2014;16(9). doi:10.1007/s11920-014-0464-x

Ahern J, Galea S, Resnick H, Vlahov D. Television Images and Probable Posttraumatic Stress Disorder After September 11: The Role of Background Characteristics, Event Exposures, and Perievent Panic . Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease . 2004;192(3):217-226. doi:10.1097/01.nmd.0000116465.99830.ca

The Conversation. Here's How Witnessing Violence Harms Children's Mental House .

By Cynthia Vinney, PhD Cynthia Vinney, PhD is an expert in media psychology and a published scholar whose work has been published in peer-reviewed psychology journals.

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Media Violence Effects on Children, Adolescents and Young Adults

BY: CRAIG A. ANDERSON, MA, PhD

I killed my first Klingon in 1979. It took place in the computer center at Stanford University, where I was playing a new video game based on the Star Trek television series. I was an "early adopter" of the new technology of video games, and continued to be so for many years, first as a fan of this entertainment medium, and later as a researcher interested in the question of what environmental factors influence aggressive and violent behavior.

Of course, like most young men and women of that era, I had grown up witnessing thousands of killings and other acts of aggression in a wide array of television shows and films. Today's youth are even more inundated with media violence than past generations, mostly from entertainment sources but also from news and educational media. And even though the public remains largely unaware of the conclusiveness of more than six decades of research on the effects of exposure to screen media violence, the scientists most directly involved in this research know quite a bit about these effects.

The briefest summary of hundreds of scientific studies can be boiled down to two main points. First, exposure to media violence is a causal risk factor for physical aggression, both immediately after the exposure and months, even years, later. Second, in the absence of other known risk factors for violence, high exposure to media violence will not turn a normal well-adjusted child or adolescent into a mass killer.

SOME DEFINITIONS One reason for much of the confusion and debate among even highly educated citizens, health care professionals and even a few scientists is that when media violence researchers use certain terms and concepts, they have somewhat different meanings than when the general public uses the same words.

By "aggression," researchers mean "behavior that is intended to harm another person who does not wish to be harmed." Thus, hitting, kicking, pinching, stabbing and shooting are types of physical aggression.

Playing soccer or basketball or even football with energy and confidence are not usually considered acts of aggression, even though that is what most coaches mean when they exhort their charges to "play aggressively." Somehow, the phrase "play assertively" doesn't have the same ring to it.

By "violent behavior," most modern aggression and violence scholars mean "aggressive behavior (as defined above) that has a reasonable chance of causing harm serious enough to require medical attention." Note that the behavior does not have to actually cause the harm to be classified as violent; shooting at a person but missing still qualifies as a violent behavior.

By "media violence" we mean scenes and story lines in which at least one character behaves aggressively towards at least one other character, using the above definition of "aggression," not the definition of "violence." Thus, television shows, movies, and video games in which characters fight (Power Rangers, for example), or say mean things about each other (often called relational aggression), or kill bad guys, all are instances of media violence, even if there is no blood, no gore, no screaming in pain. By this definition, most modern video games rated by the video game industry as appropriate for children — up to 90 percent, by some estimates — are violent video games.

AGGRESSION AND VIOLENCE Short-term and long-term effects of violent media use on aggressive behavior have been demonstrated by numerous studies across age, culture, gender, even personality types. Overall, the research literature suggests that media violence effects are not large, but they accumulate over time to produce significant changes in behavior that can significantly influence both individuals and society.

For example, one of the longest duration studies of the same individuals found that children exposed to lots of violent television shows at age 8 later became more violent adults at age 30, even after statistically controlling for how aggressive they were at age 8.

Similar long-term effects (up to three years, so far) on aggressive and violent behavior have been found for frequent exposure to violent video games. One six-month longitudinal study found that frequent violent video game play at the beginning of a school year was associated with a 25 percent increase in the likelihood of being in a physical fight during that year, even after controlling for whether or not the child had been in a fight the previous year.

Short-term experimental studies, in which children are randomly assigned to either a violent or nonviolent media exposure condition for a brief period, conclusively demonstrate that the media violence effects are causal. In one such study, for example, children who played a child-oriented violent video game (i.e., no blood, gore, screaming …) later attempted to deliver 47 percent more high-intensity punishments to another child than did children who had been randomly assigned to play a nonviolent video game. Even cartoonish media violence increases aggression.

In recent years, there have been several intervention studies designed to test whether reducing exposure to screen violence over several months or longer can reduce inappropriate aggressive behavior. These randomized control experiments have found that, yes, children and adolescents randomly assigned to the media intervention conditions show a decrease in aggression relative to those in the control conditions.

HOW MEDIA VIOLENCE INCREASES AGGRESSION How does exposure to media violence lead to increased aggressive behavior? Media violence scholars have identified several basic psychological processes involved. They differ somewhat for short-term versus long-term effects, but they all involve various types of learning.

Short-term effects are those that occur immediately after exposure. The main ways that media violence exposure increases aggression in the short term are:

Direct imitation of the observed behavior
Observational learning of attitudes, beliefs and expected benefits of aggression
Increased excitation
Priming of aggression-related ways of thinking and feeling

In essence, for at least a brief period after viewing or playing violent media, the exposed person thinks in more aggressive ways, feels more aggressive, perceives that others are hostile towards him or her and sees aggressive solutions as being more acceptable and beneficial.

The short-term effects typically dissipate quickly. However, with repeated exposure to violent media, the child or adolescent "learns" these short-term lessons in a more permanent way, just as practicing multiplication tables or playing chess improves performance on those skills. That is, the person comes to hold more positive beliefs about aggressive solutions to conflict, develops what is sometimes called a "hostile attribution bias" (a tendency to view ambiguous negative events in a hostile way) and becomes more confident that an aggressive action on their part will work.

There also is growing evidence that repeated exposure to blood, gore and other aspects of extremely violent media can lead to emotional desensitization to the pain and suffering of others. In turn, such desensitization can lead to increased aggression by removing one of the built-in brakes that normally inhibits aggression and violence. Furthermore, this desensitization effect reduces the likelihood of pro-social, empathetic, helping behavior when viewing a victim of violence.

Interestingly, these same basic learning and priming effects account for the fact that exposure to nonviolent, pro-social media can lead to increased pro-social behavior.

SCREEN TIME EFFECTS For a number of years, the American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended very strict limits on children's exposure to any types of screen media, including TVs and computers, primarily because of concern about attention deficits. For example, they recommend that children under the age of 2 years have no exposure to electronic screens, even nonviolent media. Recent research with children, adolescents and young adults suggests that both nonviolent and violent media contribute to real-world attention problems, such as attention deficit disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Furthermore, these attention problems are strongly linked to aggressive behavior, especially impulsive types of aggression.

Another emerging problem with video game usage goes by various addiction-related labels, such as video game addiction, internet addiction and internet/gaming disorder. Research across multiple countries and various measures of problematic game use suggests that about 8 percent of "gamers" have serious problems with their gaming habit. That is, their gaming activities interfere with significant aspects of their lives, such as interpersonal relationships, school or work activities. This newer research literature suggests that for some individuals, video game problems look much like gambling addiction.

MAGNITUDE OF HARM News media often report exaggerated claims about "the" cause of the most recent violent tragedy, whether it is a school shooting or another mass killing. Sometimes the cause that is hyped by these stories is violent video games; other times it is mental illness, or gun control, or lack of gun control.

Behavioral scientists (and reasonably thoughtful people in general) know that human behavior is complex, and it is affected by many variables. Violence researchers in particular know that such extreme events as homicide cannot be boiled down to a single cause. Instead, behavioral scientists (including violence scholars) rely on what is known as risk and resilience models, or risk and protective factors.

All consequential behavior is influenced by dozens (maybe hundreds) of risk and protective factors. In the violence domain, there are dozens of known risk and protective factors. Growing up in a violent household or seeing lots of violence in one's neighborhood are two such risk factors. Growing up in a nonviolent household and having warm, caring parents who are highly involved with child rearing are protective factors. From this perspective, exposure to media violence is one known risk factor for later inappropriate aggression and violence. It is not the most important risk factor; joining a violent gang is a good candidate for that title. But it also isn't the least important risk factor.

Indeed, some studies suggest that media violence exposure carries about the same risk potential as having abusive parents or antisocial parents. One major difference from other known risk factors for later aggression and violence is that parents and caregivers can relatively easily and inexpensively reduce a child's exposure to media violence.

WHY BELIEVE THIS ARTICLE? It is easy to find very vocal critics of the mainstream summary that I have presented in this article. A simple web search will generate links to any number of them. Many of the critics are supported by the media industries in one way or another, many are heavy users of violent media and so feel threatened by violence research (much like cigarette smokers once felt threatened by cancer research), some are threatened by anything they see as impinging on free-speech rights, and many are simply ignorant about the science. But, a few appear to have relevant scientific credentials. So, a reasonable question for a parent or health care professional to ask is why believe that exposure to media violence creates harmful effects, rather than maintain the much more comfortable position that there are no harmful effects.

The simple answer is this: Every major professional scientific body that has conducted reviews of the scientific literature has come to the same conclusion. This group includes the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the U.S. Surgeon General and the International Society for Research on Aggression, among others. I have posted these and other, similar reports online. 1

In 1972, former U.S. Surgeon General Jesse Steinfeld, MD, testified before the U.S. Senate on his assessment of the research on TV violence and behavior: "It is clear to me that the causal relationship between televised violence and antisocial behavior is sufficient to warrant appropriate and immediate remedial action," he said. "There comes a time when the data are sufficient to justify action. That time has come." 2

In response to one or two vocal critics of the mainstream research community and perhaps to pressure from other groups, the American Psychological Association created a new media violence assessment panel in 2013 to assess the association's 2005 statement and update it. They took a very unusual step to avoid any appearance of bias by excluding all major mainstream media violence scholars from the panel. Instead, the panel was composed of reputable psychological science scholars with expertise in developmental, social and related psychology domains, along with leading meta-analysis statistical experts. Their report, released in 2015, confirmed what the mainstream media violence research community has been saying for years: There are real and harmful effects of violent media.

Violent media are neither the harmless fun that the media industries and their apologists would like you to believe, nor are they the cause of the downfall of society that some alarmists proclaim. Nonetheless, electronic media in the 21st century dominate many children's and adolescents' waking hours, taking more time than any other activity, even time in school and interactions with parents. Thus, electronic media have become important socializing agents, agents that have a measurable impact.

Many of the effects of nonviolent electronic media are positive, but the vast majority of violent media effects are negative. Parents and other caregivers can mitigate the harmful effects of violent media in several ways, such as by increasing positive or "protective" factors in the child's environment, and by reducing exposure to violent media. This is not an easy task, but it can be done with little or no expense. The benefits of doing so are healthier, happier, more successful children, adolescents and young adults.

CRAIG A. ANDERSON is Distinguished Professor, Department of Psychology, and director of the Center for the Study of Violence, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

http://public.psych.iastate.edu/caa/StatementsonMediaViolence.html .
Jesse Feldman, statement in hearings before Subcommittee on Communications of Committee on Commerce, United States Senate, Serial #92-52 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1972) 25-27.

For reprint permission, contact Betty Crosby or call (314) 253-3490.

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Violence: A Community Health Approach
Why a Trash-Strewn Lot Became a Soccer Field
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Women Religious Unite to Eradicate Trafficking

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What do We Know About Media Violence?

It is difficult to set down in a definitive way what effect media violence has on consumers and young people. There are a number of reasons for this, but the main issue is that terms like “violence” and “aggression” are not easily defined or categorized. To a child, almost any kind of conflict, such as the heated arguments of some talk-radio shows or primetime news pundits, can sound as aggressive as two cartoon characters dropping anvils on one another.

The reality is that we have not yet successfully defined violence and aggression, whether when analyzing the content we consume, or investigating the potentially resultant aggressive behaviour. Because individual studies define these notions differently, the goal posts are constantly moving for anyone who is trying to get a big picture look at the situation. The difficulty of quantifying aggression and violence in a strict way makes it nearly impossible to accurately answer the question “Does media violence cause people to commit violence?”

Many studies, many conclusions

In 1994, Andrea Martinez at the University of Ottawa conducted a comprehensive review of the scientific literature on media violence for the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). She concluded that the lack of consensus about media effects reflects three “grey areas” or constraints contained in the research itself. These grey areas still apply today.

Firstly, media violence is notoriously hard to define and measure. Some experts who track violence in television programming, such as the late George Gerbner, defined violence as the act (or threat) of injuring or killing someone, independent of the method used or the surrounding context. As such, Gerbner included cartoon violence in his data-set. But others, such as University of Laval professors Guy Paquette and Jacques de Guise, specifically excluded cartoon violence from their research because of its comical and unrealistic presentation. How they would view some of the increasingly realistic violence in many of today’s cartoons aimed at teens – such as the gruesome injuries suffered by many of the characters on Rick and Morty and Family Guy – is an open question.

Second, researchers disagree over the type of relationship the data supports. Some argue that exposure to media violence causes aggression. Some say that the two are associated, but that there is no causal connection (that both, for instance, may be caused by some third factor), while others say the data supports the conclusion that there is no relationship between the two at all.

Third, even those who agree that there is a connection between media violence and aggression disagree about how the one affects the other.

More than a decade later, the debate of whether media violence causes violence continues. In 2016, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released a policy statement in the online issue of their journal entitled “Virtual Violence,” which found that “exposure to media violence is becoming an inescapable component of children’s lives.” The report’s overall conclusion, after looking at 400 reports about violent media, was that “there [is] a significant association between exposure to media violence and aggressive behaviour.” At the same time, the AAP report stressed that “no single risk factor consistently leads a person to act aggressively or violently. Rather, it is the accumulation of risk factors that tends to lead to aggressive or violent behavior.” As well, the report pointed out that “all violence is aggression, but not all aggression is violence.” While violent media may lead viewers or players to be more aggressive, it may only rarely make enough of a difference to provoke them to commit acts of violence they otherwise wouldn’t have. [1]

Despite the apparent consensus shown in the AAP report, many studies have found no significant impacts of violent media on concerns such as bullying or antisocial behaviours; [2] aggressive behaviour; [3] reduced academic performance, depressive symptoms, attention deficit symptoms; [4] empathy [5] or violence. [6]

With that in mind, based on a number of recent studies published in peer-reviewed academic journals, there are some things we can say:

What’s the good news?

Violent video games are not directly linked to incidents like high school shootings. [7]
Video games are not directly linked to youth crime, aggression and dating violence. [8]
Violent video games have not led to an increase in violent crime; in fact, violent crime has decreased in the years since game playing became a common activity for youth. [9]
Even though consumers tend to gravitate towards violent media, we are generally more satisfied by or take more joy from non-violent media. [10]
Playing action video games results in increased basic visual sensory processing, selective visual attention and some higher cognitive skills. [11]
At low to medium levels, time spent playing video games – violent or otherwise – reduces violent behaviour among teens “by keeping them occupied and reducing opportunities and motivation to acquire guns” (however, this effect fades at high levels of playing time). [12]
Violent media, especially video games, have been used to treat post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health problems. [13]

What’s the bad news?

Youth and adults who plan mass shootings do look to media coverage of past shootings for models and, in some cases, are motivated by the notoriety brought by news coverage. [14]
Violent video games may desensitize players to other violent images and emotional stimuli. [15]
Violent media often portray violent acts and situations but rarely represent the consequences of violence. [16]
Violent video games may lead to increased aggression in some young children and youth by making aggression seem like a reasonable response to everyday conflicts. [17]
Exposure to violent media is affiliated with executive control impairments, which predicts high levels of impulsive aggression. [18]
For youth who are already involved in violent subcultures, such as gangs, media such as music and social networks may promote aggression as a social norm and can even incite violent acts. [19] , [20]

Physical aggression

To date, most research on violent media has focused on its relationship with physical aggression – either aggressive attitudes or actually aggressive behaviour. Though this is the area that has attracted the most attention, it is also where researchers have most often found no relationship between media violence and behaviour.

There is also reason to think that violence in media has different effects on different people and may interact with other risk factors. A 2017 study from Dartmouth College, assessing 24 studies and looking at 17,000 participants, concluded that playing violent video games is associated with greater levels of physical aggression over time. The research showed some disparity between ethnicities with the highest percentage of observation being among white participants, then Asian participants and hardly any at all among Hispanic participants. [21] Another meta-analysis found a relationship between violent video games and physical aggression with youth aged 14-16. [22]

It may also be that because some young people are more interested in violent media than others, a spiral effect occurs in which those who are consume a progressively higher amount of violent media relative to their peers, leading to greater and greater impacts. [23] Media violence can also have an influence on social norms around violence among teens, but its effect depends on how common they believe real-world aggression to be. Exposure to media violence made teens more likely to think their peers approved of it if they already thought there were high levels of aggression in their peer group, while those who thought there were lower levels were actually less likely to think their peers approved of violence after seeing it in the media. [24]

It’s important to note that even those researchers who have found a relationship between media violence and physical aggression consider it only one of a number of variables that put children at risk of aggressive behaviour. For example, a Norwegian study that included 20 at-risk teenaged boys found that the lack of parental rules regulating what the boys watched was a more significant predictor of aggressive behaviour than the amount of media violence they consumed. The study also indicated that exposure to real world violence, together with exposure to media violence, created an “overload” of violent events. Boys who experienced this overload were more likely to use violent media images to create and consolidate their identities as members of an anti-social and marginalized group. [25] Similarly, the Ontario government report Roots of Youth Violence identified a number of other risk factors that may interact with media violence in increasing the risk of aggressive behaviour, including “poverty, racism, community design, issues in the education system, family issues health, lack of economic opportunity for youth, issues in the justice system and lack of youth voice.” [26] Other research has identified as risk factors “parents’ low media literacy, limited social skills, male gender [and] availability of audiovisual media in the bedroom.” [27]

Relational aggression

Numerous studies have also found a relationship between media portrayals of relational aggression – including non-physical relationship violence [28] and “social” forms of bullying such as name-calling, ostracism and spreading rumours – and engaging in these behaviours or seeing them as acceptable, [29] leading some researchers to conclude that “social aggression on television poses more of a risk for imitation and learning than do portrayals of physical aggression” [30] and has a more powerful influence on behaviour than physical violence. [31] Relational aggression may also be more common in youth-focused media than physical aggression: researchers have found that nine in ten of the 50 most popular programs among 2 to 11-year-olds contain it. [32] Similarly, a worrying amount of pornography features sexual violence. One study found that one in eight videos shown to first-time visitors of popular porn sites featured content such as sexual assault, voyeurism, coercion and physical violence [33] – which may promote a ‘sexual script’ that normalizes aggressive and abusive sexual activity. [34]

As with physical aggression, the relationship between media and behaviour is complex. Some studies have found that girls are more heavily influenced than boys [35] , [36] while research on relational aggression in reality TV found that viewers who believe it to accurately reflect reality are more heavily influenced. [37]

Attitudes towards violence

Violence in media can also influence our views and attitudes. Some studies have found that exposure to media violence can make teens feel less concern for people who are in distress [38] or are victims of crime, [39] though some other researchers have found media violence does not reduce empathy. [40] Here, too, the details matter: research has found that representations of female victims of crime that depersonalize them make viewers less empathetic towards them and more prone to blaming the victims for what happened to them. [41]

In some cases, of course, attitudes can influence behaviour. One study found that playing violent video games made men more confident of their own fighting ability, less likely to see other men as tough and less able to recognize anger on others’ faces. [42] Similarly, research has found that whether or not violent media leads to aggression may depend on how much it fosters moral disengagement in players and viewers. [43]

Media may also have an impact on our views of violence as a desirable or acceptable solution to problems, even if it does not lead directly to aggression. One study found that boys who played violent video games were significantly more likely to have pro-violence attitudes than those who played non-violent games. [44] This is particularly true when it comes to the use of violence by military or police. Viewing violence on television is associated with higher support for using force to resolve social or political issues. [45] More specifically, viewers of crime shows are more likely to believe that police only use force when necessary and that ‘bending the rules’ will produce positive results rather than false confessions [46] and to support the use of the death penalty. [47]

A related phenomenon, “Mean World Syndrome,” coined by researcher George Gerbner, suggests that heavy TV viewers tend to perceive the world in ways that are consistent with the images on TV. Gerbner’s research found that those who watch greater amounts of television are more likely to:

overestimate their risk of being victimized by crime;
believe their neighbourhoods are unsafe;
believe “fear of crime is a very serious personal problem” [48] and
assume the crime rate is increasing, even when it is not. [49]

Research has consistently confirmed that media representations of crime influence how people perceive it, which can also lead to an exaggerated fear of crime or to worrying more about crimes that are less frequent but more newsworthy. [50] Media can also influence how we perceive specific types of violence. News coverage of domestic violence, for instance, can promote misconceptions about how common it is and encourage excuses for the perpetrator’s behaviour, [51] while coverage of gun violence can lead people to overestimate the number of mass shootings relative to other gun deaths. [52] However, as with other media forms, there are important differences between different kinds of news coverage. Local news has the biggest impact on perceptions of crime, [53] while in ‘news deserts’ (areas not served or underserved by local news) social networks, such as Nextdoor or Facebook groups, sometimes spread inaccurate information both about crime rates and specific incidents, sometimes even falsely accusing community members of committing crimes. [54]

Some scholars argue that, in the past few decades, violence in media, especially on television, has not only become more frequent and extreme but also more actively hostile to compassion. Perhaps the best example of this is The Walking Dead , which – along with being a breakout hit for its network, one of the last remaining “water-cooler” shows (i.e. those that most viewers can expect their friends and co-workers to have watched, or at least be aware of) and a pioneer in portraying gruesome violence on U.S. basic cable – also represents a change from the traditional portrayal of violence in American TV as being committed by ‘good guys’ in the name of maintaining the social order to “a repeated pattern of brutal killings of characters who are moral inspirations.” [55] Violence against characters that have been dehumanized, such as the zombies in The Walking Dead , may encourage moral disengagement . [56] Though some degree of moral disengagement is necessary to enjoy a violent media text, [57] especially one like a video game in which players are performing the violent acts, [58] under normal circumstances our moral sense is never entirely disengaged and seeing or performing violent acts that seem extreme or unjustified can provoke a strong moral reaction. [59] While othering and dehumanization are the intentional goals of much hate propaganda , portraying enemies as fundamentally inhuman – whether as literal zombies, in fiction, or as metaphorically ‘othered’ monsters in crime coverage – can also unintentionally promote greater moral disengagement, encouraging us to see their killing as morally neutral or even desirable and making us less likely to question the use of force against them. [60] For example, the group most influenced by crime dramas and news coverage of crime is white people with Black neighbours. [61]

Theories of violent media impact

One theory of how violent media may influence behaviour is priming , which holds that media, particularly interactive media such as video games, serve as teaching tools, demonstrating to us which behaviours are punished and which are rewarded. Its impact, then, does not come from a single exposure to a violent media text but from repetition. [62] According to priming theory, exposure to violent media will increase aggressive attitudes and behaviour, [63] while prosocial media will prompt empathy and more prosocial behaviour. [64] Some longitudinal studies have found support for this idea: a Canadian study of high school students found that high levels of playing violent video games was associated with a steeper increase in aggression over time compared to those who played less often. [65]

Priming effects have been found most powerfully in connection with images of weapons. Experiments have found that seeing images of guns primed aggressive thoughts, regardless of whether the gun was being used by a criminal, a soldier or a police officer. [66] Similarly, seeing gun violence in media made children more likely to play with and practice firing a (disabled) handgun, though seeing violence committed with a sword did not. [67] Other studies have found that just images of guns – even in the context of a sign prohibiting guns – can make people who see them more aggressive. [68]

However, other research has shown that context can be key to the impacts of violent media, with very different effects depending on who is committing it. For example, one study found that while watching heroic characters commit violent acts increased aggression, violent villains did not have the same impact. [69] Unfortunately, recent research has found that heroes in films popular with youth commit more violent acts than the villains. [70]

In video games, by contrast, committing violent acts while playing as a heroic character is not associated with being more aggressive, while playing as a violent villain or antihero is associated with aggression. [71] Therefore both the specific content (whether the violence is committed by a hero or villain) and the form (whether you are watching the violence or virtually committing it) influence the impact violent media may have. Similarly, some studies have found that while single-player video games may be related to aggression, violence in multiplayer games is not [72] – suggesting that the effect depends on players perceiving it as a story rather than simply a game.

Both of these theories may be partly true. Even in experiments that found priming effects, context was found to be important: images of athletes firing guns during Olympic shooting competitions, for instance, did not prime aggressive thoughts in the way that images of police, soldiers or criminals did. [73] Conversely, some studies have found that the key to whether or not seeing media violence leads to aggression is not simply whether the character is heroic or villainous, but whether or not the viewer identifies with them, suggesting that both priming and cultivation are at work. [74] Here, too, the relationship seems to be different for interactive media such as video games, where research found that identifying with a character did not influence media impact. [75]

Portrayals of relational aggression, similarly, had different impacts depending both on the content – in particular, whether or not the character engaging in the behaviour and whether or not the viewer thought the behaviour was funny [76] – and on elements of the particular medium or genre, such as whether or not the behaviour was followed by “canned laughter” from the laugh track. [77]

What should be apparent when we look at these all of these studies and data conclusions is that media violence is a highly complex and nuanced issue. There are clearly concerns with regards to violent media content such as age-appropriateness, saturation, desensitization and instilling fear or unease in viewers. At the same time, many of the media products through which we are exposed to violent imagery provide benefits as well. Games and movies may expose young people to some violent content, but studies increasingly show that they also offer positive benefits. There is no way to completely shut out violent content, to guarantee that children will never play video games that are rated for an older audience or to make certain that everyone’s feelings on what is inappropriate content will coincide with industry self-regulation practices. What concerned adults and parents can do is promote critical engagement with the media that young people and children consume, monitor children’s media use and discuss and establish rules at home to let young people understand what is or is not appropriate. More on how to talk about media violence with children can be found in the subsection Critically Engaging with Media Violence . If you are interested in legislation and industry tools that can help you to understand laws or give you a better idea of what to look out for, see our Government and Industry Responses to Media Violence .

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A-Z Publications

Annual Review of Public Health

Volume 27, 2006, review article, the role of media violence in violent behavior.

L. Rowell Huesmann 1 , and Laramie D. Taylor 1
View Affiliations Hide Affiliations Affiliations: 1 Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106-1248; email: [email protected] 2 Communication Department, University of California, Davis, California 95616; email: [email protected]
Vol. 27:393-415 (Volume publication date April 2006) https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.publhealth.26.021304.144640
© Annual Reviews

Media violence poses a threat to public health inasmuch as it leads to an increase in real-world violence and aggression. Research shows that fictional television and film violence contribute to both a short-term and a long-term increase in aggression and violence in young viewers. Television news violence also contributes to increased violence, principally in the form of imitative suicides and acts of aggression. Video games are clearly capable of producing an increase in aggression and violence in the short term, although no long-term longitudinal studies capable of demonstrating long-term effects have been conducted. The relationship between media violence and real-world violence and aggression is moderated by the nature of the media content and characteristics of and social influences on the individual exposed to that content. Still, the average overall size of the effect is large enough to place it in the category of known threats to public health.

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The Influence of Media Violence on Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration: An Examination of Inmates’ Domestic Violence Convictions and Self-Reported Perpetration

Samantha m. gavin.

1 Department of Sociology and Criminology, St. Bonaventure University, 3261 West State Street, Plassmann Room A1, St. Bonaventure, NY 14778 USA

Nathan E. Kruis

2 Department of Criminal Justice, Penn State Altoona, 3000 Ivyside Park, Cypress Building, Room 101E, Altoona, PA 16601 USA

Research suggests that the representation of violence against women in the media has resulted in an increased acceptance of attitudes favoring domestic violence. While prior work has investigated the relationship between violent media exposure and violent crime, there has been little effort to empirically examine the relationship between specific forms of violent media exposure and the perpetration of intimate partner violence. Using data collected from a sample of 148 inmates, the current study seeks to help fill these gaps in the literature by examining the relationship between exposure to various forms of pleasurable violent media and the perpetration of intimate partner violence (i.e., conviction and self-reported). At the bivariate level, results indicate a significant positive relationship between exposure to pleasurable television violence and self-reported intimate partner abuse. However, this relationship is reduced to insignificant levels in multivariable modeling. Endorsement of domestic violence beliefs and victimization experience were found to be the strongest predictors of intimate partner violence perpetration. Potential policy implications based on findings are discussed within.

Introduction

In the United States, more than 12 million men and women become victims of domestic violence each year [ 76 ]. In fact, every minute, roughly 20 Americans are victimized at the hands of an intimate partner [ 3 ]. Although both men and women are abused by an intimate partner, women have a higher likelihood of such abuse, with those ages 18–34 years being at the highest risk of victimization. Moreover, it is estimated that approximately 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men experience violence at the hands of an intimate partner at some point in their lifetime [ 77 ].

According to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women [ 78 ], the representation of violence against women in the media has greatly increased over the years. Recent research suggests that women are commonly depicted as victims and sex objects in the media [ 12 , 69 ]. Portraying women in this way, media via pornography, pornographic movies, and music videos, has been found to increase attitudes which are supportive of violence, specifically sexual violence, against women. Notably, in relation to violence in general, research suggests that the media’s portrayal of women as sex objects and victims, tends to influence societal attitudes that are accepting of domestic violence, particularly violence against women [ 40 , 43 , 46 , 69 ].

Understanding the influence of media violence on an individual’s perceptions of domestic violence could help gain a better understanding of the factors that contribute to an individual’s domestic violence tendencies, as well as to gain a better understanding of how to lessen such tendencies. Not only can the influence of media violence on domestic violence perceptions be addressed, but specific media forms can be identified as to the level of influence that each form of media has on such perceptions as well. Understanding how exposure to media violence influences domestic violence perceptions, in comparison to the influence of media aggression on domestic violence perceptions, will allow for an overall perspective of how violent media in general influences domestic violence perpetration. Accordingly, the present study seeks to provide an empirical assessment of the relationship between violent media exposure and the perpetration of intimate partner abuse.

Literature Review

Although society believes that exposure to media violence 1 causes an individual to become violent, research has cast doubt on this belief, stating that violent media does not directly influence violent behavior at a highly correlated statistically significant level [ 2 , 4 , 21 , 22 , 65 , 85 ]. In relation to media aggression 2 and domestic violence perceptions however, research has demonstrated a relationship between the two variables [ 11 , 12 , 23 , 35 , 39 , 41 , 47 ], such that an increased level of exposure to media aggression, for example, video games and movies depicting aggression towards women, influences individuals to become more accepting of aggression toward women.

Domestic Violence

According to The United States Department of Justice [ 75 ], domestic violence is defined as “a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that is used by one partner to gain or maintain power and control over another intimate partner” (para. 1). Emotional/psychological, verbal, physical, sexual, and financial abuse [ 42 , 84 ], as well as digital abuse, are the different types of abuse that can occur amongst intimate partners.

In the United States alone, domestic violence hotlines received approximately 20,000 calls per day [ 51 ], with at least five million incidents occurring each year [ 34 ]. With the COVID-19 pandemic, the likelihood for domestic violence incidents to occur increased, while a victim’s ability to call and report decreased [ 18 ], due to individuals being locked down at home, being laid-off, or working from home. In examining the 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men who experience domestic violence at the hands of an intimate partner, 1 in 3 and 1 in 4, respectively, have experienced physical abuse [ 3 ], with 1 in 7 women and 1 in 25 men obtaining injuries from the abuse [ 51 ]. In addition, 1 in 10 women have been raped by an intimate partner, while the data on the true extent of male rape victimization is relatively unknown [ 51 ]. Even though domestic violence crimes make up approximately 15% of all reported violent crimes [ 77 ], almost half go unreported [ 57 ], due to various reasons (i.e., concerns about privacy, desire to protect the offender, fear of reprisal [ 19 ], relationship to the perpetrator [ 20 ]).

There are several risk factors that increase an individual’s likelihood of perpetrating domestic violence. Individuals who witnessed domestic violence between their parents [ 1 , 17 , 44 , 49 , 61 , 73 ], or were abused as children themselves [ 32 , 44 , 68 , 71 , 79 , 81 ], are more likely to perpetrate domestic violence than individuals who did not witness or experience such abuse. Research has found men who witnessed abuse between their parents had higher risk ratios for committing intimate partner violence themselves [ 61 ] and were more likely to engage in such violence [ 49 ], than men who did not witness such violence as children. Research has also shown that male adolescents who witnessed mother-to-father violence were more likely to engage in dating violence themselves [ 73 ]. Similarly, scholars have found women who witnessed intimate partner violence between their parents were over 1.5 times more likely to engage in such violence themselves [ 49 ], and adolescent girls were more likely to engage in dating violence when they witnessed violence between their parents [ 73 ]. Child abuse victims were more likely to perpetrate intimate partner violence as they aged, with 23-year-olds demonstrating a significant relationship compared to 21-year-olds [ 44 ], and males who identified as child abuse victims were found to be four times more likely to engage in such violence than males who had no history of such abuse [ 49 ]. Overall, both males and females who experienced child-family violence 3 were more likely to engage in both reciprocal and nonreciprocal intimate partner violence [ 49 ].

Research has also found that being diagnosed with conduct disorder as a child or antisocial personality disorder as an adult, also increases the likelihood of domestic violence perpetration [ 7 , 8 , 17 , 31 , 45 , 81 ], with antisocial personality disorder being a mediating factor between child abuse and later intimate partner violence perpetration [ 81 ]. Additionally, individuals who demonstrate antisocial characteristics during adolescence are at an elevated risk of engaging in domestic violence as adults [ 45 ]. Another key factor that influences domestic violence perpetration is having hostile attitudes and beliefs [ 5 , 37 , 48 , 49 , 70 ], with such attitudes being more of a predictive factor of intimate partner abuse than conduct problems [ 8 ]. Both men and women who approve of intimate partner violence are more likely to engage in or reciprocate such violence compared to those without such perceptions [ 49 ].

Media Violence and Crime

Media violence and behavior.

It has been long speculated that media violence is directly related to violent behavior and perpetration of violent crime, such as intimate partner abuse [ 6 , 14 , 33 , 50 ]. However, research has found very weak evidence demonstrating a correlation between exposure to media violence and crime, with Pearson’s r correlations of less than 0.4 being indicated in most studies in this area [ 2 , 21 , 22 , 64 , 65 , 85 ]. In fact, Savage [ 64 ] determined that exposure to violent activities through the media does not have a statistically significant relationship with crime perpetration. Likewise, Ferguson and colleagues’ [ 21 , 22 ] work supported these findings, indicating that “exposure to television [violence] and video game violence were not significant predictors of violent crime” [ 21 ] (p. 396).

More recently, Savage and Yancey [ 65 ] conducted a meta-analysis of thirty two studies that tested the relationship between media violence (i.e., television or film) and criminal aggression. Lester (1989), Krittschnitt, Heath, and Ward (1986), Lagerspetz and Viemerö (1986), Phillips (1983), Berkowitz and Macaulay (1971), and Steuer, Applefield, and Smith (1971) were among the evaluated studies. Collectively, Savage and Yancey [ 65 ] concluded that the results from their analysis suggested that a relationship between violent media exposure and criminal aggression had not been established in the existing scholarly literature. Although there was evidence of a slight, positive effect of media violence on criminal aggression found for males. However, the authors noted several limitations among each of the evaluated studies that questions the generalizability of findings. As such, there is need for more work to be done in this area before firm conclusions can be drawn about the relationship between violent media exposure and violent behaviors.

Media aggression and violence against women

Although research has demonstrated a lack of or weak correlation between media violence and violent behavior, research has found a moderate positive correlation between exposure to media aggression and domestic violence perceptions. Such research has found significant relationships between exposure to media aggression and a variety of delinquent perceptions, ranging from views on rape [ 47 , 67 ] to domestic violence [ 11 , 12 , 39 ]. These views support and accept the rape of women and abusive tendencies towards an intimate partner.

For instance, Malamuth and Check [ 47 ] examined how exposure to movies that contained high levels of violence and sexual content, especially misogynistic content, influenced one’s perceptions. Individuals who watched such content were more likely to have rape-supportive attitudes than individuals who were not exposed to such movies. Simpson Beck and colleagues [ 67 ] found that rape supportive attitudes were more common among individuals who played video games that sexually objectified and degraded women. Such individuals were more likely to accept the belief that rape is an acceptable behavior and that it is the woman’s fault if she is raped, compared to individuals who did not play such video games.

Related, Cundiff [ 12 ] classified the songs on the Billboard’s Hot 100 chart between 2000 and 2010 into categories such as rape/sexual assault, demeaning language, physical violence, and sexual conquest, and found that throughout these songs, the objectification and control of women were common themes. In surveying individuals in relation to their exposure to such music, a positive correlation was found between an individual’s exposure to suggestive music, and their misogynous thinking [ 12 ]. Further, Fischer and Greitemeyer [ 23 ] found that individuals who listened to more aggressive music were more likely to have negative views of and act more aggressively towards women. Likewise, Kerig [ 39 ] and Coyne and colleagues [ 11 ] found that individuals who are exposed to higher levels of media aggression are more likely to perpetrate domestic violence offenses. This suggests that an increased exposure to media aggression influences an individual’s perceptions of domestic violence, and could, subsequently influence the perpetration of domestic violence.

Cultivation Theory

A theoretical explanation for a relationship between violent media exposure and the perpetration of violent crime can be found in Cultivation Theory. Cultivation Theory assumes that “when people are exposed to media content or other socialization agents, they gradually come to cultivate or adopt beliefs about the world that coincide with the images they have been viewing or messages they have been hearing” [ 28 ] (p. 22). Essentially, this cultivation manifests into individuals mistaking their “world reality” with the “media reality,” thus increasing the likelihood of violence [ 26 ] (p. 350). Individuals who are exposed to violent media, are more likely to perceive their reality as filled with the same level of violence, resulting in an increased likelihood of the individual acting violently themselves. By identifying one’s reality with the “media reality,” individuals create their own social constructs and begin to believe that the violence demonstrated in the media is acceptable in life as well.

This cultivation and social construction creation based off of media is demonstrated through Kahlor and Eastin’s [ 38 ] examination of the influence of television shows on rape myth acceptance. Individuals who watched soap operas demonstrated race myth acceptance and an “overestimation of false rape accusations”, while individuals who watched crime shows were less likely to demonstrate rape myth acceptance [ 38 ] (p. 215). This demonstrates how the type of television show an individual watches, can influence how and what individuals learn from such viewing.

In relation to domestic violence perception, individuals who are exposed to violence in intimate relationships, or sexual aggression, whether through the media or in real life, are more likely to support or accept such actions over time [ 12 , 28 ]. A longitudinal study conducted by Williams [ 82 ], examined cultivation effects on individuals who play video games. It was found that individuals who played video games at higher rates began to fear dangers which they experienced through the video games, demonstrating how individuals adopt beliefs based on their media exposure. Therefore, according to Cultivation Theory, individuals who are exposed to higher levels of violent media, are likely to learn from the media, and act based on this learning [ 12 , 28 , 82 ]. In relation to domestic violence, this work suggests that it is reasonable then to hypothesize that individuals who are exposed to higher levels of media violence are more likely to become supportive or accepting of domestic violence actions.

Limitations of Previous Work

While prior research has explored the relationship between exposure to media aggression and domestic violence perceptions [ 11 ], [ 12 , 23 , 39 , 47 , 67 ], to date, we are unaware of research that has focused specifically on exploring the relationship between one’s level of exposure to media violence and domestic violence perceptions. As a result, the relationship between violent media exposure and domestic violence has yet to be fully examined. Further, research focusing specifically on media aggression, media violence, and violence perpetration has predominately focused on specific types of media (i.e., video games, movies, songs), often with the media platform and materials provided to the study participants by researchers. To date little research has investigated multiple forms of self-exposure to violent media and criminal perpetration. Moreover, previous research has failed to examine the effects of pleasure gained from such exposure, as we speculate that individual’s will be less likely to engage in consumption of media they find unpleasurable. Subsequently, the effects of media exposure are largely dependent on one’s disposition toward the content – which, admittedly, over time can be shaped by the content itself. Thus, we suggest that prior tests focusing exclusively on simulated exposure without consideration of pleasure have been incomplete.

Moreover, while there are scales that measure domestic violence perceptions (e.g., The Perceptions of and Attitudes Toward Domestic Violence Questionnaire – Revised (PADV-R) , The Definitions of Domestic Violence Scale , The Attitudes toward the Use of Interpersonal Violence – Revised Scale , and various others compiled by Flood [ 25 ]), they are very specific in nature, making it difficult to use such scales outside of the specified nature for which they were created. In fact, these scales fail to examine the actual perceptions an individual has towards domestic violence, and when they do, they tend to examine domestic violence perpetrated by men, and not women. Thus, the current study sought to help fill some of these gaps in the literature.

Current Focus

There were three overarching goals driving the current project:

First, we sought to create a psychometrically sound scale capable of measuring intrinsic endorsement of domestic violence beliefs.
Second, we were interested in assessing the relationship between intrinsic endorsement of domestic violence beliefs and domestic violence perpetration.
Third, we wanted to explore the relationship between various types of violent media exposure (i.e., video game, movie, television) and domestic violence perpetration.

Data and Method

The data used in this study came from a sample of incarcerated offenders in two jails in New York and a prison in West Virginia. A sample of 148 convicted offenders 4 were surveyed between April 2018 and September 2018. The sampling procedure was one of convenience, in a face-to-face manner. A student intern at the prison asked inmates with whom she came into contact if they would be willing to take the survey. Such surveys were administered individually. For one of the jails, all inmates participating in educational classes were asked by the researcher to take the survey. Such surveys were administered in a group setting. A sign-up sheet was also placed in each pod for inmates to sign-up for survey participation. Each individual on the list was brought to a room occupied by only the researcher, with surveys being administered individually. For the second jail, correctional officers made an announcement in one of the pods, asking those who were interested in participation to let them know. Such inmates were individually brought to a room occupied by the researcher with a plexiglass wall between them. The surveys were administered via paper hard copy, with a researcher present to answer any questions the participants had throughout the survey process. Due to working with a vulnerable population, confidentiality was key. Confidentiality was maintained by not allowing any correctional staff in the room when the surveys were taken, and informed consent documents were kept separate from the surveys. Respondents were informed that their decision to participate in the study was completely voluntary, and that information would not be shared with law enforcement or anyone within the jail.

Dependent Variables

Domestic violence perpetration.

Two measures were used to assess domestic violence perpetration. First, participants were asked if they had been convicted of a domestic violence offense. While this is a good indication of domestic violence perpetration, it is not the “best” measure, as many persons who commit domestic violence are never convicted of the crime. As such, we employed a second measure of domestic violence perpetration. Specifically, participants were also asked if they had ever abused an intimate partner. Response categories were a dichotomous “yes” (1) or “no” (0).

Independent Variables

Endorsement of domestic violence beliefs.

We were interested in assessing the relationship between the intrinsic endorsement of domestic violence beliefs and domestic violence perpetration. Unfortunately, at the time of the study, the research team was not aware of any psychometrically sound measure of intrinsic endorsement of domestic violence beliefs available in the scholarly literature. Thus, we sought to create one. Specifically, we used an eighteen-item self-report scale to capture respondents’ intrinsic support of domestic violence. Some items included, “A wife sometimes deserves to be hit by her husband,” “A husband who makes his wife jealous on purpose deserves to be hit,” and “A wife angry enough to hit her husband must really love him.” Respondents were asked to indicate their level of agreement with the eighteen items on a five-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (“strongly disagree”) to 5 (“strongly agree”). Responses were summed to create a scale measure of intrinsic support of domestic violence beliefs with higher scores indicative of greater support of domestic violence. As indicated in Table Table1, 1 , these items loaded onto one latent factor in an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and demonstrated good internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.974).

Results from exploratory factor analysis (EFA) for endorsement of domestic violence beliefs

	Factor 1
If a wife does not like her husband's friends, she should stop him from seeing them	.536
When a wife is mad at her husband, it is okay for her to call him names	.666
A wife sometimes deserves to be hit by her husband	.819
A husband angry enough to hit his wife must love her very much	.875
When a husband does not like his wife's family, he should stop her from seeing them	.831
When a wife is mad at her husband, it is okay for her to hit him	.871
A husband who makes his wife jealous on purpose deserves to be hit	.860
A husband sometimes deserves to be hit by his wife	.741
When a husband is mad at his wife, it is okay for him to yell at her	.783
When a husband is mad at his wife, it is okay for him to hit her	.904
When a husband does not like his wife's friends, he should stop her from seeing them	.786
A wife who makes her husband jealous on purpose deserves to be hit	.922
When a husband is mad at his wife, it is okay for him to throw things at her	.932
If a wife does not like her husband's family, she should stop him from seeing them	.877
When a wife is mad at her husband, it is okay for her to throw things at him	.893
When a husband is mad at his wife, it is okay for him to call her names	.869
A wife angry enough to hit her husband must really love him	.879
When a wife is mad at her husband, it is okay for her to yell at him	.756
Eigenvalue	12.624
Variance (%)	70.136

KSMO = .928 ( p = .000). The scree plot indicated a clear break at the second factor, suggesting a one factor matrix. Extraction method: Principal axis. α = .974

Violent media exposure

Prior research assessing the relationship between violent media exposure and crime has found mixed results [ 2 , 11 , 12 , 21 – 23 , 39 , 47 , 64 , 65 , 67 , 85 ]. However, most of this work has employed only one measure of media exposure and has ignored the pleasure that one may receive from violent media – that is, whether they get enjoyment from the content. In an attempt to fill these gaps in the literature we considered three types of violent media exposure: (1) video games, (2) movies, and (3) television. Consistent with recommendations made by Savage and Yancey [ 65 ] our measures include an estimate of both media exposure (e.g., time) and rating of violence. Specifically, participants were asked to report the number of hours that they spent playing videogames, watching movies, and watching television each week. Next, they were asked to indicate the percentage of violence (0–100%) in the games, movies, and television they played and watched. Additionally, participants were asked to report how pleasurable they found the video games, movies, and television that they played and watched (coded, 0 = “Not Pleasurable” through 10 = “Very Pleasurable”). Responses to each of the three questions in the different blocks of media were multiplied together to create a scale measure assessing pleasurable violent media exposure with higher numbers indicative of greater pleasurable violent media exposure.

Control Variables

Four measures were used as control variables in this study: (1) age, (2) sex, (3) race, and (4) domestic violence victimization, as research has not examined if such victimization is related to victims’ perpetration of intimate partner violence. Specifically, participants were asked if they had ever been abused by an intimate partner. Responses were also dichotomous with 1 = “yes” and 0 = “no.” Age was a continuous variable ranging from 18 years old to 95 years old. Sex and race were dichotomous variables (i.e., 1 = “male” or “white” and 0 = “female” or “other”). Specifically, participants were asked if they had ever been abused by an intimate partner. Responses were also dichotomous with 1 = “yes” and 0 = “no.”

Analytic Strategy

Data analysis proceeded in three key stages. First, all data were cleaned, coded, and univariate analyses were constructed to assess measures of central tendency and measures of dispersion. Missing data were assessed using Little’s Missing Completely at Random (MCAR) test. The significant MCAR test ( p < 0.05) indicated that data were not missing at random, and as such, it would be inappropriate to impute the missing data for multivariable analyses. An Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was also run to help support the creation of our intrinsic endorsement of domestic violence beliefs scale. A Principal Axis Factor Analysis (PAFA) was selected as the EFA technique because the constructs are latent. Second, bivariate analyses were run to support the construction of multivariable models. Third, multivariable models were constructed. Given the dichotomous coding of the two outcome measures assessing domestic violence perpetration, we used logistic regression as the primary multivariate analysis.

Descriptive Information

Table Table2 2 displays the demographic information for the sample, as well as the descriptive statistics for key variables of interest. As indicated in Table Table2, 2 , overall, the sample had an average age of 35.81 years. Most participants were male (91%) and identified as white (77%). About 45 percent of the sample reported being a victim of domestic violence. Regarding violent media exposure, participants indicated greater exposure to pleasurable violence in movies ( M = 36.40, sd = 41.87) than to pleasurable violence in television ( M = 29.73, sd = 38.73) and video games ( M = 22.58, sd = 38.66). In the aggregate, participants did not show much intrinsic support for domestic violence ( M = 34.02, sd = 18.22). However, 16.2 percent of the sample had been convicted of a domestic violence offense and 34.5 percent had admitted to abusing an intimate partner.

Descriptive statistics ( N = 148)

	M (%)	SD	Minimum	Maximum

Age	35.81	12.36	18	95
Male	91.0	–	–	–
White	77.0	–	–	–
Been abused	44.6	–	–	–

Video game violence	22.58	38.66	0	200
Movie violence	36.40	41.87	0	200
Television violence	29.73	38.73	0	200
Endorsement of DV	34.02	18.22	18	88
DV (conviction)	16.2	–	–	–
DV (self-report)	34.5	–	–	–

Bivariate Correlations

Table Table3 3 displays the results from zero-order correlations between variables of interest. As indicated in Table Table3, 3 , only one variable, endorsement of domestic violence beliefs ( r = 0.202, p < 0.05), was statistically significantly correlated with a domestic violence conviction at the bivariate level. Results suggest that as one’s intrinsic support for domestic violence increases, so too does the likelihood that they have been convicted of a domestic violence offense. Interestingly, this variable was not statistically significantly correlated with the “self-reported” measure of domestic violence perpetration ( r = 0.101, p > 0.05). However, four other variables were found to be statistically significantly correlated with a participant’s self-reported domestic violence perpetration. These variables included being a male ( r = − 0.177, p < 0.05), being a victim of domestic violence ( r = 0.637, p < 0.01), television violence ( r = 0.179, p < 0.05), and having a domestic violence conviction ( r = 0.182, p < 0.05). Results indicate that males were less likely to report abusing an intimate partner than were females. Further, results show that those who had been a victim of domestic violence, those who had greater exposure to pleasurable television violence, and those who had been convicted of a domestic violence offense, were more likely to report abusing an intimate partner than those in reference groups. The weak correlation between our two dependent measures supports the use of the two separate multivariable models reported below.

Correlations

Variables	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
1. Age	1
2. Male	− .153	1
3. White	− .038	.110	1
4. Been abused	.050	− .299**	− .059	1
5. Video game violence	− .041	.071	− .176*	− .002	1
6. Movie violence	− .027	− .106	− .112	.224**	.598**	1
7. Television violence	.124	− .292**	− .142	.262**	.401**	.714**	1
8. Endorsement of DV	− .013	− .077	.054	.016	.007	− .081	− .056	1
9. DV conviction	.140	− .054	.022	.122	.058	.067	.114	.202*	1
10. DV self-report	.071	− .177*	− .111	.637**	− .052	.150	.179*	.101	.182*	1

Pearson product-moment correlations are reported. Two-tailed significance is reported

* p ≤ .05, ** p ≤ .01

Multivariable Models

Table Table4 4 shows the results from logistic regression models estimating domestic violence convictions and self-reported domestic violence perpetration. The first model in Table Table4 4 assessed the correlates of having a domestic violence conviction. Overall, the model fit the data well and explained about 14 percent of the variance in domestic violence in having a domestic violence conviction (Nagelkerke’s R 2 = 0.142). However, there was only one statistically significant predictor in that model, endorsement of domestic violence beliefs ( b = 0.033, p < 0.05). Results show that a one-unit increase in intrinsic support for domestic violence was associated with a 1.033 increase in the odds of being convicted of a domestic violence offense.

Logistic regression analyses predicting domestic violence

	Conviction			Self-report
	b	SE	OR	b	SE	OR

Age	.024	.022	1.025	.030	.022	1.030
Male	− .837	1.094	.433	− .478	.788	.620
White	.017	.704	1.017	.574	.639	1.775
Been abused	− .457	.600	.633	− 3.533***	.673	.029

Video game violence	.001	.009	1.001	− .008	.009	.992
Movie violence	− .005	.012	.995	.000	.011	1.000
Television violence	.011	.011	1.011	.009	.010	1.009
Endorsement of DV	.033*	.014	1.033	.004	.015	1.004
Nagelkerke’s R	.142			.548

Unstandardized coefficients are presented, OR = odds ratio. DV = “Domestic Violence”

* p < .05, ** p < .01, *** p < .001

The second model in Table Table4 4 depicts the results from the logistic regression model estimating self-reported domestic violence perpetration. Overall, the model fit the data well and explained nearly 55 percent of the variance in abusing an intimate partner (Nagelkerke’s R 2 = 0.548). Interestingly, endorsement of domestic violence beliefs was not a significant predictor in this model ( b = 0.004, p > 0.05). In fact, the only statistically significant predictor in that model was our measure of domestic violence victimization ( b = − 3.533, p < 0.001). Results suggest that victims of domestic violence were 34.48 times less likely to report abusing an intimate partner than were non-victims, controlling for all other relevant factors. It is important to note that none of the measures of exposure to pleasurable media violence were related to either of our measures of domestic violence perpetration [ 74 , 83 ].

Much of the prior work assessing the relationship between exposure to violent media and crime perpetration has ignored the pleasure component of media exposure and failed to assess multiple forms of violent media simultaneously while controlling for the endorsement of criminogenic beliefs and other relevant factors (e.g., prior victimization). The current exploratory project sought to help fill these gaps in the literature. Specifically, the current project had three main goals: (1) to establish a psychometrically sound measure of intrinsic support for domestic violence, (2) to assess the relationship between intrinsic support for domestic violence and domestic violence perpetration, and (3) to analyze the relationship between pleasurable violent media exposure and two different measures of domestic violence perpetration (i.e., conviction and “self-report”) while controlling for appropriate covariates (e.g., prior victimization, endorsement of domestic violence, etc.). Our research, using data from a sample of convicted offenders ( N = 148), yielded several key findings worth further consideration.

First, results from Exploratory Factor Analysis showed that we were able to effectively create a psychometrically sound measure of intrinsic support for domestic violence. We encourage other researchers to adopt this 18-item measure of intrinsic support for domestic violence to use in future projects as both a predictor and an outcome measure. Future research should also explore how these beliefs come to be. Perhaps more importantly, though, through our data analyses we were able to establish a relationship between intrinsic support for domestic violence and being convicted of a domestic violence offense. That is, our results show that offenders who hold beliefs that favor the emotional and physical abuse of an intimate partner are more likely to have been convicted of a domestic violence offense than those who do not hold such views. This finding suggests that in order to help prevent domestic violence, researchers and practitioners need to develop strategies to avert, disrupt, or reverse the internalization of such beliefs. We suggest that targeting adolescents who are at risk of experiencing child abuse or witnessing abuse between their parents, may help prevent such individuals from internalizing the acceptance of such beliefs and reduce the chances that they will grow up to perpetrate domestic violence, as prior research indicates that they are a high-risk group 5 [ 36 , 52 ]. For partners who have already engaged in violence toward one another, cognitive behavioral therapy programs, such as Behavioral Couples Therapy [ 53 , 54 , 62 ], are effective at changing domestic violence perceptions and reducing future violence [ 29 , 63 ].

Second, we did not find much support for a relationship between violent media exposure and domestic violence perpetration, questioning the effects of media cultivation. At the bivariate level, pleasurable violent television exposure was found to exhibit a small, positive effect on self-reported intimate partner abuse ( r < 0.20) [ 9 ]. This finding suggests that, at the bivariate level, as one’s exposure to pleasurable violent television increases, so too does the likelihood that they self-report abusing an intimate partner. However, this relationship was reduced to insignificant levels in a multivariable modeling controlling for age, gender, race, endorsement of domestic violence beliefs, and prior victimization. In fact, no measure of pleasurable violent media exposure was significantly related to domestic violence perpetration in multivariable modeling. Thus, the current study supports prior research indicating no relationship between media violence and violent crime perpetration [ 21 , 22 , 64 , 65 ], and suggests that other variables (i.e., endorsement of domestic violence beliefs, and victimization), not violent media, are responsible for driving individuals to committing violent crimes.

Third, our work highlights the importance of the role prior victimization plays in criminal perpetration. Interestingly, at the bivariate level, domestic violence victimization at the hands of an intimate partner was unrelated to a domestic violence conviction, but significantly and positively related to admitting to abusing an intimate partner. In fact, the relationship between being a victim of domestic violence and admitting to abusing an intimate partner was very strong ( r = 0.637) [ 9 ]. This finding suggests that individuals who have been previously victimized at the hands of an intimate partner, are at an increased likelihood of abusing an intimate partner themselves. However, in multivariable modeling, this relationship switched directions, and prior victimization was found to be negatively related to self-reported domestic violence perpetration. In fact, with the addition of appropriate statistical controls in multivariable modeling, our findings suggest that those who had been abused by an intimate partner were more than 34 times less likely to report abusing an intimate partner. This is an interesting and difficult finding to interpret because it opposes prior work indicating that victimization experiences, especially among the young [ 32 , 44 , 71 , 81 ], and witnessing domestic violence [ 1 , 17 , 44 , 49 , 61 , 68 , 73 , 79 ], can be positively related to perpetration. Initially, we speculated that the reason for this observed relationship had to do with controlling for the endorsement of domestic violence beliefs. However, the significant negative relationship between victimization and domestic violence perpetration existed in auxiliary analyses that removed the variable assessing endorsement of domestic violence beliefs from statistical modeling. Thus, we offer two plausible explanation for the observed relationship. First, this finding may reflect some form of empathy that serves as a protective factor against domestic violence perpetration – controlling for other relevant factors, such as demographics, endorsements of domestic violence beliefs, and pleasurable violent media exposure. That is, victims of domestic violence understand the horrific pain caused by intimate partner abuse, and in an attempt to avoid instilling such pain onto their spouse, they refrain from acting out aggressively against them. Second, this finding may simply be the result of sampling error. There was no relationship found between domestic violence conviction and domestic violence victimization in statistical modeling. As such, the relationship found between domestic violence victimization and self-reported domestic violence perpetration could merely be due to the fact that the measure was self-reported. That is, it may be that victims of domestic violence are less willing to admit to domestic violence perpetration than non-victims, for whatever reason. Future research should explore these findings more in relation to these two hypotheses.

Limitations

There are several limitations to our study that warrant disclosure. First, results reported above come from a small convenience sample of offenders incarcerated in New York and West Virginia. Thus, the findings from this exploratory study are not generalizable beyond these parameters. Second, the data had temporal ordering constraints. The dependent and independent variables were collected at the same time. Accordingly, our use of the term “predictor” in multivariable modeling is more consistent with “correlation.” Due to temporal ordering issues, it is unknown if individuals prone to violence seek out violent media, or if violent media causes such individuals to become violent. Future research should employ probabilistic sampling techniques, collect data from more urban sites, and use longitudinal research designs. Third, our measures of violent media exposure were not ideal. Notably, while more robust than prior estimates of violent media exposure, our measures of violent media exposure looked at general media violence across three different types of media—television, movies, and video games. It would be better for future researchers to examine the impact of specific types of violence depicted in media, such as domestic violence, on specific types of violent crimes.

Future work should also take steps to better explore this relationship from a theoretical lens, such as Cultivation Theory, “mean world” hypothesis, and catharsis effects. Future work may also benefit from approaching this topic inductively, by asking respondents to list the media they consume and then exploring the relationship between this media consumption and various forms of crime. For instance, it may be prudent to explore the relationship between exposure to types of pornography and acceptance of domestic violence beliefs, and subsequently, perpetration rates. This could further provide evidence of a media cultivation or catharsis effect. Lastly, the survey questions used wording pertaining to “husband” and “wife,” thereby limiting the range of domestic violence. Future research should change the wording in the survey, to examine perceptions of domestic violence between intimate partners, and not just between spouses.

The relationship between exposure to violent media and crime perpetration is complex. Results from the current study suggest that exposure to various forms of pleasurable violent media is unrelated to domestic violence perpetration. When considering domestic violence perpetration, prior victimization experience and endorsement of domestic violence beliefs appear to be significant correlates worthy of future exploration and policy development.

This project received no funding for any element of the project, including study design, data collection, data analysis, or manuscript preparation.

Declarations

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

All research was conducted within the framework of the first author’s Institutional Review Board.

The study was approved by the institutional review board at the West Virginia Wesleyan College. The study was performed in accordance with the ethical standards as laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

All participants were given and signed written informed consent documents prior to submitting data used in this study. The agreed to have their data collected and findings from it published.

1 Media violence is defined as various forms of media (i.e., television, music, video games, movies, Internet), that contain or portray acts of violence [ 10 ].

2 Media aggression, for the purpose of this study, is defined as various forms of media that contain or portray acts of aggression. Aggression is defined as: “[1)] a forceful action or procedure (such as an unprovoked attack), especially when intended to dominate or master; [2)] the practice of making attacks or encroachments; [and 3)] hostile, injurious, or destructive behavior or outlook, especially when caused by frustration” [ 13 ].

3 A combined measure of childhood physical abuse victimization and witnessing violence between parents [ 49 ].

4 Four respondents did not provide their biological sex.

5 Programs affective at reducing the likelihood of violence include, but are not limited to [ 50 ], Safe Dates [ 27 ], The Fourth R: Strategies for Healthy Teen Relationships [ 81 ], Expect Respect Support Groups [ 58 ], Nurse Family Partnership [ 15 , 55 , 56 ], Child Parent Centers [ 59 , 60 ], Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care [ 16 , 24 , 30 ], Shifting Boundaries [ 72 ], and Multisystemic Therapy [ 66 , 80 ].

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Contributor Information

Samantha M. Gavin, Email: ude.ubs@nivags .

Nathan E. Kruis, Email: ude.usp@231ken .

Violence in the media: Psychologists study potential harmful effects

Early research on the effects of viewing violence on television—especially among children—found a desensitizing effect and the potential for aggression. Is the same true for those who play violent video games?

Video Games

Television and video violence

Virtually since the dawn of television, parents, teachers, legislators, and mental health professionals have wanted to understand the impact of television programs, particularly on children. Of special concern has been the portrayal of violence, particularly given psychologist Albert Bandura’s work in the 1970s on social learning and the tendency of children to imitate what they see.

As a result of 15 years of “consistently disturbing” findings about the violent content of children’s programs, the Surgeon General’s Scientific Advisory Committee on Television and Social Behavior was formed in 1969 to assess the impact of violence on the attitudes, values, and behavior of viewers. The resulting report and a follow-up report in 1982 by the National Institute of Mental Health identified these major effects of seeing violence on television:

Children may become less sensitive to the pain and suffering of others.
Children may be more fearful of the world around them.
Children may be more likely to behave in aggressive or harmful ways toward others.

Research by psychologists L. Rowell Huesmann, Leonard Eron, and others starting in the 1980s found that children who watched many hours of violence on television when they were in elementary school tended to show higher levels of aggressive behavior when they became teenagers. 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.

Interestingly, being aggressive as a child did not predict watching more violent TV as a teenager, suggesting that TV watching could be a cause rather than a consequence of aggressive behavior. However, later research by psychologists Douglas Gentile and Brad Bushman, among others, suggested that exposure to media violence is just one of several factors that can contribute to aggressive behavior.

Other research has found that exposure to media violence can desensitize people to violence in the real world and that, for some people, watching violence in the media becomes enjoyable and does not result in the anxious arousal that would be expected from seeing such imagery.

Video game violence

The advent of video games raised new questions about the potential impact of media violence, since the video game player is an active participant rather than merely a viewer. 97% of adolescents age 12–17 play video games—on a computer, on consoles such as the Wii, Playstation, and Xbox, or on portable devices such as Gameboys, smartphones, and tablets. A Pew Research Center survey in 2008 found that half of all teens reported playing a video game “yesterday,” and those who played every day typically did so for an hour or more.

Many of the most popular video games, such as “Call of Duty” and “Grand Theft Auto,” are violent; however, as video game technology is relatively new, there are fewer empirical studies of video game violence than other forms of media violence. Still, several meta-analytic reviews have reported negative effects of exposure to violence in video games.

A 2010 review by psychologist Craig A. Anderson and others concluded that “the evidence strongly suggests that exposure to violent video games is a causal risk factor for increased aggressive behavior, aggressive cognition, and aggressive affect and for decreased empathy and prosocial behavior.” Anderson’s earlier research showed that playing violent video games can increase a person’s aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behavior both in laboratory settings and in daily life. “One major conclusion from this and other research on violent entertainment media is that content matters,” says Anderson.

Other researchers, including psychologist Christopher J. Ferguson, have challenged the position that video game violence harms children . While his own 2009 meta-analytic review reported results similar to Anderson’s, Ferguson contends that laboratory results have not translated into real world, meaningful effects. He also claims that much of the research into video game violence has failed to control for other variables such as mental health and family life, which may have impacted the results. His work has found that children who are already at risk may be more likely to choose to play violent video games. According to Ferguson, these other risk factors, as opposed to the games, cause aggressive and violent behavior.

APA launched an analysis in 2013 of peer-reviewed research on the impact of media violence and is reviewing its policy statements in the area.

Anderson, C.A., Ihori, Nobuko, Bushman, B.J., Rothstein, H.R., Shibuya, A., Swing, E.L., Sakamoto, A., & Saleem, M. (2010). Violent video game effects on aggression, empathy, and prosocial behavior in Eastern and Western countries: A Meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin , Vol. 126, No. 2.

Anderson, C. A., Carnagey, N. L. & Eubanks, J. (2003). Exposure to violent media: The effects of songs with violent lyrics on aggressive thoughts and feelings. Journal of Personality and Social Psycholog y, Vol. 84, No. 5.

Anderson, C. A., & Dill, K. E. (2000). Video games and aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behavior in the laboratory and in life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , Vol. 78, No. 4.

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The Influence of Media Violence on Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration: An Examination of Inmates’ Domestic Violence Convictions and Self-Reported Perpetration

Original Article
Published: 20 June 2021
Volume 39 , pages 177–197, ( 2022 )

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Samantha M. Gavin 1 &
Nathan E. Kruis ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-2076-314X 2

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Introduction

Literature Review

Although society believes that exposure to media violence Footnote 1 causes an individual to become violent, research has cast doubt on this belief, stating that violent media does not directly influence violent behavior at a highly correlated statistically significant level [ 2 , 4 , 21 , 22 , 65 , 85 ]. In relation to media aggression Footnote 2 and domestic violence perceptions however, research has demonstrated a relationship between the two variables [ 11 , 12 , 23 , 35 , 39 , 41 , 47 ], such that an increased level of exposure to media aggression, for example, video games and movies depicting aggression towards women, influences individuals to become more accepting of aggression toward women.

Domestic Violence

There are several risk factors that increase an individual’s likelihood of perpetrating domestic violence. Individuals who witnessed domestic violence between their parents [ 1 , 17 , 44 , 49 , 61 , 73 ], or were abused as children themselves [ 32 , 44 , 68 , 71 , 79 , 81 ], are more likely to perpetrate domestic violence than individuals who did not witness or experience such abuse. Research has found men who witnessed abuse between their parents had higher risk ratios for committing intimate partner violence themselves [ 61 ] and were more likely to engage in such violence [ 49 ], than men who did not witness such violence as children. Research has also shown that male adolescents who witnessed mother-to-father violence were more likely to engage in dating violence themselves [ 73 ]. Similarly, scholars have found women who witnessed intimate partner violence between their parents were over 1.5 times more likely to engage in such violence themselves [ 49 ], and adolescent girls were more likely to engage in dating violence when they witnessed violence between their parents [ 73 ]. Child abuse victims were more likely to perpetrate intimate partner violence as they aged, with 23-year-olds demonstrating a significant relationship compared to 21-year-olds [ 44 ], and males who identified as child abuse victims were found to be four times more likely to engage in such violence than males who had no history of such abuse [ 49 ]. Overall, both males and females who experienced child-family violence Footnote 3 were more likely to engage in both reciprocal and nonreciprocal intimate partner violence [ 49 ].

Media Violence and Crime

Media violence and behavior.

It has been long speculated that media violence is directly related to violent behavior and perpetration of violent crime, such as intimate partner abuse [ 6 , 14 33 , 50 ]. However, research has found very weak evidence demonstrating a correlation between exposure to media violence and crime, with Pearson’s r correlations of less than 0.4 being indicated in most studies in this area [ 2 , 21 , 22 , 64 , 65 , 85 ]. In fact, Savage [ 64 ] determined that exposure to violent activities through the media does not have a statistically significant relationship with crime perpetration. Likewise, Ferguson and colleagues’ [ 21 , 22 ] work supported these findings, indicating that “exposure to television [violence] and video game violence were not significant predictors of violent crime” [ 21 ] (p. 396).

Media aggression and violence against women

Cultivation Theory

Limitations of Previous Work

Current Focus

There were three overarching goals driving the current project:

First, we sought to create a psychometrically sound scale capable of measuring intrinsic endorsement of domestic violence beliefs.

Second, we were interested in assessing the relationship between intrinsic endorsement of domestic violence beliefs and domestic violence perpetration.

Third, we wanted to explore the relationship between various types of violent media exposure (i.e., video game, movie, television) and domestic violence perpetration.

Data and Method

The data used in this study came from a sample of incarcerated offenders in two jails in New York and a prison in West Virginia. A sample of 148 convicted offenders Footnote 4 were surveyed between April 2018 and September 2018. The sampling procedure was one of convenience, in a face-to-face manner. A student intern at the prison asked inmates with whom she came into contact if they would be willing to take the survey. Such surveys were administered individually. For one of the jails, all inmates participating in educational classes were asked by the researcher to take the survey. Such surveys were administered in a group setting. A sign-up sheet was also placed in each pod for inmates to sign-up for survey participation. Each individual on the list was brought to a room occupied by only the researcher, with surveys being administered individually. For the second jail, correctional officers made an announcement in one of the pods, asking those who were interested in participation to let them know. Such inmates were individually brought to a room occupied by the researcher with a plexiglass wall between them. The surveys were administered via paper hard copy, with a researcher present to answer any questions the participants had throughout the survey process. Due to working with a vulnerable population, confidentiality was key. Confidentiality was maintained by not allowing any correctional staff in the room when the surveys were taken, and informed consent documents were kept separate from the surveys. Respondents were informed that their decision to participate in the study was completely voluntary, and that information would not be shared with law enforcement or anyone within the jail.

Dependent Variables

Domestic violence perpetration.

Independent Variables

Endorsement of domestic violence beliefs.

We were interested in assessing the relationship between the intrinsic endorsement of domestic violence beliefs and domestic violence perpetration. Unfortunately, at the time of the study, the research team was not aware of any psychometrically sound measure of intrinsic endorsement of domestic violence beliefs available in the scholarly literature. Thus, we sought to create one. Specifically, we used an eighteen-item self-report scale to capture respondents’ intrinsic support of domestic violence. Some items included, “A wife sometimes deserves to be hit by her husband,” “A husband who makes his wife jealous on purpose deserves to be hit,” and “A wife angry enough to hit her husband must really love him.” Respondents were asked to indicate their level of agreement with the eighteen items on a five-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (“strongly disagree”) to 5 (“strongly agree”). Responses were summed to create a scale measure of intrinsic support of domestic violence beliefs with higher scores indicative of greater support of domestic violence. As indicated in Table 1 , these items loaded onto one latent factor in an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and demonstrated good internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.974).

Violent media exposure

Prior research assessing the relationship between violent media exposure and crime has found mixed results [ 2 , 11 , 12 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 39 , 47 , 64 , 65 , 67 , 85 ]. However, most of this work has employed only one measure of media exposure and has ignored the pleasure that one may receive from violent media – that is, whether they get enjoyment from the content. In an attempt to fill these gaps in the literature we considered three types of violent media exposure: (1) video games, (2) movies, and (3) television. Consistent with recommendations made by Savage and Yancey [ 65 ] our measures include an estimate of both media exposure (e.g., time) and rating of violence. Specifically, participants were asked to report the number of hours that they spent playing videogames, watching movies, and watching television each week. Next, they were asked to indicate the percentage of violence (0–100%) in the games, movies, and television they played and watched. Additionally, participants were asked to report how pleasurable they found the video games, movies, and television that they played and watched (coded, 0 = “Not Pleasurable” through 10 = “Very Pleasurable”). Responses to each of the three questions in the different blocks of media were multiplied together to create a scale measure assessing pleasurable violent media exposure with higher numbers indicative of greater pleasurable violent media exposure.

Control Variables

Analytic Strategy

Descriptive Information

Table 2 displays the demographic information for the sample, as well as the descriptive statistics for key variables of interest. As indicated in Table 2 , overall, the sample had an average age of 35.81 years. Most participants were male (91%) and identified as white (77%). About 45 percent of the sample reported being a victim of domestic violence. Regarding violent media exposure, participants indicated greater exposure to pleasurable violence in movies ( M = 36.40, sd = 41.87) than to pleasurable violence in television ( M = 29.73, sd = 38.73) and video games ( M = 22.58, sd = 38.66). In the aggregate, participants did not show much intrinsic support for domestic violence ( M = 34.02, sd = 18.22). However, 16.2 percent of the sample had been convicted of a domestic violence offense and 34.5 percent had admitted to abusing an intimate partner.

Bivariate Correlations

Table 3 displays the results from zero-order correlations between variables of interest. As indicated in Table 3 , only one variable, endorsement of domestic violence beliefs ( r = 0.202, p < 0.05), was statistically significantly correlated with a domestic violence conviction at the bivariate level. Results suggest that as one’s intrinsic support for domestic violence increases, so too does the likelihood that they have been convicted of a domestic violence offense. Interestingly, this variable was not statistically significantly correlated with the “self-reported” measure of domestic violence perpetration ( r = 0.101, p > 0.05). However, four other variables were found to be statistically significantly correlated with a participant’s self-reported domestic violence perpetration. These variables included being a male ( r = − 0.177, p < 0.05), being a victim of domestic violence ( r = 0.637, p < 0.01), television violence ( r = 0.179, p < 0.05), and having a domestic violence conviction ( r = 0.182, p < 0.05). Results indicate that males were less likely to report abusing an intimate partner than were females. Further, results show that those who had been a victim of domestic violence, those who had greater exposure to pleasurable television violence, and those who had been convicted of a domestic violence offense, were more likely to report abusing an intimate partner than those in reference groups. The weak correlation between our two dependent measures supports the use of the two separate multivariable models reported below.

Multivariable Models

Table 4 shows the results from logistic regression models estimating domestic violence convictions and self-reported domestic violence perpetration. The first model in Table 4 assessed the correlates of having a domestic violence conviction. Overall, the model fit the data well and explained about 14 percent of the variance in domestic violence in having a domestic violence conviction (Nagelkerke’s R 2 = 0.142). However, there was only one statistically significant predictor in that model, endorsement of domestic violence beliefs ( b = 0.033, p < 0.05). Results show that a one-unit increase in intrinsic support for domestic violence was associated with a 1.033 increase in the odds of being convicted of a domestic violence offense.

The second model in Table 4 depicts the results from the logistic regression model estimating self-reported domestic violence perpetration. Overall, the model fit the data well and explained nearly 55 percent of the variance in abusing an intimate partner (Nagelkerke’s R 2 = 0.548). Interestingly, endorsement of domestic violence beliefs was not a significant predictor in this model ( b = 0.004, p > 0.05). In fact, the only statistically significant predictor in that model was our measure of domestic violence victimization ( b = − 3.533, p < 0.001). Results suggest that victims of domestic violence were 34.48 times less likely to report abusing an intimate partner than were non-victims, controlling for all other relevant factors. It is important to note that none of the measures of exposure to pleasurable media violence were related to either of our measures of domestic violence perpetration [ 74 , 83 ].

First, results from Exploratory Factor Analysis showed that we were able to effectively create a psychometrically sound measure of intrinsic support for domestic violence. We encourage other researchers to adopt this 18-item measure of intrinsic support for domestic violence to use in future projects as both a predictor and an outcome measure. Future research should also explore how these beliefs come to be. Perhaps more importantly, though, through our data analyses we were able to establish a relationship between intrinsic support for domestic violence and being convicted of a domestic violence offense. That is, our results show that offenders who hold beliefs that favor the emotional and physical abuse of an intimate partner are more likely to have been convicted of a domestic violence offense than those who do not hold such views. This finding suggests that in order to help prevent domestic violence, researchers and practitioners need to develop strategies to avert, disrupt, or reverse the internalization of such beliefs. We suggest that targeting adolescents who are at risk of experiencing child abuse or witnessing abuse between their parents, may help prevent such individuals from internalizing the acceptance of such beliefs and reduce the chances that they will grow up to perpetrate domestic violence, as prior research indicates that they are a high-risk group Footnote 5 [ 36 , 52 ]. For partners who have already engaged in violence toward one another, cognitive behavioral therapy programs, such as Behavioral Couples Therapy [ 53 , 54 , 62 ], are effective at changing domestic violence perceptions and reducing future violence [ 29 , 63 ].

Limitations

Media violence is defined as various forms of media (i.e., television, music, video games, movies, Internet), that contain or portray acts of violence [ 10 ].

Media aggression, for the purpose of this study, is defined as various forms of media that contain or portray acts of aggression. Aggression is defined as: “[1)] a forceful action or procedure (such as an unprovoked attack), especially when intended to dominate or master; [2)] the practice of making attacks or encroachments; [and 3)] hostile, injurious, or destructive behavior or outlook, especially when caused by frustration” [ 13 ].

A combined measure of childhood physical abuse victimization and witnessing violence between parents [ 49 ].

Four respondents did not provide their biological sex.

Programs affective at reducing the likelihood of violence include, but are not limited to [ 50 ], Safe Dates [ 27 ], The Fourth R: Strategies for Healthy Teen Relationships [ 81 ], Expect Respect Support Groups [ 58 ], Nurse Family Partnership [ 15 , 55 , 56 ], Child Parent Centers [ 59 , 60 ], Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care [ 16 , 24 , 30 ], Shifting Boundaries [ 72 ], and Multisystemic Therapy [ 66 , 80 ].

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Gavin, S.M., Kruis, N.E. The Influence of Media Violence on Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration: An Examination of Inmates’ Domestic Violence Convictions and Self-Reported Perpetration. Gend. Issues 39 , 177–197 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12147-021-09284-5

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Measuring Attitudes toward Media Violence Using Item-response Theory
The scale is referred to as the Attitudes toward Media Violence Scale (ATMVS). The result of the study was a 20-item scale consisting of four functioning subscales measuring different dimensions of ATMV. The subscales were entitled "Children and Media Violence," "Media Violence and Behavior," "Realism," and "Media Violence in Education."
The Impact of Electronic Media Violence: Scientific Theory and Research
For better or worse the mass media are having an enormous impact on our children's values, beliefs, and behaviors. Unfortunately, the consequences of one particular common element of the electronic mass media has a particularly detrimental effect on children's well being. Research evidence has accumulated over the past half-century that ...
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Media Exposure and Copycat Crimes. While many scholars do seem to agree that there is evidence that media violence—whether that of film, TV, or video games—increases aggression, they disagree about its impact on violent or criminal behavior (Ferguson, 2014; Gunter, 2008; Helfgott, 2015; Reiner, 2002; Savage, 2008).Nonetheless, it is violent incidents that most often prompt speculation that ...
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Today, the violence shown on the news media may especially impact people's mental health. New technology means that violent events, including terrorist attacks, school shootings, and natural disasters, can be filmed and reported on immediately, and media consumers all over the world will be exposed to these events almost instantly via social ...
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The main ways that media violence exposure increases aggression in the short term are: Direct imitation of the observed behavior. Observational learning of attitudes, beliefs and expected benefits of aggression. Increased excitation. Priming of aggression-related ways of thinking and feeling.
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Media violence is typically defined as visual. portrayals of acts of aggression by a human or human-like character against another. (Huesmann, 2007), with the intent of causing physical or emotional pain (Berkowitz, 1993). While a large body of research has identified a positive association between media.
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The link between violent media—movies, television, and video games—and aggression among children and teenagers is both well established and widely misunderstood, experts told The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health. Many people misunderstand the research, believes Victor Strasburger (University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA).
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Abstract Media violence poses a threat to public health inasmuch as it leads to an increase in real-world violence and aggression. Research shows that fictional television and film violence contribute to both a short-term and a long-term increase in aggression and violence in young viewers. Television news violence also contributes to increased violence, principally in the form of imitative ...
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Abstract. This article places media violence research into a broader context than the typical public debate about whether violent video games (or TV programs, or movies) are "the" cause of school shootings and other extreme acts of violence. We describe how scientists today decide whether one variable (e.g., exposure to violent media ...
The Influence of Media Violence on Intimate Partner Violence
Introduction. In the United States, more than 12 million men and women become victims of domestic violence each year [].In fact, every minute, roughly 20 Americans are victimized at the hands of an intimate partner [].Although both men and women are abused by an intimate partner, women have a higher likelihood of such abuse, with those ages 18-34 years being at the highest risk of victimization.
Media Violence: The Effects Are Both Real and Strong
Abstract. Fifty years of research on the effect of TV violence on children leads to the inescapable conclusion that viewing media violence is related to increases in aggressive attitudes, values, and behaviors. The changes in aggression are both short term and long term, and these changes may be mediated by neurological changes in the young viewer.
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As a result, children and adolescents frequently encounter violence in the media. in a variety of forms, which has an effect on their behavior. Previous research has found that. exposure to media ...
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In "Violent Media Is Good for Kids", written by Gerard Jones, the author argues that violent entertainments have positive effects on children's lives beyond their violence and juvenility. In his article, Jones uses a cause and result relationship between violent media and their importance to inform the positive impact of violent media.
Violence in the media: Psychologists study potential harmful effects
The advent of video games raised new questions about the potential impact of media violence, since the video game player is an active participant rather than merely a viewer. 97% of adolescents age 12-17 play video games—on a computer, on consoles such as the Wii, Playstation, and Xbox, or on portable devices such as Gameboys, smartphones, and tablets.
The Influence of Media Violence on Intimate Partner Violence ...
Research suggests that the representation of violence against women in the media has resulted in an increased acceptance of attitudes favoring domestic violence. While prior work has investigated the relationship between violent media exposure and violent crime, there has been little effort to empirically examine the relationship between specific forms of violent media exposure and the ...

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The Influence of Media Violence on Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration: An Examination of Inmates’ Domestic Violence Convictions and Self-Reported Perpetration

Nathan E. Kruis

Introduction

Literature Review

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Media aggression and violence against women

Cultivation Theory

Limitations of Previous Work

Current Focus

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Dependent Variables

Independent Variables

Violent media exposure

Control Variables

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Descriptive Information

Bivariate Correlations

Multivariable Models

Limitations

Declarations

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Violence in the media: Psychologists study potential harmful effects

Television and video violence

Video game violence

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The Influence of Media Violence on Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration: An Examination of Inmates’ Domestic Violence Convictions and Self-Reported Perpetration

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