A03

• What are the strengths of media influences on aggression?

  1. Causal relationships and long-term effects
• What are the limitations of media influences on aggression?

  1. Competency over content
  2. Publication bias
  3. Varied measurements of aggression
• Strength = causal relationships and long-term effects

  • Use of varied research methodologies when examining media effects allows diverse relationships to be established and accurate, active interactions to be shown
  • Experimental studies allow us to establish a causal relationship as they have high internal validity due to control of variables
  • Longitudinal studies investigate the dynamic nature of media influences in the long term and view people as active consumers
  • Posits a more realistic view of how people interact with media and how interactions change over time
• Limitation = competency over content

  • Although many studies assume violent games create feelings of aggression, it could be that aggressive behaviour may be linked to a player’s experience of failure and frustration
  • Przybylski et al. (2014) found it was the lack of mastery and game difficulty that caused aggression, evident between violent and non-violent games
  • Although this may mean aggression is limited to when players play the videogame and is not transferred over to everyday life, the views that violent media cause aggression are clearly too simplistic
• Limitation = publication bias

  • The file drawer problem - means we don‘t have access to non-statistically vital research
  • Particular issue for meta-analyses as only analyse findings of published studies so aren’t getting an accurate picture, leading to conclusion there is a significant finding when there might not be
  • Also, many studies compare effects of playing a non-violent game with a violent game to examine aggression
  • However, because the games may not be similar in content, this could affect the outcome of the studies and result in invalid findings
• Limitation = varied measurements of aggression

  • Research into media influences measures aggression in varied ways
  • Some use volume of white noise blasts, or the amount of hot sauce administered as indices of aggressive displays
  • These measures are simulated and differ substantially from measuring aggression based on overt displays of violent behaviour or one’s history of criminal convictions
  • Researcher’s must use these measures as it would be unethical to allow realistic forms of aggression in an experiment
  • Studies lack external validity due to unrealistic methodology