media influences on aggression

• Some psychologists suggest exposure to violent media might cause aggression and more realistic scenes of violence may have an effect on people’s everyday lives. There is a relationship between representation of violence in the media, and real-life behaviour.
• Supporting evifence for media influence on aggression. Björkqvist conducted a lab study involving children watching either a violent or a non-violent film and measured changes in levels of displayed aggression, such as shouting and hitting. Bjorkqvist found children who watched violent films behaved more aggressively than those who watched non-violent films. This is positive as it highlights the effect media has on influencing aggression. However, these results may lack ecological validity as it was conducted in a lab environment.
• Supporting evidence for media influence on aggression. Anderson and Dill conducted a lab study investigating the effects of violent video games on levels of aggression and found the participants who played violent video games reported higher levels of aggression afterwards. This is positive as it highlights the effect media has on influencing aggression. However, the researchers didn’t measure actual aggression and so their test may lack validity as a measure of aggression.
• Supporting evidence for media influence on aggression. Anderson 2007 conducted a longitudinal study investigating the effect of violent video games on aggression and found children who played more violent video games were reported significantly more aggressive two years later. This is positive as it provides evidence supporting long-term media influences on aggression. However, the study was correlational so couldn’t establish a cause and effect relationship between exposure to violent media and aggression
• Desensitisation is when a person’s emotional response to a stimulus gets smaller with repeated exposure to the stimulus.
• Violence in media can lead to aggression through desensitisation because with repeated exposure to violence people become less shocked and this makes them feel more comfortable being violent themselves.
• Disinhibition is when people become less concerned about social norms that tell them not to behave aggressively.
• Disinhibition contributes to aggression because when people are exposed to violent media, they begin to feel like violence is more socially acceptable.
• Cognitive priming is when exposure to a stimulus makes thoughts and ideas related to that stimulus more accessible in our mind.
• Cognitive priming can cause aggression because being exposed to lots of images of violence makes ideas and thoughts about violence more accessible in our mind.
• Supporting evidence for desensitisation in influencing aggression. Carnagey et al conducted a lab experiment where participants played either a violent or a non-violent game and found those who played a violent game had a reduced emotional response to the violent film. This is positive as it supports the idea that exposure to violence in media causes desensitisation
• Supporting evidence for disinhibition in influencing aggression. Heath et al 1989 conducted a review and found children whose parents emphasised social norms against aggression were unlikely to behave aggressively, even if they were exposed to violent media and children whose parents used physical punishment were more likely to behave aggressively if they were exposed to violent media. This is positive as it supports the idea that social norms have an influence on disinhibition.
• Supporting evidence for cognitive priming in influencing aggression. Bushman 1998 conducted a lab experiment where participants watched a violent or non-violent film and found the experimental group had been primed towards behaving and thinking aggressively. This is positive as it supports the idea that cognitive priming has an influence on aggression.