The meaning of observed violence: Effects on arousal and aggressive behavior

Eighty male subjects were either attacked by a confederate or treated neutrally and then watched a violent movie. Subjects were told beforehand that the fighting in the movie was motivated by either desires for revenge, by professionalism, or by altruism. Other subjects were shown the film without comment. Relative to subjects in all other conditions, subjects who had been attacked and told that the fight was motivated by revenge subsequently (1) gave more intense shocks to the confederate, (2) rated themselves as less restrained in aggressing, and (3) manifested higher levels of blood pressure at the conclusion of the film. The results indicate that the meaning attched to observed violence may affect the aggression elicited by that violence in at least two ways: by lowering inhibitions against aggressing, and by raising arousal levels.     

Love, Suspense, Sex, and Violence: Men’s and Women’s Film Predilections, Exposure to Sexually Violent Media, and their Relationship to Rape Myth Acceptance

This investigation addressed the relationship between men’s and women’s predilections for film with a love story, suspense, or sex and violence theme and how that predilection related to rape myth acceptance (RMA). Also examined was how men’s and women’s predilections, as they related to RMA, were moderated by exposure to different levels of sexually violent media based on a true story. Finally, the relationship between traditional attitudes and film predilection, as well as the relationship between film predilection and attitudes toward film editing, were investigated. Results indicate that men prefer film with sex and violence significantly more than women do, whereas women prefer love stories significantly more than men do. Those with sex and violence film predilections are more accepting of RMA than those with love story or suspense predilections. Women’s film predilections and their relationship to RMA attitudes are moderated to an extent by exposure to sexually violent media based on a true story, whereas men’s attitudes remain unaffected. Finally, those with sex and violence film predilections are less in favor of film editing than are those with suspense or love story predilections. Theoretical explanations for the findings are discussed and their implications.     

Does aggression cause a preference for viewing media violence?

Virtually all of the research concerned with media violence has attempted to determine whether the viewing of violence is associated with or causes aggression. Little experimental research has been directed at understanding why persons view media violence. The present research experimentally tested the hypotheses that physical aggression and fantasy aggression would lead to a preference for viewing violence. In Experiment 1, undergraduate men and women were induced to express aggressive, nonaggressive, or no fantasies and were then given an opportunity to select film clips for viewing. The films chosen by men contained more violence than those chosen by women. In addition, aggressive fantasies in males, compared to nonaggressive fantasies, increased the preference for viewing violence. Experiment 2, using only males, replicated the results of the first study and also found that men who were given an opportunity to aggress physically, compared to those who had no such opportunity, were more likely to choose to view films containing violent content. These results provide an additional perspective on the relationship between the observation of violence and the expression of aggression by suggesting that the causal effects are bidirectional: Just as the viewing of violence may increase aggression, so, too, aggressive behavior may increase the preference for viewing violence.     

Effects of viewing real versus fantasy violence upon interpersonal aggression

Of 96 male undergraduates, one-third saw a violent film which they were told represented a real event, one-third saw the same film presented as a fictional event, and the remaining subjects saw no film. One-half of the subjects in each group had been attacked previously by a confederate while the others had not. Each subject was then given an opportunity to aggress against the confederate by administering shocks to him as punishment in a learning task. Results indicate that subjects who observed real violence delivered stronger shocks to the confederate than subjects who viewed fantasy violence or saw no film. Subjects who were angered and saw the real film were the most punitive toward the confederate.     

Cutting film violence: effects on perceptions, enjoyment, and arousal

The authors investigated the effects of cutting specific graphic scenes of film violence on self-reports of arousal, enjoyability, and perceptions of violence among a sample of U.S. students. In 3 studies, they varied film exposure from 1 1/2 min in the 1st study to a complete motion picture (American vs. British version of same film) in the 3rd. In all 3 studies, the participants rated the cut versions as less violent than the uncut versions. The participants distinguished quite subtle differences in levels of violence, even when the cuts were minor and contextualized within an entire movie. Cutting the movie significantly increased its enjoyability for the women; for the men, there was no significant difference. Cutting violent films made no difference in arousal for the men but substantially lowered self-report levels of arousal for the women.     

Desensitization to media violence: links with habitual media violence exposure, aggressive cognitions, and aggressive behavior

This study examined the links between desensitization to violent media stimuli and habitual media violence exposure as a predictor and aggressive cognitions and behavior as outcome variables. Two weeks after completing measures of habitual media violence exposure, trait aggression, trait arousability, and normative beliefs about aggression, undergraduates (N = 303) saw a violent film clip and a sad or a funny comparison clip. Skin conductance level (SCL) was measured continuously, and ratings of anxious and pleasant arousal were obtained after each clip. Following the clips, participants completed a lexical decision task to measure accessibility of aggressive cognitions and a competitive reaction time task to measure aggressive behavior. Habitual media violence exposure correlated negatively with SCL during violent clips and positively with pleasant arousal, response times for aggressive words, and trait aggression, but it was unrelated to anxious arousal and aggressive responding during the reaction time task. In path analyses controlling for trait aggression, normative beliefs, and trait arousability, habitual media violence exposure predicted faster accessibility of aggressive cognitions, partly mediated by higher pleasant arousal. Unprovoked aggression during the reaction time task was predicted by lower anxious arousal. Neither habitual media violence usage nor anxious or pleasant arousal predicted provoked aggression during the laboratory task, and SCL was unrelated to aggressive cognitions and behavior. No relations were found between habitual media violence viewing and arousal in response to the sad and funny film clips, and arousal in response to the sad and funny clips did not predict aggressive cognitions or aggressive behavior on the laboratory task. This suggests that the observed desensitization effects are specific to violent content.     

The Effect of Social-Comparison Feedback on Aggressive Responses to Erotic and Aggressive Films1

A study assessed the effects of social-comparison cues and filmed violence on aggression toward women. Under the auspices of validating some film clips for use in future research, males viewed either erotic, violent sexual, or violent nonsexual films. A male confederate provided social comparison feedback by indicating (or not indicating) that the film degraded women. Self-reports of sexual arousal, affective responses to the films, perceptions of violence, perceptions of pornography, and perceptions of portrayal of women were measured. In a purportedly unrelated learning experiment, males were given the opportunity to aggress toward a female confederate through electric shock. Intensity and duration of shock were measured. Social comparison information caused reductions in self-reports of sexual arousal, affect, and increased perceptions of violence in the erotic film condition only. Social-comparison information caused males to rate the depiction of women as more negative in both the erotic and violent nonsexual conditions. Regardless of film type, social comparison information caused a reduction in perceived realism of the films. Only film condition affected perceptions of pornography, with greater sexual content judged as more pornographic. Social-comparison information reduced the intensity of shocks delivered. Finally, social-comparison information led to reduced duration of shock in all film conditions; however, this effect appeared to dissipate in the violent sexual condition. Implications are discussed.     

Physiological Desensitization and Judgments About Female Victims of Violence

Earlier published studies have indicated that exposure to filmed violence against women leads to decreased perceptions of violence, systematic reductions in emotional reactions, reduction in self-reported physiological arousal to the violence in the films, and a tendency for subjects exposed to the violence to judge a victim of a sexual assault presented in a more realistic context more harshly. The present study was designed to measure physiological desensitizatian (heart rate) and to investigate the relationships between this measure and other cognitive, affective, and attitudinal components of the desensitization process. Subjects were either exposed to a two-hour videotape portraying violence against women or to exciting, nonviolent material (i.e., auto races, nonviolent sex). Following this, all subjects were exposed to two brief clips of violence perpetrated by a man against a women. During these clips, all subjects’ heart rates were monitored. Afterwards mood reactions and perceptions of the perpetrators and victims depicted in the dependent measure clips were measured. The results indicated that heart rates for subjects exposed to the violent videotape were lower during the final 90 seconds of each violent dependent measure film clip than controls. Although the violence-viewing subjects experienced no change in moods, control subjects experienced significant increases in hostility, anxiety, and depression during the dependent measure clips. Subjects in the violence-viewing condition attributed less injury to the victims but greater responsibility to the perpetrators in the dependent measure clips, compared to control subjects. There was no apparent relationship between physiological desensitization and later victim/perpetrator judgments.     

Violence in College Students' Dating Relationships1

In a survey of 504 college students examining predictors of violence in heterosexual relationships, over half of both men and women had committed at least one physically violent act, and men more often than women reported having been the victims of such acts. Most respondents who reported some experience with violence had both committed and received it, were involved in relatively few different types of violence, and first experienced violence when a relationship had moved beyond the casual dating stage. Modest associations between physical violence and sexual aggression were uncovered. In a series of discriminant analyses, men who abused their partners were not readily distinguished from men who did not, but tended to be young, low in family income, traditional in attitudes toward women, abused as children, currently living with a woman, and from Appalachian areas. Women who abused were more readily discriminated and scored low in social desirability, were abused as children, and were from non-Appalachian areas. Men who were abused were likely to be living with a woman and tended to be low in family income; similarly, cohabitation was related among women to being a target of violence, as were having been abused as a child and scoring low in social desirability. Findings are related to those of other studies of dating abuse, as well as to the family violence and aggression literatures.     

Aggressive personality traits in the effects of violent imagery on unprovoked impulsive aggression

In a three-factor design varying the aggressive-behavior subtraits of physical aggression (low, high) and hostility (low, high) with exposure to film content (innocuous, violent imagery), respondents were exposed to film segments and thereafter engaged in a teaching task that involved the administration of noxious feedback for unproductive efforts by the learner. A display informed respondents of the intensity of delivered feedback. Instructions were to provide feedback as often as required and of intensities deemed appropriate. However, respondents were also told to refrain from using extremely high intensities, as these intensities would be hurtful to the learner. None of the three independent variables exerted appreciable influence on the frequency of use of recommended feedback. In contrast, the frequency of the use of the disallowed, hurtful feedback was markedly affected. Independent of exposure to film content, men scoring high on hostility used impulsive aggressive responses more frequently than men scoring low on that subtrait. Within the subtrait of physical aggression, however, the degree of trait manifestation proved inconsequential for impulsive aggression, but exposure to the violent film segment resulted in more frequent use of impulsive aggressive responses than exposure to the innocuous film segment.     

At the movies with Buss and Durkee: A natural experiment on film violence

Research on the effects of violence depicted in films shown in movie theatres has been neglected, although there are reasons to believe such presentations may be particularly salient for the viewer. In the present study, adult movie-goers attending commercial showings of a violent or non-violent movie responded to a questionnaire consisting of two scales of the Buss-Durkee aggression inventory, either before or after viewing the film. No sex differences in response were observed. The audience attending the violent film had significantly higher aggression scores than the audience attending the nonviolent film, both before and after viewing. Also, those attending the violent film showed a significant increase in aggression scores, while those at the non-violent film did not. The results demonstrate that audiences who attend violent films have an initially higher level of aggressivity which is heightened after exposure to the violent film. Thus, in order to achieve ecological validity in research on film violence, the characteristics of the audience normally exposed to such films must be taken into consideration. The results also provide support for the hypothesis that attendance at a violent film promotes aggressive tendencies.     

Therapist Awareness of Appropriate Intervention in Treatment of Domestic Violence

SUMMARY

Given the widespread nature of relationship violence, psychotherapists must recognize the probability that at some point they will treat a violent couple or someone involved in a violent relationship, even if they do not specialize in the treatment of family violence. Two analogue studies reported in this chapter were designed to investigate how therapists conceptualize cases involving domestic violence families and the types of interventions they indicate they would make. The first study surveyed 362 members of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT). Respondents were asked to conceptualize and provide interventions for one of two actual cases that involved family violence. The second study surveyed 402 members of the American Psychological Association (APA). Respondents were asked to give a diagnosis based on a case presentation. After being informed the case resulted in a homicide, respondents were asked what interventions they would have made prior to the outcome, had they been given the opportunity to provide counseling. Results from both analogue studies indicate that a large number of respondents were unable to properly assess the danger inherent in cases of domestic violence, and many more would not have intervened in a timely and appropriate manner.     

Effects of Television Violence on Memory for Violent and Nonviolent Advertising

This study investigated the impact of television violence on memory for advertising, taking into account the possible role of viewer hostility arousal in this context. Experimental participants were exposed to advertising placed within a violent or a nonviolent film clip. One advertisement had 2 versions–violent and nonviolent–and was presented with 2 other nonviolent filler advertisements. Participants completed a mood questionnaire before and after being exposed to the television material, tested for memory for the embedded advertising and asked to rate the film clips and the advertisements using a set of evaluative scales. The nonviolent version of the target advertisement was less well remembered when placed in the violent film than in the nonviolent film, supporting Bushman and Bonacci (2002). In contrast, the violent version of the target advertisement was remembered much better than the nonviolent version when placed in the violent film sequence. Participants' hostility scores were higher only after watching the violent film, and associated with an impairment in the memory of the nonviolent advertisements, while enhancing the memory of the violent advertisement, thus providing some support for Bushman's (1998a) hostile-thought hypothesis.     

Individual differences in the effects of spontaneous mimicry on emotional contagion

Two experiments explored the role of mimicry and self-perception processes in emotional contagion. In Study 1, 46 subjects watched two brief film clips depicting an episode of startled fear. In a separate procedure, subjects adopted facial expressions of emotion, and reported whether the expressions had caused them to feel corresponding emotions. Those who reported feeling the emotions were identified as more responsive to self-produced cues for feeling. Subjects who visibly moved to mimic the behavior of the actor were significantly more likely to be those who were more responsive to self-produced cues. In Study 2, 57 subjects watched three film clips depicting happy people. During clips when they inhibited the movements of their faces, subjects reported less happiness than during clips when they moved naturally and were able to mimic, or when they exaggerated their movements. This effect occurred only among subjects who, in a separate procedure, had been identified as more responsive to self-produced cues.The authors would like to thank Paul Ekman, Jerry Ginzburg, and an anonymous reviewer for very helpful suggestions for ways to improve the paper.     

Adolescent victimization and associated suicidal and violent behaviors

This study examined the relationship between victimization and both suicidal and violent behaviors among 1,569 public high school students in New York State (excluding New York City). They had participated in the 1997 Youth Risk Behavior Survey and, based on their responses, were divided into four groups: no suicidal or violent behavior, suicidal behavior only, violent behavior only, and both suicidal and violent behaviors. Males reported significantly more victimization, less suicidal behavior, and more violent behavior compared with females. Logistic regression analyses indicated that all categories of suicidal/violent behaviors were more frequent among those who had been victimized compared with the nonvictimized, for both males and females. In addition, victimized males were over two times more likely than victimized females to report violent behavior only. Gender differences were not significant for victimized students in two groups, suicidal behavior only and both suicidal and violent behaviors, although the results were in the hypothesized direction for suicidal behavior (e.g., females were more prone to suicidal behavior only). It was concluded that identifying and treating the victims of violence should be an integral component of suicide prevention programs and interventions aimed at reducing interpersonal violence in schools.     

Film violence and young offenders

Recent assertions have been made that viewing violent material on film and video may influence children and adolescents who commit violent acts. It has also been proposed that heavy exposure to television violence in childhood is associated with violent crime as an adult, although others have emphasized that experiencing “real” violence as a child has a much greater effect on aggressive predispositions. Ways in which screen violence can effect behavior includes: imitation of violent roles and acts of aggression, triggering aggressive impulses in predisposed individuals, desensitizing feelings of sympathy towards victims, creating an indifference to the use of violence, and creating a frame of mind that sees violent acts as a socially acceptable response to stress and frustration. It is argued that young offenders may like violent videos because of their aggressive background and behavioral tendencies. Whether such tastes reinforce violent behavior and increase the frequency of aggressive acts and antisocial behavior is open to question. This question needs an urgent answer given the availability of violent video film either to be viewed in the home environment appropriately (i.e., the whole film in real time) or inappropriately (i.e., from one violent scene to the next viewed in slow motion and freeze-frame).     

Psychopathic Traits Mediate the Relationship Between Exposure to Violence and Violent Juvenile Offending

Exposure to violence (ETV) has emerged as a key and stable predictor of violent offending. However, not all youth offenders who experience ETV go on to chronic violent offending. Consequently, it is possible that individual differences, such as psychopathic traits, may be an important factor in the link between ETV and violent offending. These traits are associated with exposure to violence and, separately, to violent offending. The present study used data from Pathways to Desistance, a multisite, longitudinal study of serious juvenile offenders (N = 1170, Mean_age = 16.05, SD = 1.16) to explore these relationships, simultaneously. First, autoregressive cross-lagged path models were used to examine the longitudinal bivariate relations among violent offending, ETV, and psychopathic traits. Second, latent class growth analysis was used to determine trajectories ETV. And third, the mediating influence of psychopathic traits was examined. Results indicated that ETV predicted later engagement in violence, but there was some degree of reciprocity between ETV and violence over time. Additionally, respondents with stable high or increasing trajectories of ETV reported more instances of violent offending. Finally, psychopathic traits mediated the relationship between ETV and violent offending. Together these findings support the notion that individuals with psychopathic traits perceive and internalize their environment differently than others and that this difference guides their own violent offending. Given the importance of psychopathic traits for understanding the influence of ETV on violent offending, prevention and intervention strategies must be developed that take into account both individual differences and environmental factors.     

The effect of television-mediated aggression and real-life aggression on the behavior of Lebanese children

This study investigated the effect of television-mediated aggression and real-life aggression on the behavior of Lebanese children. The sample consisted of 48 boys and 48 girls of Lebanese origin who were students in an elementary school in Beirut, Lebanon. After controlling for pre-experimental aggression, the subjects were randomly assigned to one of the following treatment conditions: human-film aggression, cartoon-film aggression, neutral film, or real-life (act of war) aggression. The results indicated that boys as a group were more aggressive than girls and exhibited more imitative aggression after viewing both violent film and real-life violence. Girls were not more violent after viewing filmed aggression but were affected by the real-life violence. Comparisons of Bandura's work within the Lebanese culture are made.     

神经质程度和月经周期对女性主观情绪和生理反应的影响

分别选取两组神经质程度高、低女性16名和25名, 考察两组被试在月经周期不同阶段(经期、卵泡晚期、黄体中晚期)的激素(雌二醇、孕酮)波动以及观看情绪视频(中性、搞笑、悲伤、愤怒)的主观情绪感受和生理反应的差异。结果显示高神经质女性在月经周期中对负性情绪视频的主观情绪和生理反应变化明显, 黄体中晚期对愤怒视频主观情绪体验更低, 对悲伤视频生理反应更小, 而低神经质女性的情绪反应不受月经周期影响。研究表明高神经质女性的情绪反应更易受月经周期影响, 这可能与其对孕酮水平波动的敏感性高有关。