Media Violence and Aggressive Behavior in Children: A Review

Introduction

In this day and age, the media is part and parcel of most people's lives, such that there is an interaction with media in different forms each day. People access media for many reasons, some of which are to gather information, to be entertained, and to advance their education. In today's media, violence has become a common feature, raising fears about the impact this might have. This issue is prevalent all around the world and has been accessed by people of all ages, races, and religions. Questions have been raised as to the effect this violence has had and will have on the viewer (Hinkley, et al., 2014). Media can be accessed in various forms, including television, radio, films, games, and the internet. All of these mediums have the potential to affect people's lives, their perception of life, their attitudes, and even their principles. When it comes to children, who are impressionable, the effects can go even further, affecting them mentally and physically.

Children in their teenage years, when exposed to violence in the media, become less sensitive to it and may perceive it as a normal way in which issues are resolved. Kirsh (2012) supports this view, stating that regular interaction with violence in the media accustoms a person to it, so that it becomes one of the accepted forms of resolving challenges and attaining objectives. The glamour attached to the use of weapons, and its association with supremacy in films and music videos, can cause the audience not only to see this as normal, but also to desire it. Hinkley, et al. (2014) state that media has been perceived to have replaced teachers and parents as the primary source shaping a young person's life. Media has taken over, and the values and behavior of young people can be seen to mirror those of media personalities or characters viewed in movies. Young people are seen to display the behavior of actors in soap operas — evident in the hairstyles they choose, the clothes they wear, and even how they speak and behave. Some behaviors adopted are undesirable, such as wearing inappropriate clothing and taking illegal drugs.

This review, from a public health point of view, aims to examine the available research on the impact that media violence has on young people. Literature available through PsychINFO and EBSCOhost is discussed, focusing on research conducted in the last five years.

Literature Review

The violence shown in the media and its impact on the antagonistic actions of teenagers was researched in a study carried out in Ogbomosho high schools (Ojewola, 2014). This study collected data from all the high schools in the area, as the teenagers formed the study population. The research design adopted was a descriptive survey. The area had fifty-two schools, from which random sampling selected eight for the study — two private and six public. From these schools, four hundred respondents participated. A questionnaire with 25 questions was adopted, and the coefficient of reliability was 0.72. Three null hypotheses were evaluated at a significance level of 0.05, using various statistical tests such as analysis of variance and the t-test. The researcher concluded that media violence did not have a significant impact on aggression with regard to gender. However, when it came to age, media violence did have a significant impact on aggression. The study also found that school type mattered when assessing the impact of media violence on aggressive conduct (Ojewola, 2014).

Ferguson (2015) carried out two research studies to determine the relationship between media violence and violence in society. One study focused on violence in films and the number of homicides between 1920 and 2005 in the U.S. This study concluded that there were moderate correlations between movie violence and homicide rates in the middle of the 20th century; however, at its beginning and at its end, the relationship between the two variables was inverse. The second study focused on how violence in video games affected violence observed in youth between 1995 and 2015. This study concluded that one cannot predict violence in society based on the violence consumed through media.

Other studies brought to light empirical trends and directions that future research should take. These studies showed that researchers generally agree that media violence has harmful effects on children and teenagers. The researchers noted that there was suggested bias in contrary claims, given that these were often made by individuals who could not be considered experts in the field (Bushman, et al., 2015). The researchers also noted that while there was extensive literature covering the relationship between on-screen media violence and aggressive behavior, there was very little literature on the effect of violence in print media, which may account for the lack of complete consensus among experts.

A study carried out by Yousef, et al. (2014) in the United Arab Emirates concluded that there was a relationship between the viewing of television and video games and the behavioral challenges that children were demonstrating. The children who participated had a mean age of 8.7 years and were scored on the number of hours they spent watching television and playing video games. Those considered highly involved spent two or more hours on these activities, while those less involved spent fewer than two hours. The two-hour limit was used as it is the threshold recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Among children who spent more than two hours on these media, 37% scored higher on being reserved, having problems socializing, lacking focus, and showing aggression. These children were also found to have fewer siblings and to be lower in birth order. Even when these two factors were controlled, a significant relationship remained between behavioral problems and more than two hours of screen time per day. The researchers concluded that two or more hours of television and video game interaction per day results in behavioral problems for children, and recommended increasing parental awareness.

A meta-analytic review was proposed by Greitemeyer and Mugge (2014) to examine the supposition that video game content impacts social behaviors. Across many research studies involving over 35,000 respondents, conclusions were made that social outcomes were related to the content of both violent and prosocial video games. Interaction with violent video games resulted in more aggressive behavior and less sociable outcomes, while prosocial video games had positive outcomes. These empirical studies demonstrated reliably that video game content has specific social outcomes that can be either immediate or long-term.

Hinkley, et al. (2014) carried out studies to determine the relationship between electronic media use by preschoolers and their well-being later in life. The study made use of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and the KINDLR Questionnaire, using two subscales: the Peer Problems and Emotional Problems subscale, and the Emotional Well-being, Self-esteem, Family Functioning, and Social Networks subscale. These scales were set to detect children more likely to have poor outcomes. While differences were observed by gender, it was found that extensive media viewing was consistently associated with poor well-being outcomes. Television viewing during both the week and weekend resulted in poor outcomes, unlike the use of computer games. Every additional hour of television was associated with a higher likelihood of emotional problems and poor family functioning. The studies thus concluded that there is an association between electronic media use in young children and poor well-being outcomes.

Methodology

The method used to find materials for this research was to search the PsychINFO and EBSCOhost databases for studies conducted in the last five years. The search terms included violen*, aggress*, televis*, videogames, movies, games, and computer games, among others. The use of asterisks in certain terms was intended to capture all words that could be formed from those prefixes. The search was confined to studies with human respondents. In addition, meta-analyses of media violence and aggression were also sought. Each study reviewed had to fulfill two criteria: it had to address violence in media and also focus on aggressive conduct, effects, or influences (Kirsh, 2012).

Conclusion

Scientific studies have demonstrated that exposure to violence in the media has resulted in increased aggression with regard to thoughts, emotions, and actions. The attraction of violence is evident throughout American entertainment — in television, video games, radio, and the internet — and has been linked to violent behavior on the part of viewers. Among children and adolescents, exposure to media violence has contributed to violence being accepted as a normal means of resolving conflict. Considerable effort is needed from government, the education system, and parents to regulate the content children are exposed to in order to minimize negative outcomes.

References

Bushman, B. J., Gollwitzer, M., & Cruz, C. (2015). There is broad consensus: Media researchers agree that violent media increase aggression in children, and pediatricians and parents concur. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 4, 200–214. doi:10.1037/ppm0000046

Ferguson, C. J. (2015). Does media violence predict societal violence? It depends on what you look at and when. Journal of Communication, 65, E1–E22. doi:10.1111/jcom.12129

Ferguson, C. J., Olson, C. K., Kutner, L. A., & Warner, D. E. (2014). Violent video games, catharsis seeking, bullying, and delinquency: A multivariate analysis of effects. Crime & Delinquency, 60, 764–784. doi:10.1177/0011128710362201

Greitemeyer, T., & Mugge, D. O. (2014). Video games do affect social outcomes: A meta-analytic review of the effects of violent and prosocial video game play. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 40, 578–589. doi:10.1177/0146167213520459

Hinkley, T., Verbestel, V., Ahrens, W., Lissner, L., Molnar, D., & Moreno, L. A. (2014). Early childhood electronic media use as a predictor of poorer well-being: A prospective cohort study. JAMA Pediatrics, 168, 485–492.

Kirsh, S. J. (2012). Children, adolescents, and media violence: A critical look at the research (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Krahe, B., Busching, R., & Moller, I. (2013). Media violence use and aggression among German adolescents: Associations and trajectories of change in a three-wave longitudinal study. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 1, 152–166. doi:10.1037/a0028663

Ojewola, F. O. (2014). The influence of media violence on aggressive behaviour among adolescents in selected secondary schools in Ogbomosho, Nigeria. IOSR Journal of Research & Method in Education, 4(5), 49–53.

Yousef, S., Eapen, V., Zoubeidi, T., & Mabrouk, A. (2014). Behavioral correlation with television watching and video game playing among children in the United Arab Emirates. International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice, 18, 203–207.