Television Viewing and Aggression: Some Alternative PerspectivesOctober 02, 2008The effect of media violence on behavior is not only an interesting psychological question but is also a relevant public policy and public health issue. Although many studies have been conducted examining the link between violence on TV and aggressive behavior, most of these studies have overlooked several other potentially significant factors, including the dramatic context of the violence and the type of violence depicted as well as the race and ethnicity of the viewers. In a new study appearing in the September issue of Perspecitves on Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, psychologists Seymour Feshbach from the University of California, Los Angeles and June Tangney from George Mason University investigated the effect that exposure to violent TV programs has on negative behavior in children from different ethnic backgrounds. To investigate this connection, the psychologists conducted a study that evaluated TV viewing habits, intelligence, and behavior in 4th, 5th and 6th grade children. To assess these qualities, the children's parents and teachers completed behavioral questionnaires detailing the children's aggression, delinquency and cruelty. The children took IQ tests and completed surveys indicating the TV programs (which were later categorized as violent or non-violent by the researchers) they had watched during a seven day time period. The results showed a positive relationship between the amount of violent TV watched and negative personality attributes among white males and females and African-American females. Interestingly though, while there was a correlation between watching violent TV and lower academic performance in African-America males, these boys did not exhibit increased aggression or lower IQ.
The authors speculate that perhaps for African-American males, viewing TV (including violent programs) may play a different role than for white males and African-American and white females. The researchers noted, "The data raise the possibility that processes competing with or overriding the aggression stimulating or aggression modeling effects of viewing violence on television may be more salient for African-American males." For example, viewing TV shows where violent behavior is punished may inhibit feelings of aggression to a greater degree in African-American males. In any case, additional research is required to assess the effects on African-American males of viewing TV aggression. The authors also suggest that when studying the effect of TV violence on aggression, researchers and policy makers must recognize "the need for a more general conceptualization of the effects of exposure to TV violence, one that takes into account personality differences, ethnic differences, the social context in which TV is viewed, variations in the dramatic context, and other potentially significant moderating factors." Association for Psychological Science | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Related Television Viewing Current Events and Television Viewing News Articles Study is first to link viewing of sexual content on TV to subsequent teen pregnancy Adolescents who have high levels of exposure to television programs that contain sexual content are twice as likely to be involved in a pregnancy over the following three years as their peers who watch few such shows, according to a new RAND Corporation study. Moms have few interactions with their infants during TV time Infants who are exposed to television and video in low socio-economic households tend to have limited verbal interactions with their mothers. Less sleep, more TV leads to overweight infants and toddlers Infants and toddlers who sleep less than 12 hours a day are twice as likely to become overweight by age 3 than children who sleep longer. Social standing may be linked to body mass index in teen girls Teen girls who perceive themselves as being lower on the social ladder appear more likely to gain weight over the subsequent two years. Study links hypertension in obese children to television viewing Researchers from the University of California, San Diego; the Rady Children's Hospital - San Diego; the University of California, San Francisco; and the University of South Alabama determined that television viewing is not only linked to childhood obesity, but also to hypertension in children, according to a study published in the December 2007 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Childhood TV viewing a risk for behavior problems Daily television viewing for two or more hours in early childhood can lead to behavioral problems and poor social skills, according to a study of children 2.5 to 5.5 years of age conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Frequent TV viewing during adolescence linked with risk of attention and learning difficulties Teenagers who watch television for three or more hours per day may have a higher risk of attention and learning difficulties in their adolescent and early adult years. Kids at risk: Assessing diet and exercise behaviors in adolescents Do adolescents get enough exercise and eat the right foods? Is there too much fat in their diets? In a study published in the February 2007 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, researchers analyzed the behavior of almost 900 11-to-15 year-olds and found that nearly 80% had multiple physical activity and dietary risk behaviors, almost half had at least three risk behaviors, and only 2% met all four of the health guidelines in the study. Healthier kids just the click of a remote away Looking for a simple way to increase your child's physical activity level? Try turning off the television, says University of Toronto research. Study suggests TV watching lowers physical activity A study of low-income housing residents has documented that the more television people say they watched, the less active they were. More Television Viewing Current Events and Television Viewing News Articles |
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