Especially in the business world, the term “aggressive” is often used as a way to describe
someone working hard, showing initiative, or assertively making their point. So when scientists
argue that watching violent TV or playing a violent video game increases aggression,it kind of
sounds like a good thing. But in reality, when these researchers use the term aggression they
are specifically using it to mean a willingness to harm others. “The report takes sharp aim at
the notion that aggression is not bad. Most studies define “aggression” as behavior intended
to harm another person. So when Tiger Woods attempts to drive the green on a short par-4,
that wouldn’t meet the psychological definition of aggression.”
http://scienceblogs.com/cognitivedaily/ ... iolenc.php
Some of the studies linking increased aggression with exposure to violent media have been
correlational. These correlational studies found that the more violent media someone has watched,
the more likely they are to commit an aggressive act. The question then becomes, did watching
violent media cause them to become more aggressive, or did being aggressive cause them to watch
more violent media, or was it a bit of both?
For example:
“The research shows that even when other factors are considered, such as academic skills,
encounters with community violence, or emotional problems, “childhood and adolescent violent
media preferences contributed significantly to the prediction of violence and general aggression”
in the study subjects.”
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 122632.htm
And some studies linking increased aggression with exposure to violent media have been done in
the laboratory, looking specifically at causation.
For example:
“In one study, published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology (1999, Vol. 29, No. 1, pp. 145-165),
people were exposed to gratuitously violent or nonviolent feature films over four consecutive days.
One the fifth day, approximately 24 hours after viewing to the last film, research participants
took part in another project that was not ostensibly a part of the film study. Weaver and Zillmann
found that, when treated either neutrally or abusively by a research assistant and then put in a
position to harm this assistant, both provocation and exposure to violent films markedly increased
the expression of hostile behavior toward the research assistant. The study showed that prolonged
exposure to gratuitously violent films is capable of escalating hostile behavior in both men and
women and of instigating such behavior in unprovoked research participants.”
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/19 ... 045219.htm
Conclusions
Over the years, scientists have done hundreds of studies looking at the links between violent media
and increased aggression. And the results are in, exposure to violent media does indeed increase
aggression. The greater the exposure, the greater the increase in aggression.
“Report Shows ‘Unequivocal Evidence’ That Media Violence Has Significant Negative Impact on Children”
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 073459.htm
“For much of the past half century, the link between watching violence on television and violent
behavior in everyday life has seemed an open question – embraced by one study, rejected by another,
and largely left unanswered by years of congressional inquiries. That, however, is rapidly changing.
To a growing number of scientists and psychiatrists, the correlation between the two is no longer
a point of debate, it is an established fact. A study released today in the journal Science adds
to a large body of work that suggests some sort of connection. Already, six major pediatric,
psychiatric, and medical associations have said that the evidence of a link is overwhelming, citing
more than 1,000 studies in the past 30 years.”
http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0329/p01s05-ussc.html