Aggression Media violence and its effect on children’s aggression
Mendel University in Brno
Faculty of Regional Development and International Studies
Research proposal to Social Psychology
Aggression
Media violence and its effect on children’s aggression
Date: 7.6.2013
Introduction
In today’s world we are strongly affected by different types of media. We also use daily the technologies like radio, television or internet connection, which gives us even better access to mass media. For last 50 years those technologies are still improving and that brings with it on one side extending of our horizons but on the other side we are much more influenced by those Medias. We can see aggression and violence in television every single day, but does it really have that huge power arouse aggression in human’s behavior?
‘’Children today are immersed in the media, like fish in water. By age 2, most children are frequently viewing television and movies and are playing some video games. By age 12, children spend more time consuming media than attending school. It should not be surprising, then, that decades of research have shown that observing violence in the mass media stimulates aggressive behavior.’’ [1]
Literature review
The term Aggression
‘’In social psychology, the term aggression is generally defined as any behavior that is intended to harm another person who does not want to be harmed (e.g., Baron & Richardson, 1994). Aggression is an external behavior that you can see. For example, you can see a person shoot, stab, hit, slap, or curse someone. Aggression is not an emotion that occurs inside a person, such as an angry feeling. Aggression is not a thought inside someone’s brain, such as mentally rehearsing a murder.’’ [2]
The term Violence
‘’Social psychologists and laypeople also differ in their use of the term violence. A meteorologist might call a storm “violent” if it has intense winds, rain, thunder, and lightning. In social psychology, violence is aggression that has extreme physical
Faculty of Regional Development and International Studies
Research proposal to Social Psychology
Aggression
Media violence and its effect on children’s aggression
Date: 7.6.2013
Introduction
In today’s world we are strongly affected by different types of media. We also use daily the technologies like radio, television or internet connection, which gives us even better access to mass media. For last 50 years those technologies are still improving and that brings with it on one side extending of our horizons but on the other side we are much more influenced by those Medias. We can see aggression and violence in television every single day, but does it really have that huge power arouse aggression in human’s behavior?
‘’Children today are immersed in the media, like fish in water. By age 2, most children are frequently viewing television and movies and are playing some video games. By age 12, children spend more time consuming media than attending school. It should not be surprising, then, that decades of research have shown that observing violence in the mass media stimulates aggressive behavior.’’ [1]
Literature review
The term Aggression
‘’In social psychology, the term aggression is generally defined as any behavior that is intended to harm another person who does not want to be harmed (e.g., Baron & Richardson, 1994). Aggression is an external behavior that you can see. For example, you can see a person shoot, stab, hit, slap, or curse someone. Aggression is not an emotion that occurs inside a person, such as an angry feeling. Aggression is not a thought inside someone’s brain, such as mentally rehearsing a murder.’’ [2]
The term Violence
‘’Social psychologists and laypeople also differ in their use of the term violence. A meteorologist might call a storm “violent” if it has intense winds, rain, thunder, and lightning. In social psychology, violence is aggression that has extreme physical
References: [1] Brad J. Bushman, University of Michigan and VU University Amsterdam and L. Rowell Huesmann- Effects of Violent Video Games on Aggressive Behavior, Aggressive Cognition, Aggressive Affect, Physiological Arousal, and Prosocial Behavior: A Meta-Analytic Review of the Scientific Literature- Psychological Science September 2001 12:353-359(http://www.rcgd.isr.umich.edu/aggr/articles/Huesmann/2010.Bushman%26Huesmann.Aggression.HandbookSocial.pdf) [2], [3] Brad J. Bushman, University of Michigan and VU University Amsterdam and L. Rowell Huesmann- Effects of Violent Video Games on Aggressive Behavior, Aggressive Cognition, Aggressive Affect, Physiological Arousal, and Prosocial Behavior: A Meta-Analytic Review of the Scientific Literature- Psychological Science September 2001 12:353-359 [4] Elly A. Konijn and Marije Nije Bijvank-VU University Amsterdam, Brad J. Bushman-University of Michigan and VU University Amsterdam- I Wish I Were a Warrior: The Role of Wishful Identification in the Effects of Violent Video Games on Aggression in Adolescent Boys - Developmental Psychology Copyright 2007 by the American Psychological Association 2007, Vol. 43, No. 4, 1038 –104 (http://home.fsw.vu.nl/ea.konijn/files/Konijn_NijeBijvank_Bushman_DevPsych_2007.pdf) [5] 3 spiral’ model of the media violence-aggression link (Slater, 2003; Slater, Henry, Swaim & Anderson, 2003; Slater, Henry, Swaim & Cardador, 2004)