Television Viewing and Aggression: Some Alternative Perspectives

Abstract

The focus of this article is on the examination of variables that moderate the influence of exposure to TV violence. The research on the relationship between TV violence and aggressive behavior of the audience has largely focused on addressing the social policy issue of whether witnessing TV violence fosters aggressive behavior in viewers, particularly children. There has been a dearth of research addressing the conditions that enhance the aggression stimulating effects of media violence, those that mitigate these effects, and those that may even result in reduced aggression after one witnesses media violence. To illustrate the importance of potential moderating factors, we present longitudinal correlational data relating the degree of viewing TV violence to various social behaviors and cognitive attributes of White and African-American male and female elementary-school-age children. Although TV violence viewing was associated with lower cognitive attributes and negative social behaviors in White males and females and African-American females, a very different pattern of relationships was found for African-American males.