A meta-analysis is performed on studies pertaining to the effect of television violence on aggressive behavior. Partitioning by research design, viewer attributes, treatment and exposure variables, and type of antisocial behavior, allows one to interpret computed effect sizes for each of the variables in the partitions. We find a positive and significant correlation between television violence and aggressive behavior, albeit to varying degrees depending on the particular research question. According to research design, we find ZFisher values ranging from .19 for survey to .40 for laboratory experiments. Erotica emerges as a strong factor even when it is not accompanied by portrayal of violence. Additionally, the effect of television violence on the antisocial behavior of boys and girls is found to be marginally equal in surveys. A host of tests are performed to solidify these, and further results. Substantive interpretation is provided as well.

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“The issues that are raised by ethnic status are not exclusive to ethnicity but represent circumstances much wider in occurrence that appear more often among ethnic minorities.”

A sociological interpretation of the empirical outcomes of studies on violent media draws the debate out beyond the realm of individual psychological effects and identifies pertinent social groupings that go beyond socioeconomic status. Five attributes identify special vulnerability to negative influence: predisposition for aggressive or antisocial behavior, rigid or indifferent parenting, unsatisfactory social relationships, low psychological well-being, or having been diagnosed as suffering from DBDs—disruptive behavior disorders. Interpretation of effect sizes derived from seven meta-analyses encompassing different forms of media violence and resultant different varieties of aggressive and antisocial behavior supports a robust hypothesis of media influence. Causation, implied by outcomes of pooled experimental and survey designs, is consistent across these aggregations. The media take up a role as oppressors of an underclass with limited access to opportunities for improvement.

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