Effects of viewing justified and unjustified real film violence on aggressive behavior.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to test the effects of viewing justified and unjustified real film violence on aggressive behavior. The basic research paradigm developed by Berkowitz was used. Subjects were angered by an instigator (the experimenter's accomplice) by means of electrical shocks; the subjects saw a nonviolent film segment, a violent film segment, or no film; the subjects then were allowed to return shocks to the instigator. Measures of the subject's aggressive behavior included numbers of shocks returned and shock intensity. The results showed that angered college students who viewed justified real film violence returned significantly more shocks and more intense shocks than angered subjects viewing unjustified real or fictional film violence, a nonviolent film, or no film. The findings suggest that the effects of increased aggression demonstrated for angered viewers of justified fictional violence are also applicable to angered viewers of real film violence.

Applying social science research to film ratings: A shift from offensiveness to harmful effects

“…Another critical contextual feature is the degree to which the aggression is presented as defensible in a given situation. Studies indicate that violence that is portrayed as justified is more likely to be imitated (Berkowitz, 1965;Meyer, 1972). A common theme in many movies is the portrayal of a hero who is forced to be violent because his job demands it (e.g., Dirty Harry) or because he must retaliate against an enemy (e.g., Rambo).…”

Television and persuasion: Effects of the programs between the ads

“…Experiments by Bandura and colleagues have found that exposing children to television or film violence can result in an imitation of this behavior in free-play situations. These experiments showed that aggressive behavior could also be elicited when children viewed real-life aggression, films of ag-gression, and even aggressive cartoon characters (Bandura, 1978;Bandura, Ross, & Ross, 1963; see also Meyer, 1972). Other experiments suggest that the viewing of media violence can have a desensitizing effect.…”

Individual differences in interpretations of justified and unjustified violence.

“…A study done by Moore and Cockerton (1996) found that participants would rate violent behaviors as less extreme if they were described as justified rather than unjustified. Conversely, participants in another study became more aggressive when retaliating when they witnessed a film clip showing justified aggression (as opposed to a neutral or unjustified clip) prior to the exchange, indicating an increase in their own feelings of justification which led to more pronounced retaliatory aggression (Meyer, 1972). Collyer et al (2007) found that when justification for a violent act was claimed, the VS and VT individuals would rate the severity of the violence as less severe than when it was described as unjustified.…”