Support for Censorship of Television Violence

Abstract

This study examined predictors of support for censorship of television violence, including third-person effects (the belief that others are more affected by televised violence than oneself) and exposure to specific news stories about the issue. A random sample of 253 residents in a small, Midwestern metropolitan area participated via telephone interviews. The third-person effect for aggression predicted greater support for censorship, but the third-person effect for mean-world perceptions did not. However, when perceived effects on self and others were examined separately, greater support for censorship was associated with respondents' beliefs that violent content increased others' aggressive tendencies but their own mean-world perceptions. More frequent exposure to news stories about imitation was associated with more willingness to censor violent content, but four other types of news stories were unrelated to censorship support. Interpretations and implications of these and other findings are discussed.

The First-Person Effect and Its Behavioral Consequences: A New Trend in the Twenty-Five Year History of Third-Person Effect Research

“…The majority of these studies support the behavioral hypothesis of the TPE that claims that TPPs may lead to such behavioral consequences as the likelihood to support censorship (Chia, Lu, & McLeod, 2004;Hoffner et al, 1999;Lee & Yang, 1996;Rojas et al, 1996), government regulation of media content (Cohen & Davis, 1991;Price, Tewksbury, & Huang, 1998;Salwen & Driscoll, 1997), evaluations of idealized body images (Choi, Leshner, & Choi, 2008), sexual risk behaviors among at-risk youth (Chapin, 1999), voting intentions (Banning, 2006;Golan, Banning, & Lundy, 2008), and even unexpected phenomenon such as residential mobility (Tsfati & Cohen, 2005a, 2005b.…”

“…The behavioral consequences of the TPE have been examined and adequately supported as well, mostly in terms of censorship and restrictions on harmful media messages. These findings have been placed in a broader context by various authors citing real-world implications in social and political realms (Hoffner et al, 1999;Huge, Glynn, & Jeong, 2006).…”

“…The impact of message desirability has been tested and supported as a key predictor of both the magnitude and the direction of the TPE (Gunther & Mundy, 1993;Henriksen & Flora, 1999;White, 1997). Typically these studies examine the behavioral effects that result from perception gaps related to socially undesirable media content such as pornography (Gunther, 1995;Rojas et al, 1996;Lo & Wei, 2002), misogynistic rap lyrics (McLeod, Eveland, & Nathanson, 1997), television violence (Hoffner et al, 1999) and controversial product advertising (Banning, 2001;Lambe & McLeod, 2005;Shah et al, 1999;Youn, Faber, & Shah, 2000).…”

Examining Third-Person Perceptions in the Context of Sexually Oriented Advertising

“…This second component predicts that people's perceptions of media influence may lead them to react in certain ways in response to their perceptions, and these reactions described as the behavioral component involve cognitive, perceptual, attitudinal, and other responses (Davison, 1983). As showed in Table 1, many studies on the behavioral component of the third-person hypothesis have also been conducted on a wide range of message types Behavior Chapin (1999) Sexual Risk Taking Chia (2008) Behavioral Intention to Sexual Activities Cohen, Mutz, Price, and Gunther (1988) Defamatory Messages Gunther (1995) Censorship Of Pornography David, Morrison, Johnson, and Ross (2002) Body Image Gunther and Storey (2003) Coordination Reactions Delorme, Huh, and Reid (2006) Prescription Drug Hoffner and Buchanan (2002) Censorship of Television Violence Golan, Banning, and Lundy (2005) Candidate Choice Hoffner et al (1999) Censorship of Television Violence Gunther and Thorson (1992) Persuasive Messages in PSA Huh, DeLorme, and Reid (2004b) Prescription Drug Use Gunther (1991;1995) Pornography McLeod, Eveland, & Nathanson (1997) Censorship of Misogynic Music Haridakis and Rubin (2005) Controversial Issues Rojas, Shah, and Faber (1996) Censorship of Television Violence …”

“…These studies suggested that perceptions and beliefs about the effects of communication are sometimes very influential, which is referred to as "the influence of presumed media influence" (Gunther & Storey, 2003). Additionally, some studies on the behavioral component have shown that the third-person hypothesis is positively relevant to support for media censorship in the form of restrictions on certain types of media messages (e.g., Gunther, 1995;Hoffner et al 1999;Hoffner & Buchanan, 2002;McLeod, Eveland, & Nathanson, 1997;Rojas, Shah, & Faber, 1996;Salwen, 1998;Tsfati & Cohen, 2007;Wu & Koo, 2001). This evidence is particularly confirmed in the case of mediated messages perceived as having potentially "negative consequences," such as negative political advertising and pornography on the Internet.…”